84 HAPPY INDIA 



work of the Dharwar Agricultural Station, 1908-9, 

 which gives results obtained with potatoes at 

 Belgaum " on sandy loam poor soil." Unmanured, 

 the harvest of potatoes was 145 bushels per acre. 

 With a manure per acre consisting of 158 Ib. Chili 

 saltpetre, 440 Ib. superphosphate and 158 Ib. sul- 

 phate of potash, the harvest was 349 bushels. 



A paper entitled Operations of the Department of 

 Agriculture, Madras Presidency, for the official year 

 1920-21, Madras Government Press, 1921, pages 

 8 and 9 gives some yields of rice in the following 

 words : " On the main paddy tract at Central Farm, 

 Coimbatore, the variety Poombalai gave the best 

 yield, that is 3,234 Ib. of grain per acre on 10 acres. 

 It is interesting to note with regard to paddy, testing 

 various kinds, that the Poombalai crop gave 3,009 Ib. 

 grain and 3,064 Ib. straw ; and the Sadia Sambu gave, 

 grain, 2,781 Ib., and straw, 4,805 Ib. 



" The Agricultural Research Institute at Pusa " 

 has published A Study of the Indigo Soils of Bihar, 

 on " the urgent necessity of immediate phosphate 

 manuring if crops are to be maintained," by W. A. 

 Davis, D.Sc., A. C.G.I., Indigo Research Chemist to 

 the Government of India, published in 1918. This 

 paper shows how the continuous cropping for indigo 

 has resulted in the impoverishment of, and the 

 exhaustion of the phosphoric acid in, the soil, and 

 consequently the failure of the indigo crops. On 

 page 25 he quotes Mr. M. M. Mackenzie, at Sapaya, 

 speaking of the enormous benefits to the Bihar soils 

 in the application of superphosphates. He manured 



