Dec. i, 1886.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



3^9 



FARMING IN DnDIA. 



It is not always that we see ourselves as others 

 see us. One of our much respected English exchanges 

 {North British Agriadturist) has an article of Farming 

 in India in a recent issue, a perusal of which will 

 doubtless enlighten many of our readers, who are 

 quite up in the agriculture of the country. Our 

 contemporary says: — "The Indian farmer has scarcely 

 any food, but what he has is of the simplest kind. 

 There being no hard, gravelly soil, no stiff clay, no 

 hard pan, and no sticky calcareous soil to work, is a 

 great advantage to him. By a very crude implement, 

 which can scarcely be called a plough, the land is 

 torn up. This plough consists of a triangular piece 

 of wood, about 18 inches in length, and 6 inches in 

 diameter at the larger end, the other being pointed. 

 On tae flat side of this piece of wood a groove is 

 made, into which a flat piece of iron, a foot in length, 

 an inch ^vide, and half an inch thick, is inserted, 

 and held in its place by a staple. The staple under- 

 neath does not interfere with the rooting. This iron 

 bar, which is pointed, serves as a nose or point to 

 the plough. The larger end of this triangular piece 

 of wood is mortified into an upright stick, the latter 

 about 3 feet in length, at the top of which is a 

 wooden pin on the front side for a handle. About 

 18 inches from the ground a strip of board 3 inches 

 wide, an inch and a half thick, and 8 feet long, is 

 inserted into the upright stick, and serves as a beam 

 and a tongue. The j-oke is a straight stick, 6 feet 

 long, 3 inches in diameter, with four wooden pins 

 each 6 inches long, one on each side of the neck of 

 the bullocks. A small hemp rope, or grass twine, 

 (joes under the bullocks' necks to keep the yoke in 

 it? place. The beam of the plough has a few notches 

 under it near the end, and is fastened to the yoke 

 by a small grass rope. The plough makes no furrow, 

 but simp'.y roots or tears up the soil, and the plough- 

 man, with his little goad or whip in one hand, the 

 other holding the wooden pin in the upright stalk, 

 walks by the side of the plough. The cattle are of the 

 Brahmin species, white, slender-bodied, long-legged, 

 and very lean. About the only feed they get for 

 months before the rain is 'blioosa,' or wheat, straw, 

 and chaff. Ploughing is hard work for both the 

 little cattle and the man, and the best a man can do 

 is to tear up three-quarters of an acre a day, and 

 the work tlen is poorly done." "The land has to be 

 ploughed in this way a number of times, especially 

 for the moie substantial crops. The cattle cost from 

 £1 to £4 a pair, but the aveiage price is about 

 £1 IS.^-. The average price of a plough is Is. 8d. 

 The only other implement used is a log or slab of 

 wood d ft. or 8ft. long, drawn sideways across the 

 field by one or two pair of cattle, to crush the clods 

 and .smooth the surface. After the laud is pulverised, 

 and finally this is well done too, the last ploughing 

 takes place when a man or woman dribbles the seed 

 from the hand into the furrow. The next operations 

 are those of reaping and thrashing. The reaper con- 

 sists of a blade of iron 6 inches in length, 1 inch in 

 width, and curved like an old fashioned sickle with 

 a notched edge and a short handle. Its cost is 

 2d. The harvester sits upon his heels, cuts a handful 

 of straw \vhich he lays down, and then waddles on 

 without rising, and cuts another lot. He cuts about 

 one-twelfth of an acre a day, for which he receives 

 2^rl, out of which he has to board himself. After 

 this primitive reaping machine comes a binder, who 

 gathers up the grain and binds it into sheaves. It 

 is then shocked, and a day or two after carted to the 

 thrashing-floor. The thrashing machine consists of a 

 floor — a bit of hard ground — a stake, a number of cattle, 

 and a driver. The grain straw is piled arouud the 

 stake in the floor, the cattle are connected by a rope 

 tied to their horns, and one end of the rope fastened 

 to the stake, and the driver keeps them going until 

 the ■ straw is trampled very fine, into what is called 

 ' bhoosa.' This after the grain is separated from it, 

 is fed to the cattle." "We trust the English public 

 will not need further enlightenment upon this subject. 

