Scientific Agriculture, 



522 



[December, 1910. 



3. Amongst the various remedial 

 measures which could be adopted, au 

 important one is the conservation of 

 urine which is so rich in nitrogen and 

 which forms a very essential plant food. 

 That the urine of cattle and sheep has 

 rich manurial properties is fully under- 

 stood by the Indian ryot, as will be 

 evident from the wide currency of 

 popular sayings like " cg£® eai(_/ri_/r<5 

 sir® sQdstriuir&i (Untrodden by sheep, 

 no land will produce)", u ^®L8@ltutr& 

 QstretidstiajLh ^6fr<5&s$si>rru Qussarsmiic 



<5wr (A field untrodden by sheep and a 

 maid without her husband are useless)," 

 etc., embodied in Mr. Benson's collection 

 of "Sayings and Proverbs on Agricul- 

 ture"; but no systematic attempt is 

 made to conserve the urine of their 

 cattle. 



4. As pointed out by Mr. Clouston, 

 the system is a simple one, involving no 

 initial expenditure and requiring no 

 other bedding than the dry-earth used. 

 It is based on sound scientific principles ; 

 the earth absorbs the urine and retains 

 its most valuable ingredients. A suffi- 

 cient supply of dry earth should be 



stored under cover from the rain. This 

 is spread in the stalls to a depth of six 

 inches. The dung is removed daily and 

 stored in a pit. The urine-earth is re- 

 moved from the stalls and stored in the 

 same pit after having lain about a month 

 in the stalls ; fresh earth is put into its 

 place. By removiug the dung daily, the 

 stalls are kept clean. Should the earth 

 get caked, the surface is scarified by 

 means of a scraper in order to make it 

 pervious to the liquid manure. By this 

 method both the liquid and solid excreta 

 are saved. 



5. The system is a very simple oue 

 and is easily understood by the most 

 ignorant villager. It costs nothing and 

 involves no trouble, and, as already 

 stated, the urine thus conserved forms 

 a most valuable manure in a very soluble 

 form. In tracts such as the Ceded Dis- 

 tricts where it is the custom to keep 

 cattle in the house at night, the adoption 

 of this system would be very beneficial 

 to the health of the people themselves. 



H. E. Houghton, 

 P. Rajaratna Mudliyar, 

 Joint Honorary Secretaries. 



AGRICULTURAL FINANCE AND GO-OPERATION. 



CO-OPERATIVE CREDIT IN BENGAL. 



(Prom the Indian Agriculturist, Vol. 

 XXXV., No. 10, October, 1910). 



A Year op Encouraging Progress. 



The Government Resolution on the 

 working of Cc-operative Credit Societies 

 for 1909-10 issued by the Bengal Govern- 

 ment states :— 



The record of the year is one of steady 

 and encouraging progress. The relative 

 advance made can be measured by sum- 

 marising the development of the move- 

 ment since the passing of the Act. 



The urban movement has, without 

 much direct assistance from the Regis- 

 trar, made considerable progress duriug 

 the year, and urban societies have proved 

 a boon to clerks in Government offices 

 and mercantile firms amongst whom 

 indebtedness appears to be great. The 

 urban movement, however, does not 

 appear to have assisted to any appreci- 

 able extent the small traders and 

 artisans of towns, and it is hoped that 

 an attempt will be made to extend to 

 them the benefits of the Act whenever a 

 suitable opportunity occurs. 



On the rural side there has been much 

 progress, which is shown both in the 

 development and increased efficiency of 

 the old societies, and in the actual in- 

 crease in the number of societies. 

 The expansion has taken place chiefly 

 around old centres, and is not to any 

 great extent due to the tapping of 

 new areas, It is satisfactory, how- 

 ever, to observe that during the year 

 more attention was paid to Orissa, 

 which has always been regarded as a 

 promising field for co-operation. 



Policy Described.- 

 The policy, which is now followed in 

 Bengal, is the formation of societies 

 within compact areas, and their organi- 

 sation, as they gain in strength and 

 stability, into local self-administered 

 unions through which they can control 

 one another and more easily obtain 

 financial assistance. It has been re- 

 cognised from the beginning that, with- 

 out a satisfactory solution of the problem 

 of aombination of rural societies in self- 

 controlled organisations for the purpose 

 of manual control and finance, the move- 

 ment can never be safely developed 

 beyond very narrow limits. Towards 



