April, 1909.1 & 



back of Madras more or less indiscri- 

 minately. Compared with the fine 

 physique of the Nagpnri and Santal, 

 they look a very weedy lot, but appa- 

 rently give very little trouble in sympa- 

 thetic hands. All are imported under a 

 form of indenture, under Government 

 supervision, but there seems to be no 

 compulsion as regards repatriation, and 

 such coolies as do not sign on again 

 after their term expires, escape inland, 

 to form the growing Indian population 

 of the Colony which already numbers 

 upwards of 10,000. 



In conclusion, the writer would like to 

 remark that, should any planter trained 

 in tea on Indian lines ever fiud himself 

 setting out to take charge of or assist 

 on a Natal garden, it would be very 

 wise of him to keep quiet and not start 

 to show the Natal planter how to do 

 things until he has been at least one 

 year in the country. It has been tried 

 not once, but many times, and so far as 

 can be discovered, the man who knows 

 everything, and tries to run his place on 

 the lines to which he has been accustom- 

 ed, has failed every time and will 

 continue to do so. The fact is that the 

 average Natal planter either owns, or 

 has a very large interest iu, his Estate, 

 and takes particular pains to keep up-to- 

 date in every respect ; and being as a 

 rule either Colonial born, or so long in 

 the country as amounts to the same 

 thing, he has very little to learn in 

 adapting whatever he takes up in the 

 tea line, to suit the pecularities of the 

 Colony. Hence his most undoubted 

 success in spite of the heretical treat- 

 ment of most of the accepted canons of 

 tea culture. — Indian Agriculturist, Vol. 

 XXXIV., No. 2, February, 1909, p. 40. 



THE ADVANTAGES OF TRANS- 

 PLANTING PADDY. 



Mr. R. Cecil Wood, Deputy Director 

 of Agriculture, Northern Division, Mad- 

 ras, writes as follows in the Madras 

 Agricultural Calendar for 1909 :— 



When one compares the relative 

 advantages of the two systems com- 

 monly employed in the cultivation of 

 paddy, namely, broadcasting the seed 

 in the field, or raising it first in seed- 

 beds from which it is afterwards trans- 

 planted, the advantages of the latter 

 system are so manifold that all land- 

 owners in districts where for one reason 

 or another the broadcasting system only 

 is practised, are strongly advised to 

 attempt the experimental introduction 

 of transplanting even if only on a small 

 area of their own lands and note the 

 advantages for themselves. 



J Edible Products. 



The first and foremost of these is in 

 the saving of seed. Custom iu both cases 

 varies, much more seed being used in 

 some districts than iu others, but jinder 

 the transplanting system a saving: of at 

 least 20 to 30 lb. of paddy per acre having 

 a money value of about a rupee is 

 effected. If the seedlings are planted 

 out singly this saving may be doubled. 

 The seed-rate moreover can be more 

 easily adjusted to suit the soil, or the 

 nature of the variety grown. A long 

 growing variety may, generally speak- 

 ing, be given more room than a quick 

 growing variety. The seedlings being 

 put out by hand are evenly and accu- 

 rately spaced, so that each seedling gets 

 the same amount of soil, air, and water 

 as its fellows, and consequently grows 

 at the same rate, with the result that 

 the crop grows and ripens evenly and 

 uniformly. This result can never be 

 obtained so well in the case of a broad- 

 casted crop, since in some places the 

 seeds will be more thickly sown than in 

 others, and thus their growth and ripen- 

 ing will be affected. Opportunity may 

 also be taken at the time when the seed- 

 lings are being lifted from the seed-bed, 

 to reject any stunted or diseased seed- 

 lings, and any that are not true to 

 variety, and thus to obtain a healthy 

 crop of pure seed. 



The advantages gained by the trans- 

 planted seedlings at the start are in- 

 creased during the period of growth. 

 They can be much better looked after, 

 for the operation of weeding is made 

 much easier, especially if the seed- 

 lings have been planted in lines as is the 

 custom in some districts. The land at 

 the time of transplanting having been 

 puddled, the uprooted weeds are killed 

 and quickly rot. A single weeding 

 about a month after transplanting is all 

 that is necessary, as the plants will then 

 have become firmly established and 

 sufficiently thick to keep down all weeds 

 for the future. Compare this with the 

 broadcast system where at least two 

 hand weedings are needed, as well as 

 the tedious operation of thinning the 

 plants where they are too thick and 

 filling up the gaps which are to occur= 

 A custom obtains in some districts of 

 ploughing through the broadcasted 

 paddy when about a month old for the 

 purpose of uprooting the weeds and 

 thinning out the paddy plants. The 

 surviving plants grow all the better, for 

 having been subjected to this treatment, 

 a sort of root-pruning, which may be 

 compared to transplanting, while the 

 waste of seed under the broadcasting 

 system is also clearly seen. 



Finally, when the crop comes to be 

 cut, it is generally agreed that the 



