Miscellaneous. 



378 



[April, 1909. 



It will be noticed that all the appli- 

 cations are general manures. When 

 soluble manures such as Saltpetre and 

 Sulphate of Ammonia are applied, 

 they should only be applied when the 

 crop is ready to take them up. Hence 

 the reason why we recommend them to 

 be applied as top-dressing, and for two or 

 three weeks after they are applied, special 

 care must be taken in irrigating so that 

 just sufficient water is given to keep the 

 soil moist. Flooding the land at this 

 time would be fatal. These two nitro- 

 genous manures are beueficial to all 

 cereals (paddy, wheat), sugarcane, etc., 

 and to quick growing crops such as 

 jute, potatoes, vegetable, etc., but they 

 are not recommended for leguminous 

 crops. 



Before applying phosphatic, potassic 

 and calcareous manures care should be 

 taken to find out that the soil is really 

 poor in these ingredients and in need of 

 such an application. This can be roughly 

 done by chemical analysis, but the actual 

 economical necessity can only be found 

 out by a practical test in the field. A 

 clay soil will roughly contain sufficient 

 potash for ordinary plant requirements, 

 while a sandy soil will benefit from an 

 application of potassic manure. 



Similarly for phosphoric acid and lime, 

 chemical analysis can aid in diagnosing 

 if manurial application would help, but 

 the only certain guide is by practical 

 experience in the field. Roughly the 

 presence of sufficient lime in a soil can 

 easily be tested by taking samples of 

 soil from different points in the field, 

 mixing them together and pouring on to 

 the mixture a few drops of dilute 

 hydrochloric acid. If bubbles are given 

 off there is lime in the soil, if no bubbles 

 are given off there is none or very little. 



This is your guide for lime and phos- 

 phatic manuring. If no trace of lime 

 can be fcund bones and superphosphate 

 will very probably give good results. 

 They both supply lime and phosphoric 

 acid. 



However, although lime may be present 

 in sufficient quantity, phosphoric acid 

 may be wanting. This is the case in 



Saran where the soils are rich in lime 



and poor in phosphates. 



All these remarks only demonstrate 

 the necessity of each cultivator testing 

 his own land himself on a small area. 

 When he is convinced that a certain 

 manuring is beneficial, he can easily 

 extend the area. 



In conclusion, it only remains to be 

 said that general manures are safe to 

 recommend and can safely be tried. 

 They contain their plant food in an 

 insoluble state which is converted into a 



soluble state. They supply nitrogen, 

 phosphoric acid, potash and lime to the 

 soil, and have the great advantage that 

 they will supply organic matter which 

 is wanting in nearly all Bengal soils. It 

 would seem therefore superfluous to add 

 that cowdung should receive every 

 possible care, and that the urine which 

 contains the soluble nitrogen and potash 

 should be carefully mixed with the 

 excreta and stored. 



The above examples of manurial appli- 

 cations give an idea of the quantities 

 that may be economically applied. 



If nitrogenous artificials are applied 

 one to two maunds per acre is quite 

 sufficient, while with superphosphate 

 and bones 2 to 3 maunds per acre should 

 not be exceeded. Wood ashes do not 

 contain a high percentage of potash, and 

 10 maunds per acre must be applied to 

 give an appreciable amount. As this is 

 a cheap article where available it will 

 not cause the manurial application to 

 be too dear economically. 



Implements. 



The Agricultural Department is work- 

 ing away steadily at Seeds, Manure and 

 Implements, and her work has demon- 

 strated already that in Bengal, so 

 far as implements are concerned, the 

 question is governed chiefly by two 

 factors: 1st, the size of the agricultural 

 holding, which is about 8 acres ; and 2nd, 

 the amount of capital the cultivator has 

 for disposal during the year, which is 

 from nothing to Rs. 3. 



This means implements must be cheap 

 yet efficient, and where will you get 

 greater cheapness with excellent effi- 

 ciency at the price than in the local 

 Plough, Ladder and Kodali, with the still 

 further advantage that these latter are 

 perfectly understood in every Indian 

 village and can be repaired at a moment's 

 notice ? 



Implement makers who wish to cater 

 for this huge agricultural community 

 will have to bear these two factors 

 carefully in mind before they will be 

 successful, and so far they have failed. 



For larger and well-to-do cultivators 

 there are the Meston Plough (Cawnpore) 

 for light land and the Hindustan Plough 

 for heavy land. The Single Wheeled 

 Planet Junior Hand Hoe for interculture 

 of Maize and Juar, which will save the 

 employment of ten coolies for weeding. 

 The chaff cutter, maize huller, cotton 

 gins, bullock gears are all good imple- 

 ments, but most of them are governed 

 by the factor of cheap supply of labour, 

 and where hand-power can be got a t the 

 cheaper unit there is nothing to equal it, 

 for even on his lowest scale man is m&u, 



