April r, 1890.] Supplement'' Jo the "Tropical Agncultmist" 
pupa inside the 6eed, but before doing bo cuts a circular 
lid in the husk of the seed for the escape of the beetle 
In her valuable book " Manual of Injurious Insects," 
Miss Ormerod describes a beetle (Bruchus granarius) 
as infesting beans and peas in England. She says that 
the insect lays her eggs whilst the seed is still soft 
in the pods. With regard to the Oeylon insect I am 
led to believe that the eggs are laid after the seed is 
stored, as the preventive methods adopted by the 
natives simply seek to exclude the insect from the 
places where the seed is stored. 
This beetle is only about the eighth of an inch. 
Its colour is blaok, with brown hairs and various white 
markings; the tip of the tail is prolonged beyond the 
wings. The headiis drooping and the wings are dotted 
with rows of small pits. 
Prevention, &c— When the crop (as green gram &c,) 
is brought in, it should be well dried in the sun, and 
before being put away should be mixed with ashes, 
lime, chillies, &c. to exclude the beetle. The 
same thing should be done at intervals of about a month 
or oftener. Granaries, &c. should be thoroughly cleaned 
before the new crop is put in, and every means 
taken to save the seed from the consequences of the 
vast numbers of the insect sometimes to be found in 
such places, 
(To be continued.) 
* 
PADDY CULTIVATION AND TRANSPLANTING. 
VI. 
By W. Arthur De Silva. 
Weeding. — In the previous instalments of my paper. 
I dwelt on the various processes attending the culti- 
vation of paddy by transplanting, and the one on 
which I am now dwelling, though appearing after an 
interval of a few months, is not of less importance. 
The advantages of weeding and the harm caused by 
weeds were understood by cultivators from times far 
remote. Perhaps the recognition of the importance of 
weeding dates as far back as the cultivation of crops. 
Oato says : — " Take care to have your corn weeded 
twice with the hoe and also by hand." Iu connection 
with the cultivation of paddy, weeding s of the first 
importance (though generally neglected in some parts 
of this country) as the paddy is not a very vigorous 
plant and able to fight its way with the hardy weeds. 
Weeding should be done just a mouth after trans 
planting. Then the prooess becomes easy and also 
advantageous to the growing crop. The advantages of 
weeding are great, and the growing crop is allowed 
to get its full share of nourishment from the soil. 
Weeds are generally hardy and they grow vigorously 
taking up tho plant food in the soil and thus depriving 
the crop of a part of its food. 
Weeds also, when growing, tend to weaken plants by 
crowding. The hardy weed asserts its supremacy and 
throws back the growing plant. 
The harbouring of insects noxious to plant life is 
another bad effect of weeds. By their timely destruction 
a great deal of damages from inseots could be averted. 
In weeding three things should be taken into account. 
First the weeds should bo pulled out before they 
begin to flower, because, when they are pulled after 
eed is produced, a second crop of weeds heavier than 
the first takes its place. 
It should also be borne in mind that weeds should be 
completely rooted, up, and in no case should the 
rootstock be allowed to remain in the ground 
Therootstock or the stem 'just next to the root, when 
left in the soil, gives out fresh buds, and the weeds 
commence growing again. Another point to be con- 
sidered in weeding is to remove the weeds off the field 
when they cannot be buried. It is always better aud 
advantageous to bury the weeds in the field itself 
when it could be done ; but where this is impracticable 
the weeds should always be removed. If they are 
left lying on the field itself in their original plaoes along 
with the crop, not only is there danger of their harbour- 
ing injurious insects, but they are likely to establish 
themselves again if rain sets in, or the weather gets 
favourable in any way for their growth. 
Thus the gathering of a good crop depends aleo on 
the timely weeding of the fields. In some instances 
where the fields have an abundance of water, no neces- 
sity arises for weeding, as the weeds are kept down 
by the water, but such instances are very rare. 
The weeding of paddy-fields cannot be done by a hoe 
or any other implement, so the work has to be done 
by hand. It is done to some extent in the upconntry 
fields, and then the crop always turns out to be better 
than in unweeded fields. The want of weeding is greatly 
felt as stated previously iu plaoes where the supply of 
water is limited. It is not an uncommon sight in tho 
lowcountry to see whole fields covered up with weeds 
and the paddy plants sucoumbing. This generally 
happens where there is a want of water. 
In transplanted paddy, weeds have more oppor- 
tunities of establishing themselves and retarding the 
growth of a paddy crop. The good yield obtainable 
in transplanting is owing to the large number of shoots 
given out by such plants, bat if weeds establish them- 
selves, the plants get weakened and only a few shoots 
are given out. 
The work of weeding being a light one could always 
be entrusted to women and children. 
4 
THE ADVANTAGES OF LIMING. 
For improving certain kinds of soils, lime is 
esteemed one of the best means we possess. It is 
required for the growth of all kinds of cultivated 
plants, especially those belonging to the natural order 
Lerjuminosa. Therefore it is absolutely necessary that 
lime should be present to some degree iu all culti 
vatcd soils. While lime is always present ill soils 
