88 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. August i, 1889.] 
the case of the U6e of coal for fuel, there is not 
coincident and corresponding restoration, so in that 
of the use or waste of the combined nitrogen of 
the soil, there is not evidence of coincident and 
corresponding restoration of nitrogen from the free 
to the combined state. 
In the case of agricultural production for sale, 
■without restoration by manure from external sources, 
a very important condition of the maintenance of the 
amount of nitrogen in the surface soil, or of the 
diminished exhaustion of it, is the growth of plants 
of various ranges and characters of roots, and espe- 
cially of leguminous -crops. Such plants, by their 
crop-residue, enrich the surface soil in nitrogen. 
It is, as a rule, those of the most powerful root- 
development that take up the most nitrogen from 
somewhere ; and this fact points to a subsoil source. 
But independently of this, which obviously might be 
help to he only evidence of the necessity of obtain- 
ing water and mineral matters from below, in 
amount commensurate with the capability of acquir- 
ing nitrogen from the air, the experimental results 
at Rothamsted can leave little doubt that such 
plants obtain, at any rate, much of their nitrogen 
from the subsoil. 
Inherent Fertility of Soils. 
Bearing in mind, however, the very large store of 
already existing combined nitrogen, especially in 
subsoils, it is important to consider in what way or 
in what degree this store may contribute to chloro- 
phyllous vegetation ? 
There is, in the first place, the question whether 
the roots of some plants, and especially tfeose of 
certain deep and powerfully rooting Leguminoste, 
whose root-sap is strongly acid, may either directly 
take up organic nitrogen from the soil and sub-soil, 
or may attack and liberate it for further change, 
the nitrogen so becoming more avaiilable. — Gardeners 
Chronicle. 
MANILLA HEMP. 
A further report on the fir W. De Souza machine 
at the Andamans was received through Mr. Lawrence, 
Under Secretary to the Government of India, as 
follows : — " Adverting to the correspondence ending 
with your letter of the 3rd December last, I am 
directed to forward a copy of a further report received 
from the superintendent, Port Blair and Nicobars, 
on the working of the Bhea Machine in the Andamans, 
and to state that the Government of India will be 
glad to be favored, in due course, with the opinion 
of the Society on the samples of Musa textilis for- 
warded herewith." 
Enclosure. 
"Letter No. 215, dated 9th January 18S9, from the 
Mechanical Engineer, Chatham Saw Mill, to the 
Northern District Officer, Port Blair. In reply to your 
letter No. 1771, dated 20th ultimo, with enclosures, 
on the matter of a further trial with the Rhea 
Machine, I have the honor to report that 95 Musa 
textilis stems 7 feet long were sent in, which we're 
cut into 3h lengths making 190 in number, the weight 
of which was when received 1,839 lb. ; these were all 
put through the Machine, the time occupied in cleaning 
6 hours, the ret result of the whole when thoroughly 
dried being fibre 74 lb. 
2 " During the time of working the vibration of the 
Machine was very great, so much so that it was 
dangerous on account of a break-down taking place 
at any minute. Great difficulty was experienced in 
keeping the carrying rope tight, and in a great measure 
delayed the outturn. Before starting the wire rope 
was covered with hemp, but after being at work one 
hour, the whole of this was worn off, and it would 
be advisable that some other more substantial one be 
substituted. This rope got unshipped while working, 
and falling between the scraping drum and block 
broke the machine in three places, this was caused 
by the centre column which carries the rope turning 
round and allowing it to get off the wheel ; if the 
boles at either end of this column had been drilled, 
and not oblong as at present, with the bolts properly 
fitted, this could not have ocourred, 
3. "If the result of the present trial is deemed 
satisfactory, and it is contemplated getting more of 
the same class, it would be advisable that the 
Machine should be made of stronger material through- 
out, as, in my opinion, the material is too light for 
what the Machine requires to do. It would be also 
necessary that all the holes should be drilled, and 
the bolts properly fitted, which would give more sta- 
bility to the Machine than what there is at present. 
4. " It seems to me the greatest dificulty to be 
overcome is the keeping of the c irryiug rope in. good 
order. This stretches to such an extent while work- 
ing, that it becomes extremely dangerous ; if a suit- 
able rope could be provided that would stand the great 
strain, I am of opinion that the Machine would do 
what is required with safety. A trial with Pineapple 
leaves and aloes will require to be postponed until a 
new rope is fitted, as the present one is not safe to 
use any longer : two samples of Blusa textilis fibre 
cleaned are forwarded for approval. 
5. " For an experiment as to whether the machine 
was capable of cleaning Piueapp'.e leaves, 6 leaves 
were tried, weighing 1 tb., the result being fibre f 
oz , the time occupie 1 in cleaning 10 minutes : these 
are also fo warded, but as will be seen, are not so 
well eleani d as the Musa textilis. On the arrival of 
the new rope, a further trial will be given to this 
fibre, and the result submitted as soon as possible." 
From the samples received it is evident that the 
machine does its work effectually, and the yield of 74 
lb. of dry fibre in six hours, notwithstanding the 
difficulties referred to in the report, may be considered 
satisfactory. The cost of outturn is not given, but 
were the machine to be in regular work and run- 
ning 24 hours, the gross outturn taken at 3| mds. 
would be valued at say B115 at Calcutta. It 
seems probable that with permanent arrangements a 
larger outturn might be expected.— Proceedings of the 
A.-H. Society of India. 
— . + 
COTTON CULTIVATION. 
To the Editor of the " Ceylon Examiner." 
Sir, — With reference to Mr. Bjrron's communica- 
tion on cotton cultivation in your last night's issue, 
may I be allowed to say a few words? 
It has been said that Ceylon does not possess a 
suitable soil for cotton. That the peculiar soil called 
Bec/ur, commonly called the black Cotton soil which 
overlies a limestone gravel called Kunkur, is not found 
in the Island. This is a mistake, however. Not 
only does a black soil exist, but it is also accom- 
panied by beds of limestone. This 1 say from 
personal knowledge, having found the kind of soil 
to a great extent in the Anuradhapura District 
during a recent visit. Black soil is peculiarly suited 
to the short-stapled Indian Cotton commonly called 
Tinnevelly. Besides the black soil, two other Cotton 
soils are known in India, viz. the red and alluvial, 
and it has been found by experience that these 
two, especially the red, are better adapted to the 
growth of American Cotton which is far superior 
to Indian. I may mention that I saw Tinnevelly 
cotton growing very well on red soil, both at Matale 
and Maradankadawala, a village in the Anuradhapura 
District. 
Mr. Borron thinks that the cotton found locally 
growing is a variety of the Sea Island; but such 
is not the case. The Kapu of the Sinhalese is the 
Pernambuco or Brazil cotton which, I am led to 
believe, is indigenous, or if it has been introduced, 
it has undergone very little deterioration. It grows 
equally well near the sea and far inland. The pe- 
culiarity of this variety of cotton is that the seeds 
adhere in conglomerations. 
The annual system of cultivation is a necessity 
with the Indian cotton because it begins to die 
soon after fructification, but our Kapu is known to 
last for about 5 years in Native gardens. ' If I may 
express an opinion, I would advise Oeylou Planters to 
leave Indian cotton alone for a great many reasons, 
I and to cultivate the local Kapu and the American 
1 andEgyptian cottons.— Yours faithfully, Aba, 