 ^Indian Agriculturist, 



LETTER TO AN AGRICULTURAL STUDENT 

 IN CEYLON. 



No one denies that agriculture is essentially a 

 practical thing; so is medicine; and will any one be 

 fool enough to suggest that science be put away from 

 the study of medicine ? That would be senseless. The 

 land is the subject of the cultivator's operations ; how 

 much do the cultivators of Oeylon know about it? 



Of course, they are convinced they know everything 



" igoaros vire miseratus agrestes." 



The object of agriculture is thus concisely put. 

 To produce, in good condition, the greatest amount 

 of produce in the shortest amount of time, at the 

 least cost, and the smallest deterioration of the land. 

 If this object is to be faithfully carried out, the 

 cultivator must have a certain knowledge of such 

 sciences as would help him. English agriculturists 

 for a long time laughed at the idea of bringing 

 Geology, Chemistry, Mechanics, Meteorology, Botany, 

 and Natural History to the aid of agriculture. Land 

 has been supplied by Nature with an enormous 

 amount of natural food which can sustain it for an 

 indefinitely long period ; and for as long a period the 

 cultivator may take no thought of how it fares, .so 

 long as it yields its return year by year without de- 

 cre;ise. But time works changes, and old methods are 

 not always the better. It must be understood by 

 those who ridicule the idea of seeking the aid of the 

 sciences I have mentioned above, that these sciences 

 are not studied abstractedly, but only as applied to, 

 and so far as they touch on, the main subject i c. 

 agriculture. Now I can assure that you in this sense, 

 of being illustrative of Agriculture, and dealing with 

 concrete things, they form a most interesting and 

 charming study. 



Geology, dealing of rocks and soils, tells you what 

 soils you may expect in different quarters ; and 

 'stratification,' 'dip,' and 'strike' all go to help you 

 in draining, well-sinking, &c. Chemistry, of course, 

 principally helps you in the matter of analysis of 

 soil, water, manure, feeding stuffs, &c., and enables 

 you to detect adultsrations, and fix upon the relative 

 value of important ingredients. Why supply manure 

 generally and indiscriminately when you can find 

 what element has been exhausted in the soil, or 

 which plant-food the crop lacks. Thus expense is 

 saved, and injury is averted ; for certain elements that 

 are superfluous maj' produce combinations or changes 

 that would be better absent. 



Mechanics helps you in the matter of irapleinenti. 

 Bj' an acquaintance with the branches of this science 

 you learn the applications of steam, water, and wind ; 

 or, to put it in its most attractive form, you will bo 

 able to drive a working engine, set up a water wheel, 

 rej)air a pump, and do a score of such useful things. 



Meteorology comes to your aid in matters of weather, 

 temperature, rainfall, moisture, forecasts, &c. Botany^ 

 you, of course, know how usefully this science comes 

 in, in agriculture. It struck me lately how careful 

 growers of cattle here are about the grasses of cattle 

 feed on. In a fortnight or three weeks you can be 

 perfectly familiar with all your gr.asses, know all 

 their names and their nutritive value. How little do 

 you attend to your grazing fields out there, caring 

 nothing about grasses that keep your cattle back in 

 condition, and otherwise exert most injurious influences. 

 Why not have a pasture ploughed up and sown with 

 a good selection of grass seeds, so that you may 

 always have a good gra/.ing ground on which the cattle 

 will thrive ? 



Natural History at least will come to your aid in tho 

 matter of insect pests. Veterinary, you know, will 

 be of inestimable value to you, and it is an interest" 

 ing subject to study. I intend taking out Principal 

 Williams' classes. You know he is said to be the 

 greatest authority on the subject in Great Britain, 

 and his writings are the standard works. The corres« 

 pendent to the Fxaminer spoke about the variety of 

 agricultual systems in different parts of the world. 

 True, but the broad principles of agricultural .science 

 apply generally, and what knowle(?g§ you waut is, ]( 



