96 * The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



adopted is purely surface manuring?, and this 

 method, with not a few modifications, is gene- 

 rally being adopted in what are called Orchard 

 Cultures. Even the ground the plant grows on, 

 has been almost entirely formed, by additions to 

 its surface, by detritus from surrounding lands 

 by deposits made by flood waters, or by decay 

 induced by the flow of water over its surface, 

 carrying with it solvents which are able to dis- 

 integrate the materials of which it is composed. 

 For tree cultivation, surface-manuring is the 

 only method in which the manure can be fully 

 utilised ; and we can easily take steps to guard 

 against evaporation or dispersion of volatile 

 principles, by covering the manure with mate- 

 rial which will act as an absorbent and thus 

 retain the constituents likely to escape. 



In practice, the covering of the ground with 

 fresh or decaying vegetable material is known 

 as 'mulching ', and it has been proved that for 

 cacao the practice is of the rrveatest value. 



Dr. Francis Watt, c.M.G., Imperial Commis- 

 sioner of Agriculture for the West Indies, in- 

 reporting on experiments in Dominica, has the 

 following, with reference to 5 experiment plots 

 of cacao : ' The most interesting plot is the one 

 mulched with grass and. leaves, sweepings of the 

 lawn at the Botanic Station. In the first period, 

 this plot, though giving a greater yield than the 

 no-manure plot, fell far behind the plot recei- 

 ving dried blood, or the plot receiving complete 

 manure, viz., dried blood, phosphate and potash 

 (2 A) and that receiving dried blood with phos- 

 phate and potash (4 E). The yield was practi- 

 cally identical with that from the plot receiving 

 dried blood alone (3 B). In the third year, this 

 plot far surpassed all the others, giving yields 

 66 per cent greater than that obtained from the 

 no-manure plot.' 



In the Botanical Department, Trinidad, for 

 many past years, mulching has been taught as 

 a valuable method for orchard culture of cacao 

 and other products, and in 'Vol. V, Botanical 

 Bulletin, Trinidad, 1902-3, the following bene- 

 ficial eflects are recorded viz., that mulching : — 



(1) Keeps down weeds. 



(2) Prevents evaporation, and keeps ground 

 moist. 



(3) Furnishes suitable manure in gradual 

 supplies, 



(4) Attracts earth worms to the surface, and 

 causes them to cut numerous burrows, which 

 aerate and cultivate the soil ; in fact the worms 

 actually manure it by carrying down into the 

 tunnels the decomposed organic matter. 



By the use of ' mulching,' it is certain that 

 cacao can be grown successfully on lands that 

 could not produce it otherwise ; and on some of 

 the large estates the practice is being adopted, 

 especially on those fields which suffer during 

 the dry season. 



The cacao tree, although it likes a deep, rich 

 soil, is also a surface-feeding plant, and the 

 ground round the trees cannot be dug or forked 

 with impunity, for, although the tree will stand 

 considerable hardship, it is nevertheless mate- 

 rially injured when the roots are mutilated. 

 There are conditions, however, such as when 

 the surface soil has been thoroughly baked by 



drought, when it would be beneficial to lightly 

 prick it up with a fork, taking care not to 

 break the roots (vertical forking). A slight 

 forking is, however, permissible at times, 

 previous to applying farmyard manure upon 

 the surface, having due regard, of course, to 

 what has been said in the foregoing remarks 

 on the injury caused by the injudicious use of 

 fork and spade. Manure applied to the surface 

 should be covered, if possible, with a thin layer 

 of earth ; but if applied in the form of compost, 

 this is not so necessary an operation, as the 

 volatile constituents of the manure are then in 

 a great measure held fast. 



In applying chemical manures of a caustic 

 obaiacter, it is always well to mix them with a 

 suitable proportion of absorbent earth, and to 

 cover again with a coating of the same material. 

 The primary object in applying manure is to 

 maintain a due proportion of plant food when 

 land has become exhausted of its natural con- 

 stituents, or to supply something in which the 

 land is deficient. It is of course patent that, 

 with the continued production of annual crops, 

 a large quantity of material is removed from the 

 soil; and this must be replaced, whether by 

 Nature or artificially, or the crop will fall short. 

 Farmyard manure takes a foremost position 

 for this purpose among all others, and long- 

 continued practice shows that, when properly 

 applied, it is of the greatest value to the land, 

 not only for its manurial properties, but also for 

 its mechanical action upon the soil ; and more- 

 over, it can never be as dangerous to use as 

 chemical manures, which are admitted to be 

 decidedly hazardous when applied by unskilled 

 labour. — W. Indian Agricultural News, Oct. 30. 



VISIT OF A SARAWAK PLANTER 

 TO CEYLON. 



Mr E Hose, a planter in the service of the 

 Borneo Company Ltd., Sarawak, has spent a 

 fortnight in Ceylon and leaves by the German 

 steamer for the East. Mr Hose has spent 

 17 years in Sarawak and is manager of the 

 rubber and gambier estates of the Company 

 at Poak and of its extensive Sungei Tbngah 

 rubber estates, Mr Hose has some 3000 acres of 

 rubber, on which tapping will commence early 

 in 1910 ; in Ceylon he took the opportunity 

 of acquainting himself with the up-to-date 

 methods employed in the extraction and pre- 

 paration of latex in Ceylon. Among the es- 

 tates visited for this purpose were Culloden, and 

 Kondesale, while Mr Hose also had an enjoy- 

 able visit to Kirkoswald tea estate. Mr Hose 

 met Mr Bamber in SarawaK two years ago and 

 renewed acquaintance with him at Peradeniya 

 the other day where he was shown much to 

 interest and educate him. In conversation with 

 a representative of the Observer today Mr Hose 

 remarked that as far as he could ascertain it at 

 home, the feeling in rubber circles ,vas that the 

 price of rubber would decline considerably to- 

 wards the end of the year; but later on would 

 rise to a figure higher than it had yet attained. 

 It was generally thought these "fictitious" pri- 

 ces would continue, more or less two years more, 

 — Ceylon Observer, Dec. 18. 



