Miscellaneous, 



544 



[December, 1910. 



least 5 acres. There is so much demand 

 for seed that, in order to meet immed- 

 iate requirements, we had to gin local- 

 ly grown cotton. This seed was selected 

 before distribution. We have ordered 

 from home two fresh consignments of 

 seed, which we hope will arrive in about 

 a fortnight's time. Most of this seed is 

 already booked. With reference to the 

 seed cotton received, we beg to say that 

 most of the lots lacked in cleanliness, 

 The cotton was full of leafy bits, and 

 partly stained and unripe. In one case 

 a man had picked the bolls with the 

 cotton, The best lots were two bags 

 Sea Island from Rev. Father Schlosser, 

 Jaffna, and three bags Egyptian seed 

 cotton received from the Assis- 

 tant Government Agent, Hambantota, 

 through the Ceylon Agricultural Society. 

 We take this opportunity to say that it 

 is of the utmost importance that the 

 most careful attention is paid to the 

 picking and grading in order to obtain 

 the best price. We have been informed 

 that next season several thousand acres 

 of cotton will be opened. At present 

 about 500 acres have been planted. 



"As we donot feel at liberty to publish 

 the^names of the parties who have been 

 purchasing seed, Ave merely indicate the 

 number in each district :— Chilaw, 6 ; 

 Marawila, 1 ; Jaffna, 4 ; Trincomalee 2 ; 

 Batticaloa, 2 ; Kandy, 2 ; Kurunegala, 1 ; 

 Matale, 2 ; Kegalla, 1 ; Tissamaharama, 

 2. The above represent plantations of 

 from 5 to 50 acres." 



Messrs. Freudenberg & Co., in for- 

 warding copies of their manual of cotton 

 cultivation for distribution to members, 

 writes as follows to the Secretary :— 

 " We have the honour to ask you kindly 

 to induce prospective cotton planters to 

 plant at least 10 acres of Sea Island or 6 

 . of Upland. Calculating 250 lb. lint per 

 acre for Sea Island and 400 for Upland, 

 you will find that the above acreage is 

 just sufficient to obtain one ton of lint. 

 On smaller quantities the charges would 

 be out of proportion, and prevent a 

 substantial profit. If the cotton is 

 grown as a catch crop among one or 

 two-year old coconut palms, a corres- 

 pondingly larger acreage should be 

 planted. The least quantity of seed to 

 obtain one ton of lint should always be 

 60 lb. of Sea Island or 36 lb. of Upland. 

 Cotton plants should be protected 

 against cattle and village pigs." 



The cotton raised in the Experimental 

 Gardens at Rajakadaluwa, Tissamaha- 

 rama, and at Madugoda has been sold 

 to the local agency. 



A small parcel of Cambodia cotton 

 seed has been received from the Deputy 

 Director of Agriculture, Trichinopoly, 



with the following note :— " Except for 

 an occasional irrigation (about once or 

 twice a month in the absence of rain, 

 according to whether the soil is deep 

 or shallow), the cultivation expenses 

 are the same as for an ordinary crop 

 of cotton. On good well-farmed and. 

 manured land, such as garden lands al- 

 ways are, the yield of cotton is good, 

 1,000 lb. to 1,250 lb. being given usually 

 as the yield per acre by ryots who 

 grow this cotton, though cases have been 

 reported where the yield has been over 

 2,000 lb. of kappas per acre. The price 

 paid by dealers for this cotton is usually 

 Rs. 5 per pothie of 250 lb. more than the 

 market rate. The reason for this higher 

 rate is that the kappas gives a high 

 proportion of lint, 1,500 lb. of kappas 

 will give 500 lb. of lint, whereas about 

 2,000 lb. of the ordinary country cotton 

 are required to give the same amount 

 of lint. Moreover, the mills of Tinne- 

 velly district pay Rs. 5 per candy more 

 for this cotton than for the country 

 cotton." 



The Government A.gent, Eastern Pro- 

 vince, has given permission for the cul- 

 tivation of 24 acres of land on the 

 understanding that half is cultivated 

 with cotton and half with chena grains. 

 This arrangement should tend to popul- 

 arize the cultivation of cotton in suit- 

 able localities. A similar concession is 

 being looked for in the Northern Pro- 

 vince in the Pooneryn division. 



Seeds and Plants. — Members are re- 

 quested to note that Sumatra tobacco 

 seed can be had on application to the 

 Superintendent of the Experiment Sta- 

 tion, Maha Iluppalama, Talawa. The 

 price will be approximately 50 cents 

 per ounce. 



A total of 750 grafted plants were 

 imported from India on orders received 

 from members and distributed to them. 

 These consisted of 4 varieties of mango, 

 4 of orange, grape, guava, fig, citron, 

 loquat, pomegranate, pumelo, rose apple, 

 and bhere fruit. 



About g cwt. of seed of Tephrosia pur- 

 purea and Cajanus indicus is still 

 obtainable from the Superintendent of 

 School frardens at 25 cents and 10 cents 

 per lb. respectively. 



Sericulture.— The question of handing 

 over the Peradeniya Silk Faim to be 

 worked by the Salvation army, which 

 has peculiar facilities for pushing Seri- 

 culture as a village industry, has been 

 decided by the Silk Committee, with 

 the approval of the Finance Committee. 

 The offer of a deeremental grant of 

 Rs. 2,000 for the first year, Rs. 1,000 for 

 the second year, Rs. 500 for the third— 



