^2 FODDER IN INDIA.. 



up to Rs. 150 per acre, but you will be amply repaid 

 even at this price. The other methods of manuring 

 Trenching. are various forms of "trenching" which 



however, except in cases of reclam- 

 ation, or on sandy soils and clay which " must " be 

 trenched, I think are quite second to top-dressing simply 

 becauseof the area involved and the extra time and money 

 required. Night-soil of course must be trenched and is the 

 best form of manuring, but it is almost a thing of the past, 

 at any rate so far as grass farms are concerned. The cinders 

 and ashes from incinerators are a very beneficial dressing 

 either for grass or crops. If you trench you must " level " 

 and "sow" after it, when the monsoons begin, this is 

 expensive if properly done and if not properly done is worse 

 than useless, and lastly it is not immediately productive. 

 Certainly the trenching system when well done makes a 

 farm to be very proud of, and on a small one of 200-300 acres 

 the writer would certainly trench a foot deep ; but most of 

 our farms are large and getting larger, and managers have 

 not the time to give to special work of this kind. We require 

 quick returns on the most economical lines and top-dressing 

 is the best way to get this. A few words more than on 

 top-dressing : — Don't start until you have gatha-banded 

 even on the most level land, and repair your bands annually ; 

 don't top-dress on high lying undulating land (hillocky) if 

 it is like that shallow trench about 3" deep and try to 



White-Ants. '^^^' "P ^ ^'^ ^^^ degrees. If you are 



troubled with white-ants sprinkle a few 

 baskets per acre of quick lime and they will soon leave you 

 alone. The small cost is well spent when you remember what 

 a white-ant (dimak) will do, and eat ; don't drag cart loads 

 of manure about your plots in the rains, you've lots of time 

 before and after and make much of it. Cow-dung (gobar) 

 and dairy-litter are not for grass cultivation, save them for 

 crops if you grow any; if these commodities are very cheap 

 and you have to use them they should be trenched 4" — 6", 

 they are not a bit of use as top-dressing most productive 



