THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [September i, 1887 
we desiderate full details of the history and con- 
ditions of the wonderfully successful experiment 
made on the sub-ranges of the Nilgiris, and we 
hope our correspondent will gratify by a more 
lengthened communication the curiosity which his 
short but interesting note has excited- 
IMPROVED PLOUGHS AND REFORM IN 
RICE CULTIVATION. 
We take over from the "Examiner" a letter 
in which Mr. Green, the Director of Public 
Instruction, explains his position in regard to ploughs 
and ploughing. It will be seen that Mr. Green 
does not recommend iron ploughs for operating on 
mud, but only for turning over dry soil. 
We have no further information of an official 
oharacter respecting the Toppur experiment, but 
the brother of the Agricultural Instructor who had 
charge of the experiment has handed us a number 
of letters in which the Instructor mentions the 
progress of his work and the manifold hindrances 
experienced from drought, from wild pigs and 
worms, from the unwillingness of schoolboys to 
work, and from sceptical villagers. In the case 
where 108-fold was obtained, the process of im- 
proved cultivation and the planting out of the rice 
seedlings instead of the usual broadcast sowing 
are described, but we find no mention of 
manure, which the gentleman who handed us 
the letter said he thought was used. This is the one 
important point on which full information is desider- 
ated ; and we trust it will be forthcoming. With 
the liberal use of good fertilizing substances, added 
to oareful culture, the result of 108-fold may not 
be so astonishing as it now seems. We are struck 
as we read with the evident good faith of the Agri- 
cultural Instructor, whose system was favourably 
reported on by the Mudaliyar and others. But the 
attitude of the villagers, as described by the Mudali- 
yar, is very characteristic : — 
"I questioned the villagers about this. They say 
that it is a good system. AYhen I asked tbem whether 
they will adopt it for their next cultivation, they 
began to pull a long yarn and say we cannot afford 
"to pay for such ploughs and pay coolies for trans- 
planting. 
" I then pointed out the small quantity of seed re- 
quired for the plantation and the larger produce they 
may expect to get which alone was enough to pay 
for the expenses and have a good saving. The reply 
was ' Yes, sir,' but I observed that the ' yes, sir,' was 
not a sincere one. However, perseverance of this 
system may ultimately open their eyes when they 
gee repeated good results." 
From a letter dated 3rd August we quote full de- 
tails of the result of the experiment, as stated by the 
Agricultural Instructor, Mr. B. W. Chinivasagam : — 
We were busily engaged in thrashing our paddy up 
to the present date. The whole amount of our 
paddy is nearly 8 avunams, i.e., 112 bushels. I ex- 
pected to have some more paddy, but unfortunately 
pigs damaged a great deal. It is not a custom here 
to thrash immediately after reaping. So I was un- 
able to send you the number of bushels. After 
thrashing, I got it measured separately in the pre- 
sence of the schoolmaster, the police headman and 
the Watte-vidana as requested by the Director of P. j. 
and distributed as follows : — Avunams. 
1 Rent of the land ... ... 2 
2 Government share ... ... 0£ 
3 Seed paddy borrowed, returned 
with interest ... ... 1£ 
4 Cooly hire for reaping, heaping and 
thrashing ... ... ... 1£ 
5 Miscellaneous, t'.c, cart hire, paup- 
ers, &c. ... ... ... % 
6 Remainder ... 
7 Seed paddy for next year 
1* 
Total 
Out of the whole, my share is about six bushels. 
Anyhow our yield is much better than the villagers'. 
I put in nursery bed only five measures for trans- 
planting which yielded 18 bushels, that is to say 108- 
fold. We ploughed and sowed five bushels which 
yielded 78 bushels, that is to say 15 3-5th-fold. We 
sowed two bushels in the native way and their yield 
was 16 bushels, that is to say 8-fold. Some of 
the heaps of the adjoining fields are not yet thrashed, 
but those that are thrashed is only seven and eight. 
The yield we have to compare is also 8-fold. 
Seed-paddy is in charge of the police headman and 
the Government share is in my charge. I distributed 
the remainder to the ten boys according to their 
work. All the boys received their shares excepting 
one boy, who is willing to cut away from the school. 
Many of the other fellows are also not willing to 
come to the garden work. This is because our Yan- 
niah asked the boys to put up a fence around the 
garden land. It is very difficult to manage with these 
small boys. As they were unable tojwatch properly, 
pigs damaged so much. If the Government try to 
check the pigs coming into the plain, we can have 
better crops with advantage. Another disadvantage 
we had this year is [a scarcity of] water. 
One feels that as far as the Agricultural Instructor 
is concerned there is no attempt to exaggerate. The 
crop was obtained and divided. The only defect 
in the information afforded is that nothing is said 
about manure, that is, if any fertilizing substance 
was really used. We should like to know if manure 
was used by the natives and in all the experi- 
ments of the Agricultural Instructor ? and specially 
if manure in more than ordinary quantity or of 
better than ordinary quality was used on the field 
which returned 108-fold ? 
Since writing the above we have received the 
following most interesting and important letter from 
Mr. Green, showing the wonderful results which 
improved cultivation of rice has given, not merely 
108-fold but 360-fold! The head of rice which 
acoompanied the letter is very fine, reminding us 
of the short sheaves with robust grain we saw 
ready for feeding horses at every stopping place 
in Java, rather than anything we have seen in 
Ceylon. Mr. Green writes: — 
27th August 1887- 
Dear Sir, — Referring to the desire expressed in your 
editorial of last night for more information regard- 
ing the Toppur yield of 108-fold from paddy planted 
out on land previously ploughed with Howard's Cin- 
galee plough, I have to state that nothing (except 
the ploughing) was altered from the ordinary native 
methods of germinating the seed paddy aud sowing 
it in seed bed, and then planting it out. 
I am telegraphing to the Asst. Agent, Trinco- 
malee, to confirm me in my understanding that no 
manure was used. But I am sure that no manure 
was used. If it had been, the result would have been 
much larger, witness the inclosed ear of paddy with 
more than 300 grains from one seed where manure 
was used. In the present case five seers of 
paddy thus planted out over rather less than 
two roods of the three acres cut gave eighteen 
bushels— strictly speaking over 108-fold, indeed 
115-fold. 
But I have had 360-fold from planting out when 
manure was used. 
The share of the plough is simply to increase by 
usually from 1- 6th to over \ (in different aud numerous 
experiments made) the yield which an ordinary 
native gets. But it is the planting out which gives 
the enormous yield. 
Take the Toppur case. Iu the laud sown broadcast 
cur plough just about doubled the yield — similarly iu the 
planted out laud; an ordinary native would expect 
40 or 60 or Go-fold, because each seed planted out 
