THB MAGAZINE 
OF 
Jm n^OOL OF SGRKJULTURG, 
COLOMBO. 
Added as a Supplement Monthly to th« " TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST." 
The following pages include the Contents of the Magazine of the School of 
Agriculture for June : — 
Vol. v.] JUNE, 1894. [No. 12. 
COMBATING DROUGHT. 
T is known to most cultivators of 
land that one of the objects of 
fine tilth is to promote capillary 
action, by which moisture is 
supplied to the surface of the 
soil. But there is another important point which 
has to bo borne in mind, and that is, that if all 
the capillary tubes are open to the surface, 
evaporation can proceed from them so freely 
that the underground store of moisture may be 
insufficient to supply the continuous demand. 
Hence, again, it is desirable to keep the surface 
soil, by frequent stirring, in such a state that the 
capillary tubes are broken or interrupted a littie 
below the surface. In this case the mere super- 
ficial covering of earth acts as a soil mulch ; 
and, like a layer of leaves or grass or cattle 
manure, it protects the moisture beneath. Hence 
an occasional slight stirring of the superficial 
soil serves to conserve rather than to dissipate 
the underlying moisture. These points should 
be seviou.«ly considered by cultivators in the 
tropics, whore the practice of surface stirring 
will be found to be of the greatest service 
especially in droughty seasons. 
The foUowingextraot from an article in the F/o- 
rifla At/n'ni/tiin'Kf on the subject of " beating 
drought" helps to illustrate the foregoing 
remarks : — 
Not only in the "arid west," but in numy 
portions of the old world, farmers, urged by 
necessity, have Ivarnod to make crops almost 
without rain during the growing season. This is 
done by selecting crops, anil adopting a method of j 
cultivation suited to the elimatie peculiarities. 
In most arid, and in all sub-arid regions, there 
{ire, at some timy during the year— usually iu 
winter — heavy downpours of rain. The methods 
of cultivation are directed to the preservation of 
this water for the use of crops during the future 
growing season, and this is succ«ssfully accom- 
plished where the soil is not of such a structure 
as causes the water falling upon it to continue 
to descend and flow away in a pervious substratum. 
The system of cultivation is directed solely to the 
object of preventing the water from reaching 
the surface and being evaporated by the heat of 
the sun. It has been demonstrated that water in 
the soil rises to the surface by capillar}' attrac- 
tion, and is evaporated and passes off in the 
form of invisible vapor. It has also been found 
that by the frequent and thorough pulverization 
of the surface soil to a depth of two or three 
inches, the capillary tubes are destroyed, the 
water does not rise to the surface, and is not 
evaporated. In parts of Southern California this 
method is practised so successfully that large 
crops of fruit, and even grain and corn are raised 
without a drop of rain during ths growing season. 
Of course, no other growth must be permitted, 
for grass and W5eds would consume the very 
moisture that should be preserved. 
OCCASIONAL NOTES. 
The e.xperiment in Jute Cultivation at the 
School has been fairly successful. The plants 
grew to 4J and 5 f-et within (5 weeks after 
sowing, and at the end of that time came into 
flower. The fibre whicli was extracted would seem 
to be of good quality, but on this point the 
oj)inion of an expert is necessary. We have not 
yet heard the results of experiments made in 
other parts of the Island to which parcel of 
seed were despatched. In Ilaputale, however, 
where the climate and elevation are manifestly 
unsuitable, the experiment resulted in total 
failure. It is, of course, absurd to think of 
Ceylon competing witli India in exporting Jute libn-, 
but the Island may perJiaps be able to supi)ly 
part of its own deuiaud fvr the Ijbrc uud 1^4 
producte. 
