April 2, 1894.] Supplement to the " Tropical Agriculturist." 
713 
little " seems to be their motto, and their pater- 
nal acres supply them with almost all they 
require in the shape of food. They relish the 
coarser kinds of field and garden products which 
their more-refined fellow countrymen in the 
town would look down upon as unfit for human 
consumption or would only take by way of 
variety. 
17. Dead fences are very rarely, if ever, used 
in Jaffua. The advantages of live fences which 
are so common there are by no means to be under- 
valued. They are useful in difi'erent ways. Not 
only are the leaves sometimes used as manure, 
but they yield browse for feeding cattle and 
afford a certain amount of shade and shelter which 
come as a boon in a dry climate such as that of 
Jaffna. Again, fhe cost of effecting constant 
repairs which has invariably to be incurred in 
the case of dead fences is to a great extent 
dispensed with when the gardens are enclosed 
with live fences ; and much annoyance, 
not to say loss, that would otherwise be caused 
by trespasses of cattle &c. is, moreover, saved. 
18. The arboriculture of Jaffna deserves a word 
iu these notes. There is, indeed, little or no spare 
land in the Peninsula where any attempt at 
afforestation can be made even on a small scale. 
The trees grown along the road side and in the 
public places are, however, worthy of notice ; 
and the memory of Mr. Dyke, the first Govern- 
ment Agent of Jaffna, has been immortalized by 
the numerous trees he has planted, and his 
example has beeu followed up by his worthy 
successors. Besides the ordinary shade and orna- 
mental trees, Inga saman and Poinciana regia 
(flamboyant), there are the valuable timber trees 
teak (Tectona (jrandis) and mahogany {Swietenia 
mahogani) which thrive luxuriantly in the 
market enclosures at Nellore, Chavakachcheri, 
Chunnakam, &c. Some satin wood trees {Chlo- 
ro.vylon su'ietenia) near the Kachcheri also 
seem to be doing well. The "sooriya" tree 
(Tkespesia 2)opulnea) which yields a tough use- 
ful wood thrives well along the sea beach where 
few other trees would grow. 
The margosa (Azadirachta indicci) and the 
" illupei " or " meegaha" {Bassia longifolia) which 
are so common all over the North are very use- 
ful not merely on account of their timber, but 
more for the seeds from which valuable oil is 
obtained. It is interesting to watch the little 
urchins get up at daybreak and gather the 
margosa fruit, which has dropped on the ground 
over night. The fruit thus collected is washed, 
pulped, and the seed dried and stowed away 
for e.xtracting the oil which is only used for 
the lamp and in medicine, its strong bitter taste 
prechidiug its use for culinary purposes. Un- 
like the niiirgosa oil, however, that obtained 
from the illupei seed is greatly in request for 
the preparation of food, &c., besides being used 
lor burning purposes. 
19. As one travels along the central road 
through the Peninsula, he can see palmyrah trees 
merCiless'ly stripped of the sheath-ends of the 
ola stalks. Many of the young palms have been 
done to d(>ath by this system of obtaining the 
fibre, the trunk being laid bare nhnost to the 
very summit of the crown. While the fibre 
trade is likely to be always a very profitable 
■^aoeru vfhea discreetly oarrie<^ on, there is 
cause for serious apprehension that it will 
prove destructive to the useful palms and there- 
fore suicidal to the industry when the gathering of 
fibre is done in this reckless manner, almost 
amounting to spoliation. The crown of a palm 
contains, so to speak, the very life blood of the 
tree, and the death of so many palmyrah palms 
of late has only too clearly shown how risky 
it is to divest it of its natural protection. 
20. I must not bring these notes to a close 
without saying a word about paddy cultivation 
as I saw it at Anuradhapura when I made a 
short stay there some time back during a 
journey by the central road. I was agreeably 
surprised to see seedlings being planted out in 
the tract of field adjoining the Isuru-muni 
temple and under the tank called Tissa Wewa. 
Women chiefly took part in this work, their 
supple bodies enabling them to do it much more 
easily than the men who were employed in 
digging out the seedlings from the nursery by 
means of mamoties, and in doing other work 
deemed more congenial to them. 
The Wanni with its vast acreages under large 
tanks affords immense scope for enterprising 
capitalists for paddy cultivation. I have heard 
that a large ancient tank at Kanukkeni in the 
Mullaittivu district will be soon restored by 
Government, and that when the restoration is com- 
pleted there is every prospect of Mullaittivu 
becoming the granary of the North. What might 
not a good irrigation system coupled with im- 
proved cultivation effect in the raising of paddy ! 
E. T. HOOLJi. 
• 
THE POONA FAEM. 
In the Poona Farm last year various fodder 
crops were grown with the object of showing 
their comparative outturn, cost of cultivation, 
and value of produce. This year the further 
steps have been taken (1) of practically testing 
their feeding value, and {2} of studying various 
leguminous crops to be grown in rotation with 
cei-eal fodder crops. To the fodder crop tested 
last year were added maize, oats, two local 
varieties of jowari {sorghum vulgare), viz., nilva 
and shalu, and a foreign variety, impki (S. 
saccharatum). Oats and imphi were damaged by 
excessive rain. In point of merit, as adjudged 
by the amount of wastage in feeding, the crops 
are placed as follows : — 1, guinea grass ; 2, 
sundhia jowari ; .3, shalu jowari ; 4, nilva jowari. 
There was much wastage in Eeana lu.xurians 
owing to its coarse fibrous stallcs, and still 
more in maize. Lucerne showed its already 
marked liability to disease ; even "when grown 
on the ridge and furrow system, it was not 
safeguarded. Sulphate of copper in solution 
with lime, liad no effect in checking the disease. 
It has been again proved that the partiality 
shown by local cultivators to this crop is due 
to its high price and large yield in favourable 
seasons. Incidentally a result which may prove 
itself important was secured. A badly-diseased 
patch of lucerne WuS iuterplanted with guinea 
grass. The lucerne recovered and grew well. 
This mixed crop corresponds somewhat to the. 
rye grass and clover crop of England — a mix- 
ture, that is, o£ a cereal ^d leguminous fodder « 
