Miscellaneous, 



356 



[April, 1910. 



could have been better used by giving 

 better methods and emphasizing; the 

 necessity for level cultivation of cotton. 

 It is a better paying business, for in- 

 stance, to lay off new rows for your 

 cotton than to follow cotton after cotton, 

 as suggested in the text, notwithstand- 

 ing the fact that its danger is hinted 

 at on the same page. 



There is no chapter devoted to the 

 dairy and live-stock industry, though 

 the importance of it is suggested in 

 three places in the book. Stock feed 

 can be raised very cheaply in the south, 

 and the cost of keeping stock is reduced 

 to the minimum. No costly shelters are 

 required, and it is possible to arrange 

 your pastures so that your stock can 

 graze ten or eleven months in the year. 

 Besides, at present, we ship from the 

 south millions of dollars' worth of 

 cotton-seed meal annually, to be used 

 for stock feed in other parts of the 

 world, instead of using it as we should, 

 hist through live-stock to increase the 

 beef and butter production of the south ; 

 and, secondly, in the form of barnyard 

 manure to fertilize the land with. It 

 is believed that the book would have 

 been worth more to the schools of the 

 south, if a good, lengthy chapter on 

 the live-stock industry had been in- 

 cluded. 



In conclusion, it seems that the author 

 is more at home in his studies or tro- 

 pical agriculture, and though he has 

 done excellent work, many parts of the 

 book read as if the information given 

 were not first hand. For iustance, 

 there is a freshness and an air of con- 

 fidence in those parts that treat of 

 diseases and remedies, and the botanical 

 features of special crops that are con- 

 spicuously lacking in the parts devoted 

 to manuring and cultivating. 



PERADENIYA EXPERIMENT 

 STATION. 



Minutes of a meeting of the Committee 

 of Agricultural Experiments held at the 

 Experiment Station, Peradeniya, on 

 10th March, 1910. 



The following members were present : — 

 Dr. Willis, Chairman, the Entomologist, 

 the Mycologist, the Government Chemist, 

 the Hon'ble Mr. E. Turner, the Hon'ble 

 the Government Agent, C. P., the 

 Secretary, and Messrs. Rosling, Jowitt, 

 Lock and Vanderstraaten. 



The Secretary read the Progress Report 

 since the previous meeting, and the 

 following resolutions were passed :— 



1. That the question of obtaining a 



better breed of cattle and pro- 

 viding more up-to-date accom- 

 modation for the same, with a 

 view to making manure ou the 

 most approved methods, should 

 be set down for consideration 

 at the first meeting of 1911. 



2. That the coconut land suggested be 



cleared for fruit experiments. 



3. That 2,000 coconuts be set aside aud 



used for oil and copra experi- 

 ments in lots of 500—500 being at 

 once used and the remainder being 

 used at intervals of one month. 



J. A. Holmes, 

 Secretary, C. A. E., and Superintendent, 



Experiment Station, Peradeniya. 

 12th March, 1910. 



Progress Report on Experiment 

 Station since Meeting on 13th 

 January, 1910. 

 Tea. — The usual cultivation has been 

 doue and the Crotalaria in plot 148 has 

 been cut and mulched, that sown in 147 

 has had its stems bent to cause it to 

 grow low on the surface of the ground. 



The Indigoferain plot 142 has also been 

 cut and mulched. 



The steep slopes on plots 154 and 155 

 have been manured and trenched as the 

 bushes are very poor. 



The yield since last meeting has been 

 good, about 5,500 lbs. green tea having 

 been despatched to Peradeniya. 



Cacao.— The dadaps on the five acres 

 of young cacao have been pruned in 

 various ways, two plots having had the 

 stems bent over, and two each having 

 been topped to form high and low shade 

 respectively. The young plants in the 

 plots sown with Indigofera aud Crota- 

 laria have died back considerably since 

 these latter were cut. 



Owing to the absence of drains these 

 plots have suffered considerably from 

 wash, but drains have been traced and 

 will be cut as soon as labour is available. 



The paths dividing plots 1-10 and 107-111 

 have also been cleared. 



Owing to density of shade and close 

 planting, the abandoned cacao plots are 

 in a very poor conditiou. 



10,372 lbs. have been shipped to London. 



Coconuts.— In one acre of coconuts the 

 trees have been forked round to a dis- 

 tance of 10 feet and mulched with green 

 jungle stuff, and cattle are being tied at 

 night to the trees on another division, 



