September, 1009,] 



253 



Miscellaneous- 



Society's magazine, but it may be stated 

 here that they were all success! till exhi- 

 bitions, Kegalla being deserving ot 

 special mention for its excellent arrange- 

 ments. 



The Shows so far fixed for the latter 

 half of the year will be held at relij3a- 

 willa on August 25, Paniiala on August 

 21, Mirigama on October 30, and Hetti- 

 pola on December 4. 



The Curator of the Royal Botanic 

 Gardens has kindly undertaken to draw 

 up a set of special instructions regard- 

 ing the arrangement of exhibits. 



Arrangements are being made for 

 securing a permanent exhibit of Indian 

 cereals and dry grains for local Shows. 



School and Experimental Gardens.— 

 So far, owing to the paucity of Govern- 

 ment schools in the Northern and East- 

 ern Provinces, and the difficulty ot 

 reaching these areas with only two in- 

 specting officers available, no gardens 

 have been opened in connection with 

 Tamil schools ; but, with the appointment 

 of two Agricultural Instructors stationed 

 at Jaffna and Batticaloa, it is now pos- 

 sible to make a beginning in this work 

 which will be encouraged as much as 

 possible in the aided schools. 



The teacher of Weragala, 11 miles 

 distant from Karawanella and only 

 accessible by a footpath, is deserving 

 of special mention for the excellent 

 garden he has established there. 



The Vavuniya experimental garden 

 will, with the permission of the Assistant 

 Government Agent, be in future worked 

 under the supervision of the Agricultural 

 Instructor of the Northern Province. 



Paddy Cultivation,— The great loss of 

 cattle through death by linder pest has 

 brought the paddy cultivator to a serious 

 pass, particularly in the Hambantota 

 District, where the preparation uf fields 

 has from time immemorial been done by 

 the primitive method of "mudding " or 

 ' ' puddling." At the request of the Assis- 

 tant Government Agent and on instruc- 

 tions received from Government, the 

 Society has taken up the question of 

 whether it would not be possible to get 

 the fields ploughed with the aid of 

 implements, and with a view to its 

 practical solution a posse of Agricultural 

 Instructors is being sent on special duty 

 to Tissa, with a collection of suitable 

 implements kindly lent by Messrs. 

 Walker, Sons & Co., to make trials and 

 hold demonstrations. A special report 

 on this subject will be issued later. 



The loss of cattle has also interfered 

 with the threshing of the last crop in 

 the Eastern Province. The use of a 



simple contrivance has been suggested 

 by Mr. Bamber, which may be found to 

 meet the difficulty. 



In April-May the Society supplied 

 117£ bushels of 60 days' paddy and a 

 large quantity of vegetable seeds at the 

 request of the Assistant Government 

 Agent, Puttalam, to help the cultivators 

 of that district, who were threatened 

 with distress as a result of the serious 

 dt ought that prevailed there. 



Four new paddies were secured from 

 India for Bibile Ratemahatmaya ; 

 samples of twenty other varieties were 

 received from Nagpur, and information 

 regarding quick-growing varieties pro- 

 cured from Burma. A quantity of 

 Carolina golden paddy has come from 

 the Agricultural Department, United 

 States of America. 



Reports of paddy cultivation by trans- 

 planting seedlings from a nursery instead 

 of sowing the seed broadcast have come 

 from various quarters. In Rayigam 

 korale planted out seedlings raised from 

 one seer gave a yield equal to 96 bushels 

 per acre. 



Mr. J. K. Nock inspected the trans- 

 planted plots entered for competition 

 in connection with the Welimada Show. 

 He reports that "the very superior con- 

 dition of the portions transplanted over 

 those sown broadcast was remarkable 

 both as regards general growth and 

 crop prospects." This was my own ex- 

 perience at Baddegama in the Southern 

 Province. 



Transplanting has also been carried 

 on at Maragoda by the Paraduwa school 

 in the Weligam korale, with very satis- 

 factory results. Seedlings from a 

 nursery sown with 4 measures of seed 

 paddy were transplanted in a field of 

 1 bushel sowing extent an acre) and 

 gave a crop of 21 bushels, making an 

 average of 42 bushels per acre and a 

 return of 168-fold on seed paddy used. 

 No other fertilizers were used than 

 the leaves of the ordinary Keppetiya 

 (Croton lacciferus) and the ashes of 

 spent citronella grass. Similar experi- 

 ments are being tried at Marambe and 

 Dampella schools. 



Experiment with Artificial Manur- 

 ing. — The Hon. Secretary of the Dumbara 

 Agricultural Society reports as follows 

 under date July 20 : — " I annex a report 

 made by Mr. M. B. Rambukwella, Korala 

 ot Teldeniya, who was entrusted with 

 the trial of artificial manure kindly sup- 

 plied by Messrs. Freudenberg & Co. in 

 the cultivation of paddy during the last 

 maha harvest. The report, which ap- 

 pears to be a very satisfactory one, will 

 be submitted at a meeting of this Society 



