April, 1912.] 



303 



Dye Stuffs, 



oil cake. Composition of indigo refuse 

 or " seet " :— 



Per cent. 



Water .. ... 72-56 



Organic matter ... ... 22 88* 



Mineral matter ... ... 4 - 56t 



'Containing nitrogen 

 Equal to ammonia 

 fContaining — 



Silica 



Lime 



Magnesia 



Potash 



Phosphoric acid 



100-00 



0- 98 



1- 19 



1'04 

 1-09 

 21 

 0-89 

 0-27 



Phosphoric acid equal to tribasic 

 phosphate of lime ... 58 



— (Rawson.) 



Rawson gives the actual money value of 

 the "seet "from 100 maunds (=8.000 lbs.) 

 cf green plant as amounting to Rs. 37. 

 Prom an outturn of 32,000 lbs. of green 

 plant per acre we may therefore expect, 

 in addition to the dye, a residual manure 

 worth Rs. 148. The amelioration of the 

 soil, as a concomitant of indigo cultiv- 

 ation, has been recognized as one of the 

 most important elements of the industry 

 in India, and should receive the same re- 

 cognition in Ceylon. I trust that the 

 data 1 have given will draw the attention 

 of Ceylon planters to the cultivation of 

 a product which, even grown as a sub- 

 sidiary crop, opens such large possibilities 

 for the more successful cul ti vatic u of 

 the present staple products of the island. 



Discussion. 



(Prom the Times of Ceylon, 

 March 7tb, 1912.) 



Sir Hugh Clifford's Many Questions. 



The Governor cordially welcomed 

 Baron Schrottky and expressed his 

 pleasure that a visitor to the Island 

 should read them a paper on such an 

 interesting subject. 



Baron Schrottky thanked His Excel- 

 lency, and then read his paper as given 

 above. 



Sir Hugh Clifford said he would like 

 to ask the Baron to inform them what 

 was the area sown in Colombo in July 

 last, and also what was the area planted 

 in the Kalutara district. 



Baron Schrottky replied that a small 

 area was sown in Colombo gardens ; 

 about an acre, more or less, on a coconut 

 estate ; and about 60 acres in Kalutara. 



Sir Hugh: In a single block? 



Baron Schrottky replied in the affirm- 

 ative, adding that in the Kalutara 

 district where the seed was sown without 

 preparation on the land, the results 

 were extremely successful ; and the 

 Baron produced a plant, about four feet 

 high, which he said had grown there in 

 four months, having been planted in 

 October last. He asked the meeting to 

 note the very long tap roots and other 

 distinctive features of the plant. The 

 Baron emphasised with pride that the 

 plant had grown in four months, and 

 declared that not even in India or in 

 Java had he known a plant to grow so 

 well in that time. 



The Governor : Java has a parti- 

 cularly good soil ! 



Baron Schrottky : Yes ; but not even 

 in Java have I seen anything like this. 



The Governor observed that in the 

 Straits the Chinese grew a great deal 

 of indigo, cutting it when so high— 

 (indicating his neck). He remembered 

 this through snipe-shooting, for the 

 plants reached up to his neck. 



Sir Hugh Clifeord asked the Baron in 

 what part of Kalutara the experiment 

 was made. 



The Baron replied that it was near 

 Clyde estate. 



Sir Hugh: Near a river? 



The Baron : Yes ; not very far away. 



Sir Hugh said the paper was an ex- 

 tremely interesting one, but there were 

 one or two questions he would like to 

 ask. They were, however, more in the 

 nature of an invitation to the author 

 of the paper to give them fuller inform- 

 ation than in the nature of a criticism. 

 Continuing, Sir Hugh said he thought 



