October, 1908.] 



379 



Miscellaneous. 



Experiment in Continuous Cultivation 

 of (Jhena Land.— The Secretary has 

 drawn up the following memorandum in 

 connection with the proposal :— Cotton 

 can be grown in chenas with the use of 

 manure like any other crop. It is best 

 planted in a rotation, i.e., in a regular 

 succession of different crops which grow 

 and feed differently. If the same crop 

 is grown continuously on the same land 

 there is a greater tendency to exhausta- 

 tion of the soil than if grown in a rota- 

 tion. The reason why there is less ex- 

 haustion by growing a regular suc- 

 cession of crops is that some crops take 

 up more of one kind of food than 

 another. Again, some crops are 

 shallow-rooted, others are deep-rooted, 

 and plant food is thus procured from 

 different depths of soil when different 

 crops follow one another. Lastly, there 

 are some crops which exert a special 

 fertilizing action on the soil that others 

 cannot exert, and these must, whenever 

 possible, be grown in a rotation. This fer- 

 tilizing property is possessed by legumi- 

 nous or bean-bearing crops such as mun, 

 ulundu, kollu, rata-tora, &c When the 

 crop from these is taken the foliage 

 and roots should be worked into the 

 land, for they add a great deal of ferti- 

 lity to the soil. A four-course rotation, 

 if it could be adopted, would be most 

 satisfactory, i.e., the land must be divid- 

 ed into four equal parts, and each of the 

 four selected crops grown in succession, 

 thus :— 



1. Cotton Legume Grain Maioc 



2. Legume Grain Manioc Cotton 



3. Grain Manioc Cotton Legume 



4. Manioc Cotton Legume Grain 

 In this case the land should be manur- 

 ed after the manioc and before the 

 cotton. If a four-course rotation is 

 found to be impracticable a three-course 

 one consisting of cotton, grain, and 

 legume can be selected, thus : — 



1. Grain ... Cotton ... Legume 



2. Cotton ... Legume ... Grain 



3. Legume ... Grain ... Cotton 

 Here, the land should be manured for 



cotton. If the rotation is reduced to a 

 minimum of two crops, consisting only 

 of cotton and grain grown alternately 

 on two sections of the land, then, in the 

 absence of a fertilizing crop, both 

 should be manured. Where cattle 

 manure is difficult to get and folding 

 of cattle on the land is not practicable, 

 there should be a liberal use of green 

 manure. For this the foliage ot wild 

 trees and plants can be used. The 

 best leaves for this purpose are those 

 of leguminous weeds (such as pila, uil- 

 awari, and andanahiriya, &c.) ; but 

 failing these the leaves of keppiliya, 

 adatoda, tarana, or any plant may be 



employed. Another matter to which 

 attention must be given is proper 

 tillage. In the preparing of the land 

 it should be dug or ploughed to a 

 good depth, say 12 inches. Then in 

 sowing sow in rows, and do not fear 

 that you will get a smaller crop by 

 doing so. Let cotton be placed 4 ft. 

 by 2 ft. apart, mun 2 ft. by 2 ft., dry 

 grains 12 in. by 6 in., manioc 4 ft. by 

 6 ft. The interspaces will admit of the 

 crop being properly weeded and atten- 

 ded to. The surface soil must be kept 

 constantly stirred, so that it will always 

 be loose to a depth of three or four 

 inches. This preserves the moisture 

 in the soil and enables the plants to 

 get their food more easily and to thrive 

 better. By carefully attending to the 

 above details the fertility of chena 

 lands can be maintained, and there 

 will be no necessity for abandoning 

 them on the plea of exhaustion, ana 

 going on to fresh areas. If possible a 

 record of the rotations adopted each 

 year should be kept by the headmen, 

 and some kind of encouragement given 

 to those who continue cultivation on 

 the same land by adopting an intelligent 

 system of rotation and tillage with a 

 view to preserving fertility," 



With the co-operation of the Govern- 

 ment Agent, North- Western Province, 

 it is intended to start an experiment 

 in that Province, probably in the 

 Katugampola hatpattu, and place it in 

 charge of an Agricultural Instructor. 



Work done by Instructors. — The Tamil 

 Instructor, Mr. S. Chelliah, in engaged 

 in the Northern Province in experi- 

 mentally growing paddy with a view 

 to finding a suitable variety to replace 

 dry grains in one part of the rotations 

 at present practised in the north ; also 

 a number of millets imported by the 

 Society as likely to prove suitable in 

 the dry country. Mr. Chelliah is 

 demonstrating the possibility of more 

 effectual tillage with the use of imple- 

 ments kindly loaned by Messrs. Walker, 

 Sons & Co., and Mr. A. E. Rajapakse, 

 Mudaliyar, and also (as already stated) 

 trying the effect of artificial manure 

 on paddy. 



Of the two Sinhalese Agricultural 

 Instructors, Mr. Wickremaratne has 

 made a detailed tour through the 

 villages of the Province of Uva and 

 held meetings and demonstrations with 

 the help of the Ratamahatmayas who 

 have rendered much assistance at the 

 request of the Government Agent of 

 the Province. Very full reports have 

 been submitted to the Organizing Vice- 

 President who considers them usefui 

 records for future work. Mr. Wickre- 

 maratne was unfortunately temporarily 



