TZE3IE3 



TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST 



AND 



MAGAZINE OF THE 



CEYLON AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Vol. XXX. COLOMBO, 15th APEIL, 1908. No. 4. 



Rotation of Crops in Paddy-Fields. 



We have already written about this 

 subject on several occasions, and are 

 induced to return to the charge by what 

 we have seen at Welimada, where owing 

 to the scarcity of water the paddy-fields 

 cannot in general be continuously culti- 

 vated. Here, instead of allowing them 

 to lie fallow in grass, the villagers not 

 uncommonly cultivate them in Kurakkan 

 or sweet potatoes, following this with a 

 crop of Kollu (Dolichos biflorus, L.), 

 which, of course, will have the very 

 desirable result of adding nitrogen to 

 the soil when it is ploughed in. 



With this example before us of actual 

 rotation, it is to be hoped that more 

 people in Ceylon will try its effects in 

 their own paddy-fields. In Java, the 

 moment the rice crop is reaped, the 

 ground is softened with a little water 

 aud the rice straw, with or without 



manure, turned in, and a crop of veget- 

 ables is then at once planted on the land. 

 It would seem likely that the food 

 supply available in a village in Ceylon 

 might be largely increased by the adop- 

 tion of this method. Even the food 

 supply for cattle might be greatly in- 

 creased and improved by the cultivation 

 of fodder crops upon the paddy-fields, a 

 system which so far as we know has not 

 yet been tried in Ceylon. There are many 

 leguminous or nitrogen-absorbing plants 

 which might probably be used for this 

 purpose. 



Many people, speaking with the con- 

 fidence of ignorance, say that the native 

 thoroughly understands the cultivation 

 of rice, and that it is impossible to teach 

 him anything. So he does, up to his, 

 lights, but that is no reason why other 

 people should not have more powerful 

 lights. 



