378 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



SINGLE SEEDLING PLANTING 

 OF PADDY. 



The following notes on single-planting of 

 paddy and on the cultivation of Cambodia cotton 

 are by Mr H C Sampson, Deputy Director of 

 Agriculture, Southern Division, Madras, who can 

 arrange to supply the Cambodia cotton seed at 

 cost price to those who wish to try the crop : — 



Paddy. 



Every one who owns wet lands and trans- 

 plants his paddy crop is recommended to try 

 the system of planting with single seedlings 

 instead of planting a bunch of seedings together. 

 Planting with single seedlings is the ordinary 

 practice in the Kistna Delta and it would be 

 difficult to find better crops anywhere in the 

 Presidency. Single planting has also been tried 

 aud adopted by many people in Tinnevelly, 

 Tanjore and other districts and now some 

 thousands of acres are planted in this way. All 

 Samba and Pishanam varieties will give better 

 yields if planted with single seedlings and there 

 are other advantages as well : — 



1. Less seed is required for sowing. 



2. Labour is saved in carrying seedlings from the seed 

 bed to the field and in pulling up and bundling the seed- 

 lings in the seed bed. 



3. Weeding is easier and water flows more easily in the 

 field. Thus such weeds as Oarai " Nel sakalati " and 

 !' Veppam pasi " can be more easily kept in check. 



4. As less seed is sown in the seed bed the seedlings are 

 stronger and can stand up better in the field when there is 

 too much water present after transplanting as there often is 

 when heavy rainfalls. 



5. If there is a scarcity of water the crop is much better 

 able to withstand drought. 



6. Single-planted crops are much more healthy and are 

 not so liable to disease. " Surai " which causes such loss 

 in the Tanjore Delta as well as in other paddy growing dis- 

 tricts is seldom seen in singly planted crops. 



7. The plants ripen their grain better, and more evenly 

 which means a heavier sample and not so much chaff. 



Any one can adopt this practice without any 

 difficulty and the following advice is given. 



(1) If the seed is good and has been well dried 

 and stored, 7 Madras measures can be sown in 7 

 cents of nursery. This will be ample to trans- 

 plant one acre. Many ryots in Tanjore state 

 that they only sow 3 Madras measures of Sir- 

 maui and Red Samba to transplant one acre. 



(2) If possible the cultivator should procure 

 his seed from a crop which has been grown with 

 single seedlings the year before. This is not 

 essential for success, however, and after once 

 raising a singly planted crop the cultivator can 

 always save his own seed from it 



(3) The dry method of raising a nursery gives 

 stronger seedlings than the wet nursery, i.e., 

 when the nursery has been ploughed in water. 



(4) The seedlings should be transplanted be- 

 fore they become too old. They should not be 

 left in the seed bed for more than one week for 

 every month the crop has to grow, i e., a five 

 month variety should not remain in the seed bed 

 for more than 35 days or five weeks. 



(5) As regards the distance apart at which 

 single seedlings should be transplanted the culti- 

 vator should use his own judgment. The follow- 

 ing distances may, however, act as a guide. On 

 land which produces over 1,000 Madras measures 

 per acre, a span apart ; on land which pro- 

 duces 750 Madras measures per acre, three- 

 quarters of a Span ; and on land which produces 



500 Madras measures per acre or less, half a 

 span, will probably be the best distances. On 

 very rich land which nominally produces 1,500 

 Madras measures per acre even as much as two 

 spans apart between seedlings may give better 

 results while on very poor land, i.e., land which 

 is always broadcasted though planting with 

 single seedlings may give better results the 

 seedlings will have to be so close that the cost 

 of transplanting will be more than the addi- 

 tional value of the crop. 



When a singly-planted crop is first transplanted 

 it looks very thin, but this should not discourage 

 the cultivator who tries this for the first time 

 even though his neighbours piedict that the crop 

 will be a failure. When there is only one seed- 

 ling present in the place of the 10 or 20 or even 30 

 which he usually transplants the newly planted 

 crop must look comparatively thin, but it very 

 soon fills out and presents a much better 

 appearance than the crops of his neighbours 

 planted in the ordinary way. 



CULTIVATION OF CAMBODIA COTTON. 



Cambodia cotton has now become a regular 

 garden crop in Tinnevelly, replacing tobacco, 

 ragi, chillies and other garden crops formerly 

 grown. The reason for this is evident to any one 

 who has grown the crop. Except for an occa- 

 sional irrigation (about once or twice a month in 

 the absence of rain according to whether the soil 

 is deep or shallow) the cultivation expenses are 

 the same as for an ordinary crop of cotton. 



(2) On good well farmed and manured land 

 such as garden lands always are, the yield of 

 cotton is good 1,000 lb. to 1,250 lb. being given 

 usually as the yield per acre by ryots who grow 

 this cotton, though cases have been reported 

 where the yield has been over 2,000 lb. of kappas 

 per acre. The price paid by dealers for this 

 cotton is usually R5 per pothie of 250 lb. more 

 than the market rate. The reason for this higher 

 rate is that the kappas gives a high proportion 

 of lint, 1,500 lb. of kappas will give 5001b. of lint, 

 whereas about 2,000 lb. of the ordinary country 

 cotton are required to give the same amount of 

 lint. Moreover the mills of Tinnevelly District 

 pay R5 per candy more for this cotton than for 

 the country cotton. 



(3) The method of cultivation is very simple, 

 any well manured, well drained garden soil will 

 yield well. The land should be well ploughed 

 and at the ordinary season for sowing cotton, 

 seed of this variety can be sown broadcast and 

 covered with a light plough. Ten pounds of seed 

 are quite sufficient for one acre. After sowing, the 

 land should be laid out for irrigation. After the 

 cotton crop is up and the plants have got their 

 second leaves the field should be hand weeded 

 and the surface loosened. When the plants are 

 about a span high they should be thinned out to 

 about 2 feet apart. If the land has been very well 

 manured, they can be thinned out to 2|— 3 feet 

 apart. If not tinned, the plants will grow to- 

 gether, the branches will be thin and will not 

 be able to support the weight of the bolls, which 

 are very big. A second hoeing may be given 

 before the plants completely cover the ground, 

 after that they will give sufficient shade to 



