and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society. 



463 



the local samba grown by ryots, in the ordinary 

 way, but with similar manuring, yielding, on an 

 average for nine varieties, half as much again 

 as was obtained by ryots in the locality. This, 

 however, is not the end of single seedling plant- 

 ing. It is found that seed saved from a singly 

 planted crop is much 



SUPERIOR TO SEED SAVED FROM A CROP PLANTED 

 IN BUNCHES OF SEVERAL SEEDLINGS. 



The reason for this is not far to look. 

 When a single plant of paddy is planted, it is 

 given all the space, soil and manure which 

 usually go to from 15 to 20 seedlings when 

 planted in bunches; it can easily be understood 

 that such a plant is more robust and therefore 

 can fill the grain which it forms much better 

 than any of the 15 to 20 plants which have to 

 struggle for existence one against another. Not 

 only is this the case, but the seedlings raised 

 from seed obtained from such a plant tend to 

 reproduce the peculiarities of its parent, and if 

 such a parent plant tillers well, the next gene- 

 ration tends to develop an increased power of 

 tillering and consequently to give a greater 

 yield. This has to some extent already been 

 proved at the Palur Agricultural Station. In 

 1907-08, Garudan samba, planted on 16 different 

 plots, gave an average yield per acre of 1,952 lb; 

 in 1908-09, the same plots, planted and manured 

 in the same way, gave an average yield of 2,264 

 lb; only in this latter case seed had been 

 specially selected from those plots which had 

 been planted with single seedlings. Hence the 

 increase per acre of 312 lb. can only be put down 

 to the improved seed, as all other conditions 

 were practically identical. 



Very few experiments have been made with 

 any of the kar varieties of paddy except on the 

 West Coast, where the varieties of paddy which 

 were tested at first showed hardly any powers 

 of tillering. These have now been tested three 

 years, and the last two years the seed has been 

 specially set apart from crops which bad been 

 transplanted with singie seedlings. In the first 

 year each plant had only one or, occasionally, 

 two shoots. In the second year many of the 

 plants had three shoots. In the third year 

 Dearly all the plants had three shoots and some 

 as many as five. Thus at present crops planted 

 with three or four of such seedlings in a bunch 

 give better yields than singly planted crops but, 

 as the tillering power develops, gradually the 

 singly planted crops, though even now much 

 superior to the ordinary locally planted crops, 

 are overtaking in yield those planted with three 

 to four seedlings. To plant paddy with single 

 seedlings it is necessary 



NOT TO SOW TOO MUCH SEED IN THE SEED-BED. 



To plant one acre, a seed-bed of seven cents 

 sown with seven Madras measures of paddy, 

 is ample. If possible putlidainathu should be 

 adopted in preference to sittirainalhu. The 

 seed bed should also be manured with weli- 

 rootod cattle manure and ashes, so as to give the 

 seedlings a good start. The seedlings should 

 not be too old when transplanted ; seven days 

 for every month of the crop may bo allowed. 

 Thus, for a five month crop the seedlings should 

 be not more than 35 days old, 



Some difficulty may at first be experienced in 

 getting the transplanting coolies to transplant 

 single seedlings. Therefore, until they get into 

 the way of it, close supervision is necessary. If, 

 however, the seed-beds are grown as above de- 

 scribed, the seedlings are themselves sturdy and 

 are easily separated one from the other, and not 

 so much difficulty will be felt. As regards the 

 distance apart at which seedlings should be 

 transplanted, the ryot should use his own judg- 

 ment. On land which produces over 1,000 Mad- 

 ras measures per acre a span apart, on land 

 which produces 750 Madras measures per acre 

 three-fourths of a span, and on land which pro- 

 duces 500 Madras measures or less half span will 

 probably be the best distances. Occasionally on 

 very rich land, which may normally yield 1,500 

 Madi as measures of paddy, even as much as two 

 span distance between the seedlings may give 

 better results, while on very poor land the cost 

 of single planting may be prohibitive. Further 

 than this the Department is unable to advise, as 

 so much depends on the variety of paddy, the 

 quality o£ the seedlings, and whether the seed 

 has been selected from singly planted crops or 

 not.— M. Mail, Sept, 27. 



(To the Editor " Madras Mail.") 

 Sir, — In the note written by Mr H (J Sampson 

 on "Single planting of paddy, 1 ' published in 

 your issue of the 27th instant, I find one or two 

 words which are not clearly understood. The 

 \von\Jeenaka Samba occurring in the beginning of 

 the second paragraph is a clerical error for Jeeroka 

 Samba. In para. 4 there is a sentence as below: — 

 " If possible pullidai nathu should be adopted 

 in preference to sithirai nalhu.''' The words pul- 

 lidai and sithirai are not clearly understood. I 

 believe that they are meant to refer respectively 

 to the "dry" and "wef system of sowing seed in 

 the nursery. If so, the correct words would be 

 puzhudi nathu and setru nathu. In the conclu- 

 ding portion of his note, Mr Sampson states that 

 " on very poor land the cost of single planting 

 may be prohibitive." It has been understood 

 that the cost of planting single seedlings is usu- 

 ally less than that of planting in bunches. I 

 belie've that it is meant that single planting in 

 very poor soils may not be profitable. It would 

 have been perhaps better if the sentence had 

 been worded more carefully, because there are 

 some persons who assert the cost of planting 

 single seedlings is in excess of the cost of ordi- 

 nary planting, while such is not actually the case 

 T. Dharmaranga Raju. 



—Ibid, Sept. 29. 



EXPERIMENTAL CULTIVATION OF 

 "CARVONICA" COTTON. 



A Failure in Egypt (Sudan). 

 With reference to the notice on p. 234 of the 

 Board of Trade Journal of 30th July, 1908, 

 relative to experiments in the cultivation of 

 "Caravonica" cotton in the Sudan, the Sudan 

 Agent at Cairo writes that during the last 

 twelve months it was decided to discontinue 

 these experiments. The growth of the plants 

 was not satisfactory, and the yield did not com- 

 pare favourably with that from Egyptian cotton. 

 — Board of Trade Journal, Sept. 16. 



