354 
Sxipplement to the " Tr 
^'opical Agriculturist." [Nov. 1, 1893. 
tions. The general public will, I have no doubt, 
hail with delight the extension of this pure milk 
and butter supply to them ; and this if^ a jjoint 
that I would .--trongly urge for the con.aideration 
of the responsible authorities. ' 
The Indian Aijriailiurift thus refers to the 
subject of dairy farming, and makes mention of 
the success at Allahabad as an inducement for 
the establishment of dairies in Calcutta : — " In 
view of the results that have attended the 
experiments in dairy farming recently made 
under Government au.spices at Allahabad and 
elsewhere in the North- iVest Provinces, the 
want of enterprise which has hitherto left the 
large European and Eurasian population of 
Calcutta at the mercy of i/oala (milkman) 
for its supply of two such important article* of 
food as milk and butter becomes more inexplicable 
than ever. Hitherto the theory has been that, 
even with high prices prevailing in the metro- 
polis, the industry on a large scale, or in the 
hands of any but natives of the country, will 
not pay." 
* » » 
" The cost of keeping cattle would, no doubt, 
be higher in Calcutta than it is at Allahabad : 
but, on the other hand, the market prices of the 
produce are at least To per cent higher in 
Calcutta, even for the highly adulterated com- 
pounds commonly sold as milk and butter. 
Unless there is anything in the climate or soil 
which would render it impossible to keep cattle 
of the same quality, or to obtain the same quant- 
ity and quality of milk from them, in Calcutta, 
or its neighbourhood, as at Allahabad, which we 
do not believe, the inference is that, with the 
necessary care and honesty a verj' hands une 
profit might be realised from a properly cuu- 
ducted farm." lieference is then made to the 
Allahabad farm Avhere, with a small herd, the 
nett profits for 0 months amounted to Ks. ],.SUO 
(the. capital invested having been less than 
Rs. 4,000) which is said to represent an annual 
Ijercentage that " throws the result of the most 
flourishing of our industrial enterprises into the 
shade." In conclusion the Indian Agriculturist 
makes the following remarks : — 
" The whole secret of success appears, in short, 
to lie in a proper choice of animals, combined 
with judicious feeding and cleanliness. Of the 
sanitary results of the substitution of a supply 
of pure milk and butter for the troops for the 
wretched stuff on which they previously depend- 
ed, no actual statistics are given ; bu i ^\■e are 
told that there has been a gratifying diminution 
of sickness and mortality. An attempt was, we 
see, made at Allahabad to introduce the Danish 
system of having the cattle brought in from the 
adjacent villages to be milked at the farm ; but 
it was found that the goalas, however carefully 
supervised, could not be prevented from feeding 
their cows with unsuitable materials and water- 
ing them from, impure sources." 
In Ceylon, too, we have the complaint to make 
that the cpst.of upkeep of the animals is high, 
and the price of good milkers is about double 
their value in India, but again dairy produce 
fetches rather more here than there. Let us 
hope that the Ceylon Government dairy will 
have as good an account to give of itself as its 
gister institution at Allahabad, 
TO Tin: CREDIT OF WEEDS. 
This i(* the title of a thoughtful article by 
Mr. G. C. Hill in.tbe A7nerioan Agriculturist. It 
is doubtful, Pays the writer, if any thiuR 
l)roMght more grey hairs to our forefathers' head« 
than their perennial worry over weeds. The 
jilants that nature f^o freely sowk and favors with 
sucli tenacious qualities, could not fail to be a 
pore trial to farmers who had liftl<' more than a 
lioe and their fingers to work with. No wonder 
that the siglit of a weed, even in autiftnn, «ent a 
chill to the spine ; and no wonder that a feeling of 
hatred for siich offenders Ijeeame a part of the 
common l^-gacy bequeathed to the present gener- 
ation. The result was that we dropjied almoi^t 
unquestioningly into tiie old way of regarding 
a " weed" as a thing of unmixed evil, a " robber 
of the soil ;" and it bpcame almost heresy to 
think otherwise. Even to-day a progressive 
thinker and investigator who discovers a useful 
ijuality in the condemfied jilants, hardly dares 
to mention it, lest the i)opular verdict place him 
as an advocate of slackness in farming. 
A student of the weed problem must imparti- 
ally consider: 1. The good weeds do. i'. The 
harm they do. He must also give <liie recogni- 
tion to the fact of their existence, and cost of 
getting rid of them. In other words, the debtor 
side must show a balance equal to the cost of 
extirpation before such work can economically 
he undertaken. In the practical dealings with 
weeds, they may \>p separated into two classes; 
anil every farmer draws the dividing line for 
himself, for there is a wide difference of ojiinion 
as to where it belongs. The first class includes 
those that can be, and should be, entirely eradi- 
cated from the farm. To it belong plants that 
have a strong tendency to monopolize the soil, 
regardless of its present occupancy, and whosa 
hardiness and tenacity render it difficult to 
conti 'l them when they get a foothoM. This 
cla.^s seldom has more than a very few kinds 
ou any one farm. For these plants there is 
nothing to offer but extermination. Under the 
other division is included the numberless com- 
mon weeds, mostly annuals, which spring 
up so readily on vacant spots or along the 
iiUerveniug spaces of crops planted in rows. 
The harm they do depends greatly on the 
treatmeut they receive. The cultivator is how- 
ever apt to forget that the stirring the soil 
receives in the eradication of these weeds is no 
more than is needed for the good of the crop, 
and which would he needed just the same if 
there were no weeds in existence. In regard to 
being a " robber of the soil," no plant can 
impoverish the soil if it decays on the spot where 
it grew. 
Among the benefits the soil may derive from a 
crop of weeds are those accruing from these 
facts : 1. AA''eeds .shade the soil. 2. They 
furnish a mulch. 3. They supply vegetation to 
be ploughed under. The influence of a burning 
sun on a naked soil is not fully under.stood. It is 
generally conceded, however, that it has a harmful 
effect in some way. "In not one, out of several 
experiments," says Mr. Hill, "have I been able to 
raise more than three-fourths of a crop on soil 
kept naked and frequently stirred during the 
