Scientific Agriculture. 



532 



[June, 1912. 



Before recording the results obtained, 

 it will be well tor us to give a brief 

 survey of the nature of the experiments 

 and the character of the plots used. 



In his 6th Annual Report for the year 

 1904-05, Dr. Lehmann has given a plan 

 of the wet area of the Farm and, on the 

 accompanying map (Plate 11), the area 

 set apart for paddy experiments is 

 shown, as is also the way the plots have 

 been used for the various experiments 

 that have been carried out. As will be 

 seen, the area is divided into two ranges, 

 B and C. The individual plots contain 

 each one-tenth of an acre, the smallest 

 amount of land which may be considered 

 sufficient for field experiments. The 

 plots are fifty links wide and two-hun- 

 dred long and are separated from each 

 other by permanent bunds three feet 

 wide. These bunds have, for primary 

 object the prevention of the lateral 

 spread of manures in the irrigation 

 water. Each range and each plot can be 

 irrigated and drained independently of 

 the others and this practice is, of course, 

 followed in all experiments- 



Previous to beginning the experiments, 

 five crops of paddy were grown under as 

 similar conditions as possible to test the 

 relative fertility of the different plots. 

 In the case of the third crop, practically, 

 no grain was produced, a phenomenon 

 which has been reported from various 

 parts of Mysore in unfavourable seasons 

 and the cause for which is, at present, 

 not known. The results of the remain- 

 ing four crops were used in ascertaining 

 the relative fertility of the various plots 

 and only those plots which showed the 

 greatest amount of uniformity in yield 

 were used for immediate experiments. 

 The others have since then been kept 

 cropped under similar conditions, with 

 the result that some more of them show- 

 ed sufficient uniformity to be used for 

 experimental purposes in 1910. As the 

 experiments conducted on these latter 

 plots are of great practical interest, the 

 results of them are included in the 

 present bulletin. The methods of stan- 

 dardising the experimental plots have 

 already been discussed by Dr. Lehmann 



in his various reports, so nothing further 

 need be said here on that subject. 



The experiments that have, up to the 

 present, been carried out deal with the 

 following questions :— 



1. Cultivation experiments dealing 

 with deep and shallow ploughing, plough- 

 ing the land immediately after harvest 

 as against leaving the land unploughed 

 till just before transplantation, sowing 

 sprouted seeds dry, broad-cast sowing 

 and transplantation. 



2. Manurial experiments dealing with 

 the use of artificial manures, castor 

 poonac and green manures. 



3. Rotational experiments dealing with 

 the rotation of paddy with an unirri- 

 gated crop. 



4. Seed selection by means of the so- 

 called " salt water method." 



Summary of Conclusions. 



1. With regard to paddy cultivation, 

 the view that better results can be 

 obtained by ploughing the land immedi- 

 ately after harvest than by leaving 

 the land in stubble and ploughing in 

 puddle immediately before transplanta- 

 tion, appears to be erroneous. 



2. Deep ploughing has not yielded 

 uniformly better results than shallow 

 ploughing in paddy fields and so cannot 

 at present be recommended. A large 

 body of results of experiments extending 

 over several years more will be necessary 

 before definite conclusions can be reached 

 on this point. 



3. Green manuring can be recom- 

 mended as a cheap and efficient method 

 of increasing the fertility of paddy 

 lands. Where two crops of paddy a year 

 are raised it is necessary to sow the 

 green manure seed in the paddy some 

 one or two weeks before the harvest to 

 allow for a sufficient period of growth 

 Both sunn hemp aud cow pea can be 

 recommended for use as green manures. 



4. Castor cake has not uniformly paid 

 for itself as a manure for paddy in the 

 experiments described here but a com- 

 bination of small quantities of it with 



