558 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



Mr Duncan said the difficulty of such a system 

 would be that another coolie would always have 

 to be ready to place the cup at exactly the right 

 moment. 



On the question of the control of tapping 

 coolies, which figured next on the agenda, Mr. 

 Burn Murdoch said : — 



"I feel very diffident about opening the 

 discussion on this question as 1 have seen few 

 estates beyond my own circle and have no infor- 

 mation of their methods of control. The ques- 

 tion asked — is the control of the individual 

 or the group the best and how ? I say unhesi- 

 tatingly ' of the group.' The whole matter in 

 my mind is very closely identified with heading 

 No 11 on the agenda 'Style of book for keep- 

 ing returns,' for this reason, that the daily 

 return, if kept for separate sections, enables 

 a very close supervision to be kept on any parti- 

 cular group or section. For instance, if section I, 

 under normal conditions, gives 100 lb and a look 

 at the list shows it has fallen off to 70 lb, that 

 particular section can bo at once visited and the 

 reason of this falling oft almost certainly found 

 out. This would apply also if the same section 

 suddenly rose in yield. Unless estates are grouped 

 or divided up into tapping sections, I cannot see 

 how really efficient control can be kept. Thin 

 system of course entails a lot of clerical work but 

 1 do not think it is in any way wasted. In fact 

 1 would go further and say I do not se- how a 

 large area could be otherwise efficiently con- 

 trolled. The size of the sections of course depends 

 on the lay of the land, but I would not recom- 

 mend sections of more than about 6,000 trees. A 

 good coolie or sub-kangani can be put in charge 

 of this. I do not think there can be anything 

 said in favour of individual control. It is im- 

 possible that there can be Europeans enough 

 to watch all the individuals. The European of 

 course generally supervises the work and 

 gets at the individual through his section 

 kangany. 1 do not think 1 need say any more 

 in opening the discussion under this heading.' 



Mr Parkinson— said he agreed that the system 

 was best on a large estate. On his estate they 

 worked by fields of 20 acres or more. If there 

 was a falling off on any particular field it was 

 possible to find out by the returns sent in to the 

 office, and go and visit it. 



In answer to a question asked by the Chair- 

 man, Mr Born Murdoch — said about 30 men 

 could be coveniently controlled in a group 

 under his system. 



PERCENTAGE OF GRADES. 



The last subject which was brought before the 

 meeting was the percentage of different grades. 



Mr Burn Murdoch— gave 75 per cent of JNo 1 

 as the results of his observations. Mr Baxen- 

 dale thought 60 per cent represented the avor- 

 rage of the low country in a dry season. 



In the further course of the discussion Mr H 

 T Fraser read the following figures relating to a 

 series of experiments lasting over six months : — 

 Young Rubber. 



First three. After six. 



No. I 85 83 



Lump 1 3 



Scrap 10 10 



Shavings 4 4 



100% 100% 



In concluding the Chairman — remarked that 

 he thought 70 was a good number, and he 

 added the caution that, in order to ensure pu- 

 rity, the water in the cup should be as clean as 

 possible, as all the little hardly visible impu- 

 rities in the water were centres of coagulation 

 in the cup. Finally he said that he was sorry 

 to say that the books he had hoped to have 

 showing the style of book useful for preparing 

 rubber returns were not ready, nor were the 

 plans of a drying house yet available. 



An enthusiastic vote cf thanks to Mr Gal- 

 lagher for taking the chair with such conspic- 

 uous success brought the meeting to a close, 

 —Malay Mail, May 3. 



THE AVAILABILITY OF SULPHATE 

 OF AMMONIA. 



The common belief is that sulphate of ammo- 

 nia when applied as a manure must first be con- 

 verted into nitrites and then into nitrates by 

 the action of nitrifying germs, but it is now 

 known that it can, to some extent, be directly 

 absorbed. The result of recent investigation by 

 Hutchinson and Miller of Rothamstead has 

 gone to show :— (1) That ammonium sulphate is 

 absorbed directly by wheat and peas ; (2) that 

 under the conditions of the experiment peas 

 thrive equally well whether they are supplied 

 with ammonia salts or nitrates ; (3) that wheat 

 grows best with nitrates ; (4) that the growth of 

 young plants may be stimulated by freshly ap- 

 plied ammonium sulphato ; (5) that unless the 

 land is very poor there is little need for an 

 interval between application of the manure 

 and growing the crop as the manure is immed- 

 iately available to a certain extent ; (6) that 

 where plants are required to take up a large 

 quantity of nitrogen it is likely that both am- 

 monium sulphate together with nitrates will 

 prove more beneficial. 



CEARA SEED AND ANTS. 



[f Ceara seeds which have been filed do not 

 germinate in the nursery quickly, they are apt 

 to be attacked by ants, which gain an entrance 

 through the filed orifice and eat out the whole 

 of the kernels. A planter, who has been trou- 

 bled in this way, informs me that he can keep 

 the ants away from his beds of seeds until the 

 Ceara seeds germinate by putting fresh coconuts 

 round them. He breaks coconuts in half and 

 puts down four to six of these halves at intervals 

 round each seed bed. The ants devote all their 

 attention to feeding on these coconuts and leave 

 the Ceara seed alone. The ants can be killed 

 from time to time, if desired, by pouring boiling 

 water on the coconuts covered with them. My 

 informant protects his vegetable-seeds, such as 

 lettuce, onions, &c, of which ants are very fond, 

 in the same simple way.— Rudolph D. Anstead. 

 Planting Expert, —Planters' Chronicle. May 7. 



