Review. 



484 



[June, 1912. 



ducing the labour required for the transplanting process. The amount of seed 

 required for transplanting at 12 x 12 inches is also very small — not more than 

 I bushel per acre. 



Time was unfortunately not available for the separate weighing of the 

 grain from each plot during the present season. The number of tillers on each 

 plant was, however, counted by an assistant with the following result : — 



Number of Tillers.* 



Plot. 



Number of 

 plants. 





2 



4 



6 



8 



10 



12 



14 



16 



18 



20 



22 



24 



26 



28 



30 32 



34 





A I 







9 



20 



25 



42 



22 



15 



7 



5 



1 



2 







1 ... 





155 



2 





13 



9 



25 



43 



36 



23 



6 



2 



1 





1 











159 



B 3 



1 





1 



6 



20 



22 



28 



32 



35 



16 



7 



1 



1 



1 







171 



4 







1 



4 



12 



12 



30 



19 



15 



20 



8 



6 



4 



1 







132 



C 5 







Q 

 O 



5 



3 



12 



14 



11 



11 



8 



4 





2 



1 





1 



75 



6 





6 



7 



16 



16 



22 



28 



17 



15 



8 



3 



1 







1 ... 





140 



D 7 





2 



4 



11 



10 



15 



13 



7 



2 



2 















66 



8 



1 



1 





3 



7 



4 



4 



2 



1 

















23 



E 9 







2 



1 



6 



6 



2 



3 



2 

















22 



10 







2 



5 



4 





4 





2 

















17 



Total. 



2 



22 



38 



102 146 171 



168 112 



92 



60 



23 



11 



7 



3 



2 ... 



1 



/ 960 



Just as in regard to the character of weight of grain, so in regard to the 

 character of tillering the offspring of the best plants stands first. Comparing 

 plot B of the present generation with plot D of the preceding one, the aver- 

 age number of tillers has been increased from about 7 to about 15, or more 

 than doubled. The average has in fact been raised almost to the value of the 

 exceptional plant selected. A small part of this result may be due to the in- 

 creased space available— 12 inches x 12 icstead of 10 x 10, In the season 1910-11 

 however, the 12 x 12 plot tailed to tiller as well as the 10 x 10 plot. 



Exceptional plants again occur— one had as many a^s 34 tillers— which 

 would have afforded excellent material for further selection had it been possible 

 to pay personal attention to the harvesting of the crop. The effect of selection 

 appears, however, to have been already amply demonstrated. 



We venture to express the hope that the seed obtained in these ex- 

 periments will prove a valuable asset to the new Ceylon Department of Agri- 

 culture, and we hope that experiments which show so much promise will be 

 carried further by that Department and the seed distributed. It would perhaps 

 show too optimistic a temperament to express any confidence that the final 

 result will be an increase in the total crop of paddy produced in Ceylon and 

 not a diminution in the area cultivated. 



Review. 



SPICES. 



By H. N. RidlbyTc.M G., F.R.S. 



This book deals somewhat comprehen- 

 sively, in the space of 450 pages, with 

 the varieties, history and distribution, 

 methods of cultivation including suit- 



able climates and soils, preparation, 

 pestss exports and uses of Vanilla, 

 Nutmegs, Cloves, Allspice, Cinnamon, 

 Pepper, Cardamoms, Chilies and other 

 tropical spices. 



The book is largely a compilation and 

 a considerable amount of literature has 



* la this table 1 and 2, 3 and 4 etc., are placed together; 



