and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society. 



such as Sulphate of Ammonia and Nitrate of 

 Soda, are very fully considered, their respective 

 advantages for certain crops and certain soils are 

 clearly pointed out. Thus the former, being the 

 more soluble, is best adapted for districts with 

 a small rainfall and where immediate effect is 

 desired as in the case of the top dressing of 

 cereal crops. The continuous application of 

 Nitrate of Soda on soils inclined to clay has a 

 bad mechanical effect owing to deflocculation. 

 Sulphate of Ammonia, though most useful as an 

 ingredient of compound manures if applied 

 alone continuously on soils deficient in lime, 

 causes a distinct acidity which in time renders 

 the land positively barren. 



The various waste products, such as Soot, 

 Shoddy, Hoofs and Horns, are severally treated 

 of. In regard to Shoddy, Mr Hall states that 

 Hop and Fruit growers regard it as the best 

 substitute for farmyard manure; indeed for fruit 

 he writes that it is often regarded as prefer- 

 able to ordinary dung. Probably, if obtainable, 

 Shoddy would be an excellent manure for Tea 

 and Coffee as it would supply a steady and con- 

 tinuous supply of Nitrogen. The chapter on 

 Phosphates is of particular interest as the spe- 

 cial advantages of Bone Meal, steamed P>ones 

 and Bones treated with Sulphuric Acid are fully 

 enlarged upon. The author considers ordinary 

 Bone Meal —that is, the whole bones crushed 

 into meal — is rather over-valued; whereas 

 steamed bone-flour hardly gets justice done to it. 

 Planters, who have used Leechman : s steamed 

 Bones as formerly prepared in Ceylon, will 

 probably fully agree with this statement. 

 Reference is made toLawes, who, in his proof of 

 evidence in connection with his Patent for the 

 manufacture of Superphosphate in 1842, stated 

 that he found no good effect from the use of a 

 considerable dressing of Bone dust to his Turnips 

 on his particular soil, but that he found most 

 remarkable results from the application of his 

 own manure Superphosphate. 



In considering the action of the various phos- 

 phatic manures, Mr Hall very wisely statos that 

 the most important factor to be taken into 

 account is the character and composition of the 

 soil. The choice between Superphosphate, Basic 

 Slag or Bone Meal must be determined by the 

 proportion of carbonate of lime in the particular 

 soil and the relative wetness or dryness of such 

 soil. Before applying Phosphates in the form 

 of Superphospate it is necessary to ascertain 

 that the soil contains a sufficient supply of 

 Carbonate of lime in order to ensure the precipi- 

 tation of the water soluble Mono-calcic phos- 

 phate into the condition of di-calcic phosphate, 

 resulting from contact with Carbonate of lime. 

 Mr Hall further states that on acid soils, on 

 some clays, and on many sands and gravels, in 

 which there is such a deficiency of Carbonate of 

 lime, the soluble phosphoric acid becomes pre- 

 cipitated as iron or alumina phosphates which 

 possess a much lower solubility in the soil water, 

 and are, theiefore, less available to the plant. 



The properties of Basic Slag are naturally fully 

 described and its usefulness for damp heavy 

 clays or sour wet soils deficient in lime is speci- 

 ally pointed out; but Mr Hall admits that in 

 England there is a prejudice against the use of 



Basic Slag on the lighter soils, the sands and 

 gravels, which are deficient both in lime and 

 vegetable matter. On such land, he points 

 out, there is a very general preference for 

 phosphatic guano, steamed bone flour and 

 the new Manure Basic Superphosphate. As 

 regards Potash, its use on the lighter soils, the 

 sands and gravels is generally recommended; 

 but on stronger soils its application is scarcely 

 likely to be remunerative, and the use of Nitrate 

 of Soda as a source of Nitrogen will liberate 

 enough of the locked -up Potash in the soil for 

 the needs of ordinary cereal crops. 



Farmyard Manure, its composition, pro- 

 perties, the loss of Nitrogen during fermen- 

 tation, its fertilising value and physical effects 

 upon the soil, the long duration of its fertilising 

 action are fully described, and particulars of 

 the cost of its production are given, namely, 

 from 9s 4d to lis 8d per ton : figures which may 

 be interesting to those with cattle establish- 

 ments in Ceylon, but are certainly far above 

 what is usually considered a fair price to be paid 

 by the in coming tenant on taking a farm. 



Chapter 9, which deals with the use of lime, 

 marl, chalk, gypsum, ground lime and ground 

 limestone will afford most interesting reading 

 to all those who cultivate soils which are natu- 

 rally deficient in lime; and it is important to 

 note, the author states, that in such ca'os the 

 particular form in which lime should bo ap- 

 plied can only be decided after an analysis of 

 the soil. The system of Manuring Crops forms 

 the subject of a separate chapter and the 

 roader will derive interesting and useful in- 

 formation by learning, first, what ingredients 

 the various crops remove from the soil and how 

 the ingredients essential to such crops can be 

 most economically supplied. 



Particulars are given of the unit method of 

 valuing fertilising materials which cannot fail 

 to be useful to those making large purchases of 

 special fertilisers. Mr. Hall has also some use- 

 ful remarks in reference to semi-tropical crops, 

 such as Tobacco, Sugar Cane, Tea and Cotton ; 

 but he candidly admits that it is very difficult 

 to lay down any general rules for the manuring 

 of such crops because the conditions of soil and 

 climate are subject to extreme variations, so that 

 entirely different methods of treatment have to 

 be pursued in different countries. 



The book is provided with an excellent index, 

 which is always a great advantage when seeking 

 information ; it may be confidently predicted 

 that every farmer or planter who obtains a copy 

 will be greatly edified by a careful perusal, and 

 will cortainly not regret its purchase. 



COTTON IN UGANDA. 



The cultivation of cotton in this Colony is 

 spreading rapidly and will, it is expected, 

 soon become a magnificent industry. This 

 was the view of Mr. Dawe, of the Agricul- 

 tural-Botanic Department, who was recently 

 here, and is endorsed in the report of H. E. 

 the Governor Sir H. Heskett Bell. The great 

 want would appear to be means of com- 

 munication. According to the Governor every 



