and Magazine of the Ceylon Agrieullural Society.— July, 1918. 



15 



sound consistency. A small quantity was placed 

 on a pencil and stirred in a oup of clear water. 

 The water gradually took on a dark blue indigo 

 colour such as is used iD the dyeing process. 

 Baron Schrottky speaks very optimistically of 

 the chances of Indigo growing in Ceylon. In 

 his opinion thirty-two thousand pounds of green 

 plant should be secured per acre yielding 790 

 lb. of standard paste. This could be sold at 

 two-thirds of the price of synthetic indigo. To 

 the query, Would there be a market for the 

 natural indigo, now that synthetic had secured 

 such a hold? — the Baron said they would be only 

 too ready to go back to it, if it could be secured 

 at a reasonable price, and in a usual form, with- 

 out expensive machinery. Letters supporting 

 this were shown. 



Seet as Manure. 

 The plant after its fermentation has a valu- 

 able use as a manure. It is called seet, and can 

 be used immediately after fermentation ; but if 

 kept say six months, forms a brown mould which 

 is a more handy form. This, in Baron Schrot- 

 tky's opinion, is worth from 140 to 150 rupees 

 per acre. Dr Ountze, a well-known planter 

 and experimentalist, is assisting Baron Schrot- 

 tky in his experiments, and he appears ex- 

 ceedingly keen on the cultivation, especially as 

 a catch crop. Supposing one plants rubber, 

 he said, one can plant indigo also, and from 

 the first year's crop of the latter plant 

 can pay for one's land, factory etc. Suc- 

 ceeding years show a profit at a good rate. 

 Meanwhile one's rubber t^ees are growing, 

 and when they reach such a size that the 

 indigo is affected, it can be cut out. With indigo 

 as a catch crop one can therefore realise in 

 the period during which the trees are coming 

 into bearing. The indigo also provides the 

 manure which is required, and the ideal estate 

 in his opinion is that which holds a third of 

 indigo. He himself is taking up. its cultivation 

 in the Kegalla district along with coconuts. "Is 

 the rubber affected ?■' asked the newspaper man. 

 Dr. Cuntze pointed to some interplanted rubber 

 trees on Lagos, of good size, etc., which, he said, 

 were of one year's growth. They were certainly 

 in good condition. 



A Good Catch Crop. 

 Other interesting information was furnished 

 by Baron Schrottky illustrating the growth of 

 the plant in Ceylon. Generally speaking, it ap- 

 pears to offer a useful catch crop, which wdl 

 tide over the long period of waiting for other 

 products to reach the bearing stage. Labour, 

 of course, is a difficulty in regard to extensive 

 cultivation of indigo by itself. 



COCONUT PLANTING- 



In Ceylcn and Malaya. 



( Continued from page 461, May Number.) 



In our May Number we published an article 

 on "Coconut Planting " written by Mr. Manchip 

 with a letter from our correspondent "B " Mr. 

 Manchip replies in "Grenier's Rubber News " 

 as follows : — 



Deak Sik. — When I wrote my modest article 

 on coconut planting I had neither the thought 

 nor the wish to be drawn into a newspaper con- 

 troversy. My idea was to give a few hints to 

 those intending to go in for land for themselves. 

 " B " (who can be no other than Mr. Beven late 

 of Horrakelle, Ceylon) says in his most superior 

 manner, ol course we know laterite soil is not 

 suitable for coconuts. Yet the low country 

 Cingalese (in whom Mr. Beven seems to place 

 so much confidence) have planted up hundreds 

 of acres of laterite. His remark in para 3 re- 

 out-turn on estates with a free soil tend to bear 

 out my statement that a free soil is better than 

 a stiff one. I was referring to the estate of which 

 Mr. Beven was Superintendent when I spoke of 

 "loose wfaito sand." But here again he agrees 

 with me (though perhaps not intending to) that 

 this class of soil is unsuitable for coconuts 

 unless systematically fertilized ; for he says 

 " when I took up the 'management the white 

 sand fields were allowed to go out of cultivation. 

 1 reclaimed these fields" and evidently got 

 good results. Now it is a fact that manuring 

 was stopped on these fields after Mr. Beven 

 took charge— I do not say on his advice — and 

 the crops fell off very considerably and it was 

 not until a regular system of manuring was 

 adopted that things brightened up once more. 

 I venture to think Mr. Bev^n exaggerates 

 when he eays the Straits (I presume ho in- 

 cludes the F. M. S.) are plagued with blaok 

 beetle. So far I have seen very few trees even 

 here damaged by beetle. In Ceylon, well Mr. 

 Beven knows, without my telling him, of the 

 damag > done by these pests, black or otherwise. 

 What a good old Conservative Mr Bovon must be 

 when he prefers to stick to methods " handed 

 down to us by the Dutch." Why does he nob ra- 

 ther favour his Cingalesefmnds' method of crow- 

 ding in as many coconut trees as possible to the 

 acre. Not so far back as the Dutoh times we were 

 told 10ft. by 10ft. was the proper distance to plant 

 rubber; but we have other ideas today. Re size 

 of holes, 1 said these should be dug at least 

 2Jft. cube. Personally I would prefer thsm as 

 large as possible but the larger the hole the 

 more the cost. Mr Beven misquoted me badly 



