536 



[June, 1912. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



PERADENIYA EXPERIMENT 

 STATION. 



Minutes of a meeting of the Com- 

 mittee of Agricultural Experiments held 

 at the Experiment Station, Peradeniya, 

 on 9th May, 1912. 



Present .-—The Acting Director, R. B. 

 Gaidens, the Hon'ble Mr. E. Rosling, 

 Messrs. W. N. Tisdall, H. A. Beachcrott, 

 M. Kelway Bamber, and the Govern- 

 ment Entomologist (Ag. Secretary). 



1. Read minutes of previous meeting. 



2. Read and discussed Progress 

 Report. 



3. Resolved to collect and grow as 

 many species of Indigofera as can be 

 obtained. 



4. The Acting Director exhibited and 

 explained a map and diagram relating 

 to the crop on the cacao plots from 

 1903-11. 



5. The Acting Director explained and 

 discussed the results of tapping experi- 

 ments recorded in the last Progress 

 Report. 



6. Mr. Tisdall submitted notes on 

 comparative methods of tapping at 

 different intervals. 



7. Resolved that species of all plants 

 cultivated on the Experiment Station be 

 preserved and that duplicates of the 

 same be deposited in the herbarium of 

 the R. B. Gardens, Peradeniya. 



E. Ernest Green. 

 Acting Secretary, Comm. Agr. Exp. 



EXPERIMENT STATION, PERADENIYA 



Progress Report. 

 March 7th to May 9th, 1912. 



Management.— Mr. J. A. Holmes 

 severed his connection with the Experi- 

 ment Station on March 19th. I have 

 proposed to Government that Mr. H. A. 

 Deutrom should act temporarily as 

 Superintendent, but have not yet re- 

 ceived any instructions in the matter. 



Tea.— The dadaps on plot 1*9 were 

 pruned and mulched on 7th May. The 

 weight of green material was 1,972 lbs. 



The recent prolonged drought inter- 

 fered with flush. There has been con- 

 siderable improvement since the advent 

 of rain in April. 



Plots 146-150, which were tipped in 

 March, yielded an average of 327 lbs. of 

 green leaf per acre in April. The remain- 

 ing plots averaged 464 lbs. per acre. 



The jungle bordering the tea plots has 

 been cut back for a distance of about 

 10 feet. 



Weeds have recently been troublesome 

 on account of the wet weather, and 

 labour has not been available for dealing 

 with them effectively. 



Cacao. — Dadap stumps have been 

 planted in most of the experimental plots 

 with a view to replacing the old trees 

 which it is proposed gradually to 

 remove. 



One round of canker work was accom- 

 plished. Canker has been unusually bad 

 of late, and the cost of such a round has 

 increased to Rs. 2-98 per acre. 



The young cacao plots have been 

 manured according to the programme 

 authorised at the last meeting. It has 

 been found necessary to separate the 

 plots by longitudinal drains with catch 

 pits. Dadaps have been supplied where 

 necessary. 



The dadaps in the young cacao plots— 

 63-67 have bean pruued, the yields for 

 the four plots being as follows :— 

 Plot 63* ... ... 208 lbs 



„ 64 ... ... 64 „ 



„ 65 ... ... 485 „ 



„ 66 ... ... 208 ,, 



Hevea Rubber. — The majority of the 

 trees are now in full foliage, and many 

 of them are fruiting. 



Tapping is being carried out on plots 

 79, 80, 82 and 87- 



A statement is given of the results for 

 January, February and March from the 

 experiments begun this year. 



