April, 1912.J 



329 



HdYticultuve, 



indiea and Babul germinated densely 

 over 36 acres. Elsewhere the growth 

 was poor. 



In January, 1911, while inspecting Bad- 

 nahal Reserve I found big cracks all 

 along the furrows and saw the dauger of 

 the roots of the seedlings being exposed. 

 To prevent the seedlings from dying 

 I at once had both sides of the furrows 

 levelled with an ordinary guntika drawn 

 by a pair of oxen and employed women 

 coolies to add the loosened earth to the 

 seedlings forming a ridge alon^ the 

 farrows. This process successfully closed 

 all cracks. Once again I had the sides 

 loosened with guntikas to prevent the 

 surface cracking during the summer. 

 The seedlings were in January 6" to 9" 

 high. In March I found they had grown 

 from 1' to 2' high ; and on further inspec- 

 tion on the 25th August I found they 

 had attained a height varyiug fiom 

 2' to 5'. 



There are not less than 1,500 seedlings 

 per acre over 36 acres and 500 seedlings 

 per acre over 9 acres in this reserve. 



The cost of the operations was Rs. 13 

 per acre. Details are given below ; — 



Rs. a, p. 

 Clearing shrubs and grubbing 



out stumps ... ... 1 



Iron ploughing ... ... 6 



Levelling with heavy guntika... 3 

 Sowing with seed drills ... 8 



Loosening the soil with ordinary 



guntika and adding loosened 



earth ... ... ... 2 



Collection of seeds, etc. ... 8 



13 



In 15 acres of land ploughed with iron 

 ploughs seeds were sown broadcast as 

 an experiment. The results, however, 

 are very poor, seedlings being very few 

 in number and unequally distributed 

 over the area. 



The above operations have been carried 

 on in Adoni Range, Bellary District, 

 where the annual rainfall is 22 inches. 



S. THUMBOO NA.IDU, 

 Forest Ranger. 



Adoni, 30th August, 1911. 



HORTICULTURE. 



PELARGONIUM CULTURE, 



(Prom the Queensland Agricultural 

 Journal, Vol. XXVIII., Part 2, 

 February, 1912,) 



Propagation by seed is the only way 

 to raise superior varieties. The first and 

 most important of their qualities is 

 form ; the next is substance ; the next, 

 size ; and the last, colour. To these may 

 be added habit and truss. Save seed 

 only from such as possess already these 

 points approaching perfection. In all 

 attempts to hybridise, let the one to 

 bear the seed possess the property of 

 form. In order to obtain the other pro- 

 perties wanting, cut off the anthers of the 

 well-formed variety before the pollen- 

 cases shed their contents, and the mo- 

 ment the hybridising is performed, 

 cover the flowers with a close-fitting cap 

 of a fine muslin net to prevent insects 

 from carrying strange pollen to the 

 42, 



stigma dusted with pollen from such 

 varieties as have the desirable pro- 

 perties. When the seed is ripe gather 

 it carefully and divest it of its arils or 

 feather-like appendages, wrap it up in a 

 paper, and keep it in a dry drawer in a 

 cool room till spring. Sow it early in 

 spring, and, if necessary, place it in 

 gentle heat — a hot bed that has been at 

 work for a few weeks will answer admir- 

 ably. Sow in wide, shallow pots, well 

 drained, in a light rich compost ; press 

 the seed down gently, and cover it about 

 a quarter of an inch. If the seed is 

 good, it will quickly germinate, and 

 should then be removed from the hot 

 bed and placed upon a shelf in the 

 greenhouse near the glass- Water very 

 moderately, or the plants will be apt to 

 damp off. As soon as the seedlings have 

 made their second leaf, pot them off 

 singly into 2-in. pots, in a compost of 

 loam and leaf-mould in equal parts, with 



