Miscellaneous. 



580 



[December, 1908. 



Assistant Superintendent of School 

 Gardens was lent to supervise the 

 planting. 



The Bandaragama Garden. — This 

 garden, which is in immediate charge 

 of the Mudaliyar of Rayigam Korale, 

 is now well established, and bids fair 

 to prove a great success under the 

 fostering care of the present Assistant 

 Government Agent of Kalutara. It was 

 inspected by the Secretary in October. 



Seed. — Negotiations are in progress 

 with a, view to procuring a suitable 

 paddy from Java for higher elevations 

 in Geylon. Sample lots of half a dozen 

 of the best paddies have also been 

 kindly promised by the Director of 

 Agriculture, Bengal. A small supply 

 of paddy known as " Taungdekpan," 

 reported to stand drought well, is 

 expected from Burma. A large consign- 

 ment of maize and buckwheat seed was 

 distributed in suitable localities during 

 November. Bellary onion seed was also 

 distributed in the same month. 



Plants-— A consignment of grafted 

 orange (Coorg), mango (Mulgoa), rose 

 apple, guava, and pomegranate plants 

 was received on November 18 for 

 members who had ordered them ; a 

 limited quantity of orange grafts is 

 available to non-members at Re. 1. 



Loquats grown at Kandy.— Mr. K. B. 

 Beddewela forwarded a quantity of 

 these fruits with a view to find a 

 market. Samples were submitted to 

 Colombo firms dealing in fruits, but 

 none were inclined to purchase. The 

 crop was reported to be a large one, 

 and it is unfortunate that there should 

 be no market. 



Arecanut Husk Fibre.— A couple of 

 hundredweights were forwarded to the 

 Imperial Institute at the request of the 

 Director, with a view to a further 

 report being made as to its commercial 

 value. 



European Market for Ceylon Tobacco. 

 —Mr. Kelway Bamber having kindly 

 put the Secretary in communication 

 with a tobacco leaf expert in England, 

 samples procured from J aff na and Ghilaw 

 have already been forwarded. Samples 

 from Dumbara and Trincomalee will 

 follow. 



Government Agricultural Chemist's 

 Reports— The Secretary of the Ham- 

 bantota Branch Society forwarded 

 samples of soil taken from three different 

 places from fields which have the worst 

 reputation as saline lands, with a request 



that they may be analyzed. The Govern- 

 ment Agricultural Chemist writes :— 



" Herewith my report on the sample 

 of soil of saline lands in Hambantota ; 

 it is a finely divided clayey loam with 

 an alkaline reaction ; it has a fair 

 amount of humus matter present, and 

 has a good reserve of unavailable 

 nitrogen. The soil is rich in soda, and 

 has large proportions of lime, magnesia, 

 and potash present, especially magnesia; 

 the phosphoric acid is poor ; and the 

 sulphates and chlorides show that the 

 soil is not very saline." 



Mechanical Composition. 



Per Cent. 



Fine soil passing 90 mesh ... 55-00 

 Fine soil passing 60 mesh ... 35'00 

 Medium soil passing 30 mesh 3"50 

 Coarse sand and small stones 6*00 



100-00 



Chemical Composition. 



Per Cent. 



Moisture 5-600 



Organic matter and combined 



water ; ... 10-000 



Oxide of iron and manganese 7'200 

 Oxide of alumina, carbonates, &c. 7'734 



Lime 0-480 



Magnesia ... ... ... 0936 



Potash 0-579 



Soda P240 



Phosphoric acid ... ... 0*076 



Sulphuric acid ... ... 0*155 



Sand and silicates ... ... 66'000 



100-000 



Per Cent 

 Containing nitrogen ... 229 

 Equal to ammonia ... 0-278 

 Lower oxide of iron ... Fair 

 Acidity ... ... Alkaline 



Chlorine ... ... O'llO 



The Government Agricultural Chemist 

 furnished the following report on 

 samples submitted by the Agricultural 

 Instructor stationed in the Northern 

 Province : — 



"I have the honour to report on the 

 sample of soil obtained from a paddy 

 field at Karanavai in Vadamaradehi 

 West, in the Jaffna District, received 

 together with your letter No. 1,698. 

 The soil is a calcareous loam consisting 

 largely of shells ; it is alkaline, and is 

 poor in nitrogen and humus matter, 

 quite different to what is seen in the 

 southern parts of the Island. The soil 

 is very rich in lime, a little less so in 

 magnesia, but is poor in phosphoric acid, 

 and has a fair amount of potash. More 



