May, 1909.] 



459 



Miscellaneous. 



ing to Mr. W. A. de Silva, some such 



Sroportion as the followiug may be laid 

 own :— 



Given that a 5 mos. paddy will give a yield of 100 % 

 then a 2 ,, ,, ,, ,, ,> 00 „ 



and a 3 , , „ 75 „ 



But sometimes a 4 month paddy will 

 be found to give as much as a 5 or 

 6 months' variety. In fact, 4, 5, and (5 

 month paddies should be classed to- 

 gether, while those of lesser age must 

 be put down as "bala wi," which gives a 

 comparatively low yield, though most 

 useful when cultivation has to be 

 undertaken late iu the season, (B) 1 do 

 not think any relation has been noticed 

 between " age " and quality. 



K. B. B.— With reference to your 

 enquiry about the prospects of lemon 

 grass cultivation in the Central Pro- 

 vince, the Government Agricultural 

 Chemist states that although the grass 

 grows successfully, the present prices 

 are too low for profitable cultivation. 

 The cost of a small plant, for say from 

 50 to 75 acres would be about £250. 



W. E. M.— A trial of nitro-bacteriue 

 was made in May last year at the Govern- 

 ment Stock Garden. The culture for 

 groundnuts (Arachis hypogoea) was mix- 

 ed with water according to the directions 

 given, and, in one case the seeds were 

 immersed in the liquid before plant- 

 ing; in another, the seeds weie first 

 planted and subsequently watered with 

 the fluid ; in a third, the seeds (uniuo- 

 culated) were watered with plain water. 

 Except for a slightly higher percentage 

 of germination in the case of the first 

 plot (which is hardly to be attributed 

 to the culture), there was no striking 

 difference between the inoculated and 

 uninoculated plots, a result which 

 leads to the conclusion that the action 

 of nitro-bacterine in the case of garden 

 soils at least is inappreciable. 



V. M. M.— " Vaporite " is recommended 

 to be forked into the soil to rid it from 

 gall worms and other ground pests. 



C. DRIEBERG, 



Secretary, C, A, S. 



BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Minutes of the 45th Meeting. • 



The 45th Meeting of the Board of Agri- 

 culture was held at the Council Chamber 

 on Wednesday, the 7th April, 1909. 



His Excellency the Governor presided. 



There were also present :— Sir Solomon 

 Dias Bandaranaike, the Hon'ble Messrs. 



Moonemalle and Kanagasabai, Messrs. 

 R. H. Lock, C. M. Lushington, J. Har- 

 ward, R. W, Smith, G. W. Sturgess, 

 E. E. Green, C. J. C Mee, W. A. de Silva, 

 Francis Daniel, J. D. Vauderstraaten, 

 Simon D. Dabre and the Secretary, and 

 (as visitor) Lieut. W. Stewart. 



Business. 



1. Minutes of the previous meeting 

 held February 4th, 1909, were read and 

 confirmed. 



2. Progress Report No. 44 was 

 adopted. Mr. Lock advised that only 

 one good variety of maize seed (e.g., 

 Hickory King) be distributed at a time, 

 in view of the tendency to cioss-fertili- 

 zation in maize. 



3. Statement of Expenditure to the 

 end of March was tabled. 



4. Mr. Lock's paper entitled "The 

 New Rubbers " was taken as read. 



5. Mr. W. A. de Silva read a sum- 

 mary of his paper entitled " Suggestions 

 for a local Scheme of Agricultural 

 Education." The Director of the Royal 

 Botanic Gardens and the Director of 

 Public Instruction, in the course of 

 their remarks, thought the curriculum 

 was rather too ambitious. Mr. Harward 

 had a course of agricultural lectures for 

 teachers in contemplation, and was also 

 endeavouring to arrange for the train- 

 ing of an agricultural instructor for the 

 Government Training College. H. E. 

 the Governor, in thanking the writers 

 of the two papers submitted to the 

 meeting, thought that Agriculture 

 should be the basis of a village school 

 curriculum. His Excellency had him- 

 self drafted a comprehensive paper on 

 the subject of agricultural education 

 which he proposed to submit to a special 

 committee for their advice regarding 

 the technical details. 



Mr. Lock exhibited specimens of 

 Maize in illustration of a fundamental 

 point in plant breeding. 



0, Mr. Green read a memorandum on 

 sericulture prepared by the Secretary, 

 and also exhibited samples of silk yarn 

 made in Paris from locally grown 

 cocoons. 



7. Before the close of the meeting 

 H. E. the Governor said that he desired 

 to express his thanks to the gentlemen 

 who had acceded to his request for 

 suggestions as to the best means of 

 administrating loans to cultivators, and 

 expressed his intention of drafting, at 

 an early date, a scheme for local agri- 

 cultural banks. 



C. DRIEBERG, 



Secretary, C, «d, S, 



