and Magazine of the Ceylon A gricultural Society. 



597 



induced to become friable and susceptible of 

 retaining the right amount of moisture for 

 plant growth. The indirect result, however, 

 is the reduction of surface flow and erosion 

 when rain falls. 



C. Contour Cultivation on Rolling Lands. — 

 The plough-furrow (where ploughing is done) 

 and crop rows should be carried round the slopes 

 in such a manner that each furrow or row will 

 lie level, so that there will be no tendency 

 for them to be widened into gullies by storm 

 water, but rather to close runnels and form 

 receptacles in which water may lodge till 

 soaked into the soil. 



d. In hilly land contour cultivation should 

 be supplemented by " balks " or 11 breaks," i.e., 

 strips of grass separating cultivated stretches, 

 and these should be level like the cultivated 

 portions. The tendency would thus be towards 

 the formation of a series of terraces. 



e. On very steep land it is. advisable that 

 agriculture should give place to silviculture 

 which might be combined with grazing. 



/. On mountain heights, forests should be 

 retained and extended, for, as the Spanish say, 

 the mountains are the mothers of waters, and 

 every lofty range being a " Sierra Mad re," and 

 the forest trees acting as distributing agents, 

 and reducing erosion and wash to a minimum. 



It would appear from what has been said that a 

 scheme of classification is desirable, so that lands 

 of different elevation and situation may have each 

 the most suitable crops assigned to it— whether 

 timber, grass, shrubs, grain crops and so on. 

 But to carry out a policy such as is here indi- 

 cated, individual and collective action is neces- 

 sary. For educative purposes it is necessary that 

 information should be widely diffused as to the 

 magnitude of the loss by erosion, the facility 

 with which it could be checked, and the cer- 

 tainty that the result will be profitable to each 

 individual while serving the general weal. In- 

 dividual action could, of course, be confined 

 chiefly to improved methods of cultivation, as 

 indicated above, with a view to conserving 

 both soil and moisture, while more extensive 

 operations with the same object in view can 

 only be carried out by co-operation. 



The evils resulting from the neglect of the 

 course prescribed is amply exemplified in this 

 colony, where, indeed, a fresh source of trouble 

 has arisen through the damage done by the 

 silting of paddy fields. 



The duty before the agriculturist as well as 

 the Government is clear, and we trust that we 

 have, to some exteut, succeeded in arresting 

 their attention and proving the necessity for 

 conserving soil and moisture by every means 

 in their power. 



CULTIVATI ON OF THE SOIL. 



With reference to the subject of the "culti- 

 vation" of the soil and tho very useful letter of 

 " Delta in the Tropical Agriculturist, in 

 drought-affected areas, and more especially 

 where tho soil is very stiff, as on either bank 

 of the Deduruoya, where the soil is chiefly 

 alluvial, too much time and money cannot be 

 expended in keeping the surface soil in a fine 

 state of tilth. The suggestion is unpractical 

 to stir the surface soil after every period of 



rain, though, of course, it will be very bene- 

 ficial. The least coconut planters with a stiff 

 soil to work could do, is to thoroughly 

 plough or till the soil one year, and in the 

 following year harrow it, or break the clods 

 thoroughly with mamoties. On a free, sandy 

 soil, the latter operation is not an absolute 

 necessity, as the surface soil does not cake. 

 On estates that I know of on either bank of the 

 Deduruoya the growth of grass is so rank that 

 aeration of the soil, so necessary to improve 

 its mechanical and chemical condition, cannot 

 take place. My advice has always been to 

 turn over the surface soil, which will mean 

 green manuring as well, though not with the 

 now fashionable Leguminosse, and to lime it. 

 This latter treatment will not only convert the 

 luxuriant herbage into humus, but will set free 

 all the latent and dormant elements of fertility 

 in such soils, anil will also improve its mechani- 

 cal condition. Those with a book learning of 

 Agricultural Chemistry say "Do not lime the soil 

 oftener than once in 3 or 4 years, as it exhausts 

 the soil." This is, of course, true where enor- 

 mous quantities of lime are used. My advice 

 has been to lime after ploughing every alternate 

 year with moderate quantities of it. The rich 

 growth of grass that will follow should be wee- 

 ded with mamoties in the dry weather, when 

 other works are not possible, and the grass be 

 allowed to remain on the surface to act as a 

 mulch. The weeding will also stir the surface 

 soil and make that too act as a mulch. 



RUBBER PRICE CONDITIONS. 



The topic of the utmost interest in the India- 

 rubber industry today, and that which is most 

 considered, is the present and prospective price 

 of crude rubber. Whether the manufacturer 

 be located at Maiden, Manchester, Mannheim, 

 Melbourne, Menin, Milan, Mjondalen, Montar- 

 gis, Montreal, or Moscow, the question is ever 

 present, as one which must be take into account 

 in planning every detail for tho future. This is 

 a fact which makes the whole rubber industry 

 akin, for the price of rubber everywhere at any 

 moment practically is the same, while the same 

 uncertainty exists as to what the price may be 

 tomorrow. The producers of rubber and the 

 traders in rubber have troubles of their own in 

 relation to the same subject, but here we shall 

 treat more particularly of the manufacturers. 

 Where rubber prices are made, or how they are 

 made, are questions not now pertinent to our 

 purpose. The uncertainty of prices is the thing, 

 and what the consumer of rubber can do about 

 it. Low priced rubber is not so essential. 

 When every consumer of a given grade of 

 rubber must buy it practically from the same 

 source, and it costs them all precisely the 

 same figure, they are all on the same footing. 

 Whether the cost is 50 cents or $1 a pound, or 

 more, would be immaterial— if permanent prices 

 could be counted upon. But they cannot. The 

 average price at New York of fine up-river Para 

 rubber during the year 1902 was 76 cents ; 

 during 1905 it was §l-28i ; ; since then it has been 

 less, the figure for 1908 declining to 93^ cents. 

 This year, so far, the price for this grade has 

 kept in the neighbourhood of $1 "20. When it is 



