Joke i, 1886.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



877 



high cost of irngatiou precludes the cultivation of 

 MaDilla hemp in the dry parts of the Bombay Pre- 

 sidency, and iu the wet parts there will not bo found 

 many places where the Manilla hemp would thrive 

 that aro not iit present occupied by more vuKnble 

 crops. (Signed) (r. JI. Woonltow, Lecturer in Jiotany 

 and Agriculture, Voona, February 18SG. 



Letter from A. Stormont, Ksq., Superintendent 

 Uovemmeut Kxporimental Farm, Khandcsh. to the 

 Collector of Khandesh, dated lihadgaon. l;Uh 

 February 1886. 



A reference to the reports of Saidapet farm shows 

 that (1) the plants attAined full size after two years' 

 growth, (2) they refused to thrive unless grown on 

 a deep well-manured soil, and (3) the fibre produced 

 was insufficient in ijuantity a!id rouf;h iu quality being 

 the result of unskilled labor. Tbe correctness of the 

 above statements is fully confirmed by the results of 

 the past yejvr't*' cultivation ou this farm which, how- 

 ever, do not contribute' nuich in the shape of /inn/re.'iS. 

 The Manilla plants grew well und(-?r the same condi- 

 tion as the common plantains are cultivated, but 

 showed no inclination to flower up to the age of two 

 years when they were cut down and the fibre ex- 

 tracted. The modft of extraction was the same as 

 practised in the locality with ^lutbatfi (brown hemp) 

 and sinin hem/tf with the exception that the stems 

 were in the first place pa.ssed through a sugarcane 

 mill which got rid of sap averaging 50 per cent of 

 the whole. The stems were next rotted in water 

 from 10 to 12 days, and afterwards washed by hand 

 and sun dried. The outturn of fibre was 1^ lb. per 

 1<K» lb. of fresh stem, a percentage considerably higher 

 than the average shown in the Saidapet experiments ; 

 it was. however, of bad ctdor and defective in strength. 

 Oords of equal weight and thickness of this fibre 

 and ordinary Ambari broke with the following 

 weights : — 



Manilla iienip 

 Ambari 



lb. 



117 

 3:30 



It has to be remembered that these fibres were 

 prepared )>y people who from natural instinct and 

 life, lori» practice, understand to perfection all the 

 minute and important details of wi/ti'n//, rotting, 

 ■■itrifpi/hj, !>/fiirhiiig, kc, in the case of Ambari. while 

 tlu'v know nothing at all of the process necessary 

 til 1m' followed in that of Manilla hemp. Now al- 

 thiiugli there are certiiin natural laws which regulate 

 the growth of a/' fibre plants;, others, and by far 

 the greater part, apply to in<iividual species only. 

 So that each kind of fibre has its own particular 

 pliysiology which requires to be studied and under- 

 stuiitl before successful manipulation can be reasonably 

 lo:iked for. Two of the points to which attention 

 is speciallj" drawn by the Dlrecter of Agriculture 

 remain still to be dealt with; these are (1) can tbe 

 fruit be utilized? (2) can a hybrirl variety be raised 

 between the Mi'sa tfj.ti/is and the iVa.<a Faruilisvua ? 

 The gowth of the present year, it is expected, will 

 afford ample opportunity for further observation on 

 these points, and the results will be given in next 

 year's report. 



WHAT TO DO WITH OUR BOYS. 

 Agricultural Education in Caruida. 

