116 



[February, 1909- 



makes an excellent diet ; it will also be 

 found more than likely that some dry 

 grain would pay better in the form of 

 poultry food. 



ORCHARD WORK. 



About ten acres of land should be 

 reserved for this purpose, and planted 

 with the best known varieties. There 

 is always a good market for first-class 

 fruit. Budded orange, lemon, and 

 West India lime trees can be procured 

 from Australia. I planted the Washing- 

 ton navel orange, and the Sicilian lemon, 

 with the best of results, only losing 

 two plants out of 75 ; they are all bearing 

 heavy crops now. Grafted or budded 

 mango and other tropical fruit trees 

 can be grown. Once they come into 

 bearing, a nursery can be laid out where 

 young budded plants can be propagated 

 for sale, or, still better, for free distribu- 

 tion among the people. Intense culture 

 is necessary for successful fruit growing, 

 yearly ploughing and constant cultiva- 

 tion (by means of the " Planet Junior " 

 cultivator mentioned in the list ol imple- 

 ments) is also necessary. It is very 

 important, especially in dry districts, 

 that the roots be kept below six inches 

 from the surface. The above mentioned 

 cultivator is a wonderful little machine, 

 it will not only stir up and pulverise 

 the soil to any required depth, thereby 

 conserving the moisture, and also allow- 

 ing a free circulation of air so neces- 

 sary for bacteriological reasons, but 

 with certain attachments will keep the 

 place entirely free from weeds. 



EXPERIMENTAL WORK. 



This class of work can only be done on 

 farms of this nature, as private in- 

 dividuals cannot as a rule afford the 

 time or money for this purpose. In the 

 paddy-fields a portion should be reserved 

 for this work, where different varieties 

 of paddy could be grown for the purpose 

 of testing the growth and yield. It is 

 only in this manner that the best 

 varieties suitable for the different dis- 

 tricts can be found out. There is vast 

 scope for experimenting on high land. 

 New products and the suitability of the 

 different varieties of indigenoue crops 

 for the different parts of the Island can 

 only be found out by this means. India 

 supplies us with many things that might 

 be profitably grown here, such as onions, 

 chillies for drying, coriander and the 

 various other seeds that are in daily use 

 in every household for making curries. 

 Surely some if not all of these will grow 

 in different parts of the Island. The 

 castor oil plant is known to grow 

 here, but it has not been utilised as a 

 product. The cultivation of flax is 



worth a trial. It is known to grow in 

 different parts of the Island. The fibre 

 is valuable tor cordage making, while 

 the seed is of great value, as the well- 

 known linseed oil so generally used all 

 over the world is abstracted from it. 

 The best known varieties of grain and 

 fruit have been the results of cross 

 fertilization, either by the hand of man, 

 or by accident. This most fascinating of 

 the botanist's art opens up a wide field 

 for the most interesting of experiments. 



MANURES AND MANURING. 



This is a subject that requires the most 

 careful attention, as it is by the economic 

 and judicious use of manures that we 

 can give back to the soil that which has 

 been converted into saleable produce. 

 Proper cultivation and rotation of crops 

 will no doubt for some time result in 

 good crops, but it stands to reason that 

 a time will come when we must give 

 back to the soil what we have taken 

 away. Judicious manuring before the 

 soil gets thoroughly exhausted is 

 necessary. There are three ways of re- 

 plenishing the soil — by green manuring, 

 farm-yard, and artificial manuring. 

 The first collects nitrogen from the air, 

 and, if not fed off, supplies also humus so 

 necessary to soils of a sandy nature. 

 Farmyard manuring consists of every- 

 thing that would decay when put into 

 properly constructed pits under cover 

 and allowed to decompose. If properly 

 handled it comprises the most valuable 

 of manures at practicelly no cost. 

 Artificial manures require special ex- 

 perimenting to ascertain what tthe soil 

 requires. Chemical analysis shows us 

 what is in . the soil, thereby what is 

 deficient, but it does not tell us 

 whether certain properties in the soil 

 are in a state that the plants can utilise 

 them. It is only by means of experimen- 

 tal plots that the quality and quantity 

 of manures required can be ascer- 

 tained. 



AGRICULTURAL BANKS. 



These banks should go hand in hand 

 with agricultural instruction. It seems 

 like putting the cart before the horse to 

 establish agricultural banks before the 

 people are shown how to make their 

 lands productive. Teach the people how 

 to turn the money to be borrowed into 

 profitable use, then there is a greater 

 chance of their being benefitted, as they 

 will have a chance of establishing 

 themselves with the aid of this money, 

 and in a little time become independent 

 of borrowing, except for enlarging 

 their scope of work, as the new methods 

 would bring in money where it does not 

 do so now. 



