210 
Supplement to the '• Tropical Agriculturist." [Sept. 1, 1894. 
astringent, and is found injurious to the young 
tender foliage, but the carbonate of copper solution 
seems to have no injurious effects whatever.' 1 
FODDER CROPS AND CATTLE KEEPING 
IN CEYLON. II. 
The sources of the present scanty supply of 
fodder have already been mentioned. It is evi- 
dent that if anything is to be done towards pro- 
fitable cattle rearing in the Island, the supply of 
foodder should be looked to as of the greatest 
importance. In the vicinity of towns, especially 
in and about Colombo, a large quantity of grass 
is grown. This supplies the demand in the town. 
The cultivators of grass fields make a fair profit, 
which undoubtedly acts as an inducement for the 
extension of grass cultivation. Still, it is rarely 
tlmt a person grows fodder for the sole purpose of 
feeding his own animals. The immediate profits 
are more aimed at than the results to be expected 
from a more systematic method of farming. The 
Ceylon cultivator is not the city man but the 
villager; and it is only in the villages that we 
could expect farming to be carried on ; but the 
curious thing is that however large a number of 
cattle a villager keeps he never sees the necessity 
of growing fodder for their use. If, then, he is 
prohibited from allowing his animals, as he at 
piesent does, to find a " living" for themselves, 
he will be forced either to grow some food for his 
animals or to reduce the number of animals he 
keeps. 
Among the grasses that would thrive well 
under cultivation, special mention could be made 
of two species, the Guinea grass and the Mauritius 
or water grass. Guinea grass, Panicum Maxicum 
thrives well wherever it is grown. It is a native 
of Africa and grows. well in all tropical countries. 
Under cultivation it often attains to a height of 
from 6 to 8 feet, but ordinarily the grass grows 
to ah average height of 4 feet. This grass 
does not do well at all in moist or marshy 
land ; it requires a free soil of good average 
fertility. The common method of planting 
Guinea grass is by laying out the shoots. Each 
plant gives out such a large number of stems 
that within a year a single stem, becomes a bush of 
from twenty to forty stalks. The "land should be 
well tilled and the grass stems planted in ridges 
two to three feet apart ; the lesser distance 
adopted where the soil is not very rich. The 
richer the soil the better do the plants grow, and 
hence the ridges may be set a little wider apart. 
The selected stems are to be taken with the roots on 
their tops cut off and the roots pared before plant- 
ingj which is done slightly slanting-wise. It 
need hardly be noted that the grass does better at 
a season when there is a fair amount of moisture 
present in the soil. A new Guinea grass planta- 
tion should be opened just before the rains. 
Manuring and weeding are essential for obtaining 
a successful plantation. Guinea grass is often 
grown from seeds. When it is necessary to grow 
the crop from seed, it is thinly sown in nursery 
beds, well prepared and levelled down. The 
nurseries require, watering and careful attention till 
the plants are from nine to twelve inches high, 
at which time they are fit to be transplanted 
in a field. Guinea grasss should be cut and used 
before the stems grow tough, always before flower- 
ing. The mowing should be done quite close to 
the ground, and after each cutting a dressing of 
manure is almost esseutial. A Guinea grnsn 
field gives a crop every six weeks, (sometimes 
oftener), except during very dry weather. Right 
crops a year could be easily obtained in this 
country. A report of the Babugath Breeding 
Farm in the North-Western Provinces of India 
gives the the cost of planting Guinea grass in an 
acre of laud with hired labour as follows :— 
B. a. p. 
Ploughing . . . . -j o 0 
Harrowing, collecting and burn- 
ing weeds . . . . 2 8 0 
Clod crushing .. .. 0 14 0 
Manuring (carts, coolies, &c) 10 0 o 
K'dgipg . . . . 2 8 0 
Planting . . . . loo 
Total cost of planting . 21 14 
0 
and the co?t of keeping up Guinea grass on one 
acre of land with hired labour per year is given 
as 
B. as. p. 
Irrigation .. .. WO 0 
Weeding . . . . 1« 8 () 
Manure, carl, and cooly hire 52 8 0 
Ploughing and ridging . . 6 0 0 
Total.. Ill 0 0 
Now of these expenses it any be observed that 
the item tinder it ligation will not be incurred in 
Ceylon unless it be during a very unfavourable 
season, &c., the other expenses, with the excep- 
tion of manure, are on hired labour. Here hired 
labour will not be necessary for any village who 
goes in for grass cultivation, but all the same the 
amount as set above would undoubtedly serve us 
to measure in a way the labour required for cul- 
tivating the crop. If the grass is grown for one's 
own stock, manure would be easily available. 
Coming to receipts, it is estimated that an acre of 
land would produce fifteen tons per cutting or 
hundred and twenty tons for the eight cuttings, 
which would mean that, taking everything into 
consideration, a ton of grass would cost a little 
less than a rupee. 
Guinea grass is easily converted into hay, and 
this hay is considered to be an excellent feedinc 
stuff. * 
W. A. 1). S. 
21st August, 1894. 
{To be continued.) 
RAINFALL. 
The liural California n in considering the 
possibility of helping or assisting nature to 
furnish man with water in the shape of mois- 
ture from the clouds, draws attention to the 
fact that the '•' great American desert " men- 
tioned by Geography books within the memory 
of the present has passed away, and enquires into 
the causes and conditions which have arisen to 
bring about this change. The change, it is re- 
plied, has been brought about by the advent 
of rail-roads, settlements, cultivation of the soil, 
planting of trees, and last but not least by 
irrigation. 
