69 



acre, cannot have occurred without seriously dimi- 

 nishing the quantity and deteriorating the quality 

 of the grain which requires this indispensable 

 substance in such large proportions. 



I have no hesitation in saying that, as paren- 

 thetically remarked above, two thousand years ago 

 these same fields.must have yielded something near 

 3,000 Ibs. of rice per acre, while now the yield has 

 dwindled down to 800 Ibs. Soils which have supplied 

 food for generations the soil of the low-lying lands 

 of Lombardy and South Germany for instance are 

 yielding over 2,500 Ibs. of rice per acre, simply 

 because the fields are well cared for, and the soil is 

 nourished with the necessary plant-food. Here 

 in India, with proper care and judicious treat- 

 ment, that yield could be far exceeded, for the 

 cosmic conditions are especially favorable. A 

 powerful sun, excessive moisture during the mon- 

 soons, and an atmosphere heavily laden at that 

 period with carbonic acid and ammonia all 

 contribute and tend to a most luxuriant growth 

 of vegetable life, and an abundant harvest. 



From two analyses of rice grown in Italy and 

 South America which I have before me, I find 

 that both their ashes contain 63 per cent, of 

 phosphoric acid, while those of rice which was 

 grown near Bombay, on what is considered 

 an average fertile soil, yielded me only 52 per cent. 

 It would appear from this that the comparative 



