October, 1908:] 



381 



Miscellaneous. 



certain kinds of padu mannu, which 

 are probably rich in nitrate of lime. 



" Alkaline wet land may be improved 

 by leaving the straw of a paddy crop 

 uncut and ploughing it in under water, 

 as is done in the Kistna and Godavari 

 deltas, no water-rate being charged 

 by Government on certain conditions 

 being fulfilled. In thiaf connection, the 

 Trichinopoly Agricultural Association 

 might use gypsum (Tamil, kavpura 

 silasittu) which may be had for the 

 picking in practically unlimited quant 

 ities at the Uttattur beds. They should 

 be applied after being powdered, at the 

 rate of 2 or 3 tons per acre, on all alka- 

 line land which is ascertained by analysis 

 to contain more than one-fifth per cent, 

 of sodium carbonate." 



B. db A.— The murunga {Moringa 

 pterygosperma) is called the horse radish 

 tree because it has properties similar to 

 that of the horse-radish. The bark of 

 the roots is what is usually used in 

 stomach derangement. " Drum sticks " 

 is another name for the fruits. Murunga 

 is not leguminous, but Katurumurunga 

 (of which the flowers and leaves are 

 eaten, but seldom the pods) is. 



F. D. — Basic slag is a by-product in the 

 manufacture of steel, in which lime, a 

 base, is largely used and forms a com- 

 pound with the phosphorus invariably 

 present in the iron ore— separating as a 

 slag, hence the name. 



G. P. — Margosa poonac, referred to in 

 my last notes, is the refuse cake after 

 the extraction of oil from the seeds. 

 The tree is known in Sinhalese as Ko- 

 hombo, in Tamil as Vmupadam, and 

 botanically as Azadirachta indica. In 

 India it is called neem. The refuse 

 cake has been put forward as a cure 

 for Betel-vine diseases. 



A. W. A.— Thanks for the litchi seed. I 

 will distribute them as requested. The 

 tree is rather a shy bearer in Ceylon, and 

 I have only heard of fruiting trees in the 

 Matale and Peradeniya districts. Those 

 who have grown litchi succssfully in 

 Ceylon may be inclined to give their ex- 

 perience of cultivation. In Calcutta the 

 fruits are plentiful in season, and when 

 fresh have the same strong ethereal 

 odour as our mora (Nephelium longana). 



Para Rubber. — Re packing of rubber 

 seed the following account of a method 

 adopted by Mr. H. N. Ridley, f.r.s., 

 Director of Botanic Gardens, Singapore, 

 in sending seed to a great distance, will 

 be read with interest :— " The seeds were 

 packed in biscuit tin boxes with burnt 

 rice husks 600 seeds in one box ; the 

 boxes were not soldered. The tins were 

 then packed in a wooden box, 8 to 10 

 tins in a box. The burnt rice husk is 



obtained from the rice mills where the rice 

 is husked, the fine powdered husk is burnt 

 at the mills and we obtain it from them. 

 It is then in the form of a very fine 

 powdery charcoal, very tight. We have 

 found this far the best packiug material 

 for rubber seed and always use it now." 



Correspondence. 



CLEANLINESS OF CULTIVATION. 



Maskeliya, 5th September, 1908. 



Sir, — In an interesting article in your 

 last issue entitled "A griculture in Japan,' 

 the author, in describing the methods of 

 the cultivators, says, "Weeds are not to 

 be seen at any time, and all stones are 

 removed, so that 'every square inch 

 (of the soil)may play its part.'" 



Our system of cultivation in Ceylon 

 includes tiie former, i.e, "clean weeding," 

 but such a thiner as removing stones 

 from the soil is not thought of, at least 

 not generally. 



There are favoured districts and 

 estates with soil comparatively, if not 

 entirely, free from stones, but there are 

 very many estates with both the surface 

 and the sub-soil full of stones. I know 

 of fields of Tea where it is next to impos- 

 sible to drive a digging fork in any- 

 where without coming in contact with 

 a stone, big or small. Now, most plan- 

 ters must have observed that although 

 one usually finds good Tea in rocky 

 fields, in stony fields the Tea is poor, 

 the s reason probably being that the 

 root of the bushes do not get free play 

 in the soil, the stones embedded in it 

 tending to choke the efforts of the roots 

 to seek fresh food, and so preventing full 

 development of the bushes. If the root 

 growth is retarded, the development of 

 the bush must also be retarded. 



The removel of these stones cannot 

 but be beneficial to the Tea, especially if 

 some covering or mulching, with prim- 

 ings or other green stuff, be given to the 

 surface afterwards. The bigger stones 

 could be made use of for terracing, an 

 excellent thing in land subject to wash, 

 and the smaller stones for laying on the 

 top of the primings or mulching to keep it 

 in its place. An opinion from on agricul- 

 tural expert would be interesting, and 

 helpful to the "Tea Farmer" in his efforts 

 to make the most of his stony land. 



Yours faithfully, 



R. Maclure, 



[There can be little doubt that it 

 would ultimately pay an estate to spend 

 a little money on removing stones, but 

 the ground should then be kept properly 