 For anyone who intends to settle a son in the TTnited 

 States or Ganaila the Agricultural College at Gueiph 

 in Ontario is well worth visiting. There are several 

 so-called agricultural colleges in the States, viz., col- 

 leges which to obtain special State aid include agricul- 

 tun* in their ourse of studies ; but with the exception 

 of that at Lansing, in Michigan, these are really 

 institutions for general cchication. fJuelph, however, 

 is for the farmer, and the farmer only — not t!ie 

 gentleman farmer, or squire who holds one of his 

 farms in his own ocupation, like our English colleges, 

 but for the working farmer who has to gain hi« bread 

 by the sweat of his brow. The college is supported 

 by the Province of f)ntario, one of those exceptional 

 common wealths which is beforehaod with the world 



and has a nice little capital laid by on which tu draw 

 at need. Thus it can atford to work, not for the 

 present, but for the future ; to loose money iu order 

 to raise the general standard of agricultural education, 

 and consequently of agriculture and outturn 1hrouj:hout 

 the province; and is even willing, in default oMilling 

 up the numbers of its college with natives, to admit 

 outsiders to share benefits afforded at the expeuHe 

 of the Ontario taxpayer, though charging tlie.se out- 

 siders of course considerably more than is charged to 

 ()ntario students. What this means may be judged 

 from the following extract from the prospectus for 

 18m I; — The entire cost to an Ontario farmer's son, 

 able and willing, with considerable experience in farm 

 work, is S-l'J to 5,55 a year for board, washing, and 

 tuition. To an Ontario student without iu\y previous 

 knowUidge of farming, s50 to sGO a year fur board, 

 washing and tuition. To non-residents (of Ontario) 

 $120 to S150 a year for board, washing, and tuition. 

 Some students, by regularity ami industry, sut^ceed in 

 cancelling almost their entire board accuimts." 



This is etfected by their labour, for which allowance is 

 made at from '* four to ten cents an hour, according to 

 its value as estiuuited by the Farm Superintendent 

 and his foremen, — in no case to exceed the charges 

 for board and w.ishing." I may mention that the 

 charge for washing 30 cents per dozen pieces, and 

 that the wash which may be sent i« unlimited ; so the 

 Ontario taxpayer contributes considerably to the 

 encouragement of cleanliness among the students in 

 the matter of linen, besides affording a liberal pro- 

 vision of baths in the building, with hot ami cold 

 wat*;r laid on^which said provision cost <i5.0fHI (say 

 £1,012) (juite recently. Now, before giving my own 

 impressions of the college, I will refer to the opinions 

 of competent persons regarding it, viz., I'rofossor 

 Henry, of the Lansing College, fifichigan. Professor 

 Sheldon, of x)ur Downton College, Mr. Anderson, 

 farmers' delegate from County Kerry, and Mr. (/urits, 

 farmers' delegate from Yorkshire. The three latter 

 visited the college iu 1S80, when it was nnly six years 

 oKl, and I refer to their general reports on ( 'anada 

 published by the Dominion (Jovernment. The former's 

 visit was in 18f^3, and his de.scription appeared in the 

 Farmers* lievieti; from which I saw it (luoteil by 

 the Indian Agriculturist. Mr. Anderson writes in 

 1880 :— 



" I cannot conclude my remarks on Ontario without 

 mentioning the Agricultural College at Guelph. (iuelph 

 itself is a fair-sized town in the county of Wel- 

 lington, iu the centre of a well-cultivated district. 

 The land is pretty good, but not «o rich as some 

 other portions of the Province. There are several 

 extensive breeders of both Shorthorns and Herefonis 

 in the neighbourhood; indeed, all the cattle in the 

 district were particularly fine. The college is about 

 a mile from the town, and is supported by the Pro- 

 vince of Ontario. The farm connected with it con- 

 tains about 500 acres. I inspected the system of 

 inetruction, which is very complete, including not 

 only ordinary agriculture and stock-raising, but a 

 practical knowledge of chemistry and veterinary .science, 

 two very valuable branches to the farmer and very 

 little known. The ordinary education of the student 

 is not neglected, for I see an English and mathem- 

 atical course laid down, which, if taken advantage 

 of, will give the future farmer something more than 

 his bullocks to think and talk of. Nor is horticulture 

 forgotten, and I saw for myself that the student hatl, 

 in the extensive gardens conuected with the college, 

 ample opportunity of making him<*elf acquainted with 

 that art which will enable him hereafter to beautify 

 his homestead and supply his table wi th vegetable 

 luxuries. 



'' Among the live-stock six breeds of cattle are 

 represented, /./;., Shorthorns, Herefords, iJevouH, 

 Aberdeen pills, rjalloways and Ayrshires. Of sheep 

 they liave Cotswolds, Leicester.s, South Downs and 

 Oxford Downs. There are also some very good Herk- 

 shire pigs. The fields which, as nearly as possible, 

 contain 20 acres each are fenced with straight l)oard 

 fences, and are extremely clean. "Turn where you 

 will, evidences of careful maDAg«ment and sound 



