April, 1909,] 



375 



Miscellaneous, 



changing seed from a distance, and 

 specially when the seed was brought 

 from a more northern and north-westerly 

 direction where colder climatic condi- 

 tions prevail. 



As a result of our work we can re- 

 commend : — 



Wheat. — Mozuffernagar wheat for dry 

 districts and irrigated tracts. Excess 

 of moisture causes excessive attacks of 

 rnst. This variety is a favourite with 

 the trade. Red deshi variety of Cawn- 

 pore for moisture conditions. 



Potatoes.— Naini Tal and Patna va- 

 rieties. 



Oats.— Dunraon oats. 



Juar. — Saran. 



Rahar. — Saran. 



Maize.— Jaunpo re. 



GraM.— Patna. 



Paddy — O. P. Aus. 



Several varieties of A man paddy, ac- 

 cording to fineness and particukir re- 

 quirements of individuals. For parti- 

 culars consult the Agricultural Depart- 

 ment. 



Sugarcane.— Khari variety, (Ikri va- 

 riety for excessive water-logging). 



Jute. — Deswal of Sorajguuj, Barapat 

 of Mymeusingh, and Howti of Rung- 

 pore. 



Mustard.— Jubbulpore and Raipore, 

 etc. 



Conclusion. — In the above pages we 

 have given at least twenty items of de- 

 monstration work that may be taken 

 up by members of these Associations, 

 and if each member will restrict him- 

 self to one item in one year and carry 

 it out on a practical scale, say ten 

 acres and not less than five acres, he 

 will have quite sufficient to do, and 

 will be carrying out something that 

 will give tangible results in the im- 

 provement of Agriculture in this 

 Province. With such a programme of 

 work these Associations can do some- 

 thing useful, and I am sure the Direc- 

 tor of Agriculture will be only too glad 

 to keep in direct touch with each 

 individual member and will arrange 

 lor necessary inspection of each item 

 of demonstration by his expert officers. 



Manures and Manuring. 

 Most of the soils of Bengal are ex- 

 tremely poor in plant food, and speci- 

 ally is this the case in organic matter, 

 which the chief source of the most 

 important element of plant food, viz., 

 nitrogen, If all human and animal 

 excreta were returned to the land and 

 carefully spread and incorporated with 

 the soil, the question of manuring 

 would not be so important, but un- 

 fortunately there is a popular aversion 



in Bengal to human excreta as manure, 

 and many of the poorer classes go 

 even one step further and further im- 

 poverish the store of the total plant 

 food in the province by burning their 

 cowdung. This destroys the organic 

 matter and sends off the nitrogen into 

 the air from whence at present it is a 

 costly process to re-obtain this nitrogen 

 in a useful manurial form. Further, 

 bones and seeds are exported, and this 

 further lessens the total amount of 

 plant food in the province. In this 

 Province we are not far wrong when 

 we state that we are bordering on the 

 state of the irreducible minimum so 

 far as plant food is concerned, or in 

 other words, we have got to that point 

 when the amount of plant food taken 

 up by a crop each year is equal to 

 the amount of plant food that has 

 been produced by the decomposition 

 taking place in soils during the year, 

 i.e., the decomposition resulting in the 

 production of available plant food from 

 insoluble plant food. 



The most important elements of plant 

 food, are: (1) nitrogen, (2) phosphoric 

 acid, (3) potash, and (4) lime. 



There are other elements, but they 

 are generally present in the soil in 

 sufficient quantities for plant require- 

 ments. Nitrogen is the most important 

 because it is the most costly to supply 

 per unit. It is also the element that 

 is finally produced by the decomposition 

 or organic matter by nitrification. Now 

 the amount of organic matter governs 

 the amount of bacteriological activity 

 in the soil, and the greater the 

 bacteriological action the greater will be 

 the supply of available plant in the soil, 

 for these millions of germs that require 

 a store of organic matter for their 

 maximum development are the chief 

 agents in converting insoluble (rock 

 and sub-soil particles) plant agent in 

 converting insoluble (rock and sub-soil 

 particles), plant food, (of which there 

 is always a supply in the soil), into an 

 available form suitable for plants 

 to assimilate. 



This problem of manures and manur- 

 ing is further complicated by (1) the 

 variation in the composition of soil, and 

 (2) by the individual requirements of 

 each crop. 



1. Soils vary in composition so much 

 not only in different tracts but even in 

 single villages, and the soil of one bigha 

 will very often be found to be quite 

 different in several places. For example, 

 in Behar (Saran) north of the Ganges 

 we have a light friable marl, while 

 south of the Ganges at Bankipore we 

 have a heavy clay. Near Calcutta we 



