r 338 i 



or ashes to rot the dhaincha or sunn, are great preventives 

 against insects. 



504. For cultivating potatoes on "a large scale, the ridging 

 plough should follow the bakhar or the levelling board, beam, or 

 ladder. The field should be as long as possible and the ridges 

 should be at right angles to the main irrigation channel. The 

 ridges made by the ridging plough will not be absolutely straight, 

 but if trained bullocks are employed they will be sufficiently 

 straight for the purpose of the agriculturist, and they should 

 be about 24" apart. The sowing in this case should be done 

 after all fear of late rain is over, say about the 2oth to the 3ist 

 of October or even later. The sowing should be done in this 

 case not along the ridges but along the furrows. A man 

 should make a straight channel 4" to 5" deep with a narrow 

 spade or Planet Jr. hoe simply by running the implement along 

 each furrow and between two adjacent ridges. Another man 

 should put in two rows of pickled potatoes 6 inches apart both 

 ways, and cover up the channel as he goes on following the man 

 who is making the channel, while a third man goes on putting 

 manure along the covered channels only. Instead of spread- 

 ing the manure all over the field this will be found a more 

 economical way of using the manure. Planting deep in be- 

 tween ridges also saves the cost of irrigation. The two earth- 

 ings are to follow the manuring. The practice of applying 

 the manure in two doses, at the time of the two earthings, 

 does not seem to be justified, unless highly soluble manures, 

 such as saltpetre, are used. Castor-cake, bone-meal and cow- 

 dung, which are ordinarily recommended for use, are not so 

 highly soluble and applying them in one dose after planting 

 the seed is advisable. In fact, cowdung should be applied at 

 an early period of preparation of soil and bone-meal or 

 powdered apatite should be first converted into super by the 

 addition of sulphuric acid before applying it to the trenches 

 after planting seed. Bone-meal and apatite being compara- 

 tively insoluble manures do not have much effect on a short 



