February, 1909,] 



vs.; 



Miscellaneous, 



favourable reports have been received 

 by them of the work of the "Cingalee" 

 plough in the Chilaw District. 



Hornby's Mower. — Messrs. Brown & 

 Co., Ltd., writing on the 4th instant, 

 says :— " One of our clients has got 

 us to import for him from England 

 a Hornby's mower to be worked by 

 bullock power, and which he proposes 

 to use for cutting down weeds, &c, on 

 his coconut plantation. We would like 

 to have it tried before having it sent on 

 to his estate, and we write to ask if you 

 would have any objection to his doing 

 so on your grounds (Government Stock 

 Garden). No doubt you will be interest- 

 ed in the experiment." The implement 

 will be tried shortly. 



Oil Mills. — It may iuteresfc those desir- 

 ing information to know that Messrs, 

 Walker, Sons & Co. are in a position to im- 

 port Donaldson's patent oil mills— handle 

 in front at Rs- 170 and handle at back atRs, 

 155— delivered at Calcutta. These mills 

 are reported to be largely used in India, 

 and are considered suitable for replacing 

 the "chekku" mill of the country. 



Messrs. Brown & Co. quote Rs. 1,250 

 for a plant consisting of hand power 

 copra breaking mill, copra reducing mill, 

 cast iron pan or heating kettle, hydrau- 

 lic press with ram, hand power hydraulic 

 pressure pump. In this plant it is neces- 

 sary that the copra should be passed 

 twice or thrice through the copra 

 breaker before going to the reducing 

 mill, and first pressed cold, the cakes 

 afterwards being passed through the 

 machine and heated in the kettle and 

 then pressed a second time. The plant so 

 worked is said to give a high yield of oil. 



Disc and other heavy Ploughs — The 

 Superintendent of the Experiment 

 Station at Maha Illuppalama, reporting 

 on the heavy disc and furrow ploughs 

 in use in South Africa, says :— They are 

 excellent provided one has horses, or in 

 the case of Ceylon, bulls of sufficient size 

 and strength. I find that even Coast 

 bulls costing Rs. 190 to Rs. 225 cannot 

 manage to work with a single plough, 

 which cuts a furrow of more than 6 in. 

 breadth ar^d 5 in. deep— I mean under 

 general conditions. I understand that 

 Egyptian cattle, which I have seen from 

 photographs, are probably as heavy as 

 English Durhams or Shorthorns, could 

 drag a very heavy plough. Mr. J. S. J. 

 McCall, late Lecturer at the Khedival 

 College and cotton expert, and now on 

 his way to Nyassaland as Director of 

 Agriculture, is at present in the Island, 

 and is my informant. As regards the 

 disc plough, as it has to cut from the top, 

 it is of necessity a rather heavy imple- 

 ment. Mr. Kelway Bamber sent one 

 here, and it weighs over 500 lb., as 

 against my own improved and specially 



built English ploughs which weigh 

 about 125 to 140 lb. I reduce weight" to a 

 minimum, and use the best, material I 

 can find. By using wheels on the 

 ploughs and the best English steel 

 plough points, the plough, owing to its 

 construction, pierces the ground to the 

 required depth, which is regulated by 

 adjusting the wheels, and so tears up 

 and turns over the soil. But, of course, 

 a time will arrive when the local breeds 

 of cattle have been improved by selec- 

 tion and various other measures now 

 neglected and then these excellent and 

 up-to-date gang ploughs and discs will 

 replacewliat I am at present using." 



Coca leaves from Ceylon.— A trial ship- 

 ment of coca leaves was sent through 

 Messrs. W. H. Davies&Co., who, writing 

 on September 29, reports that dull, thin, 

 broken leaves were valued at 3d. to 3hd>. ; 

 dull, thin, broken brown 3d. ; dark ljof. 



Kola Nuts. -The same firm sent a "con- 

 signment of kola nuts, which are reported 

 to have fetched (fair clean) 2d. per lb. 



Manure for Tobacco. — Mr. S. Chelliah, 

 the Society's Agricultural Instructor at 

 Jaffna, obtained from Messrs. Freuden- 

 berg & Co. a ton of special artificial 

 manure for tobacco, to meet applications 

 from local growers, who seem to be 

 much interested in the manuring of 

 crops with chemical fertilizers. 



Agricidtural Instructors.— Two new 

 Agricultural Instructors, in terms of the 

 resolution adopted at a recent meeting, 

 have been appointed, one (Mr. S. R. 

 BrecKenridge) for work in Tamil dis- 

 tricts, the other (Mr. W. Molegoda) for 

 Sinhalese districts. The former has 

 been sent for a term to the North- 

 Central Province, and the latter will 

 chiefly work in the Kandyan country. 



Publications.— An Agricultural Calen- 

 dar in English was published and issued to 

 members early in the year. Those who 

 may not have received copies are request 

 ed to communicate with the Secretary. 



A Sinhalese leaflet on the continuous 

 cultivation of chena lands is in the hands 

 of the printer. 



A Sinhalese Calendar is in preparation, 

 and will issue shortly. 



Importation of Seeds and Plants. — A 

 circular inviting applications for vege- 

 table seeds to be imported from England, 

 and for grafted plants of the famous 

 Alfonso mango, has been issued. The 

 seeds and plants will be distributed in 

 time for planting during the April rains. 



Continuous Cultivation of Chena 

 Lands. — It is intended to initiate a series 

 of demonstrations during the next mon- 

 soon, probably in the Kurunegala aud 

 Chilaw Districts. 



C DRIEBERG, 



Secretary. 



Colombo, February 4, 1909. 



