THE IB 
mi mAGK 
COLOMBO. 
Added as a Supplement Monthly to the " TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST." 
The following pages include the Contents of the Agricultural Magazine 
fur March : — 
Vol. VI.] 
MARCH, 1895. 
[No. 9. 
GREEN CROP FERTILIZERS. 
S our last issue we quoted a note on 
the ploughiiig-in of green crops, 
drawn up by Dr. Leather, the 
Agricultural Chemist to the 
Government of India. Apart 
from the many advantages which green-crop 
manuring lias been known to secure for the 
laud, we would draw attention here to the value 
of certain leguminous plants as nitrogenous 
fertilizer.'. The influence of Crotalaria Jimcea 
(the Sin. Hana) as such was shown in certain 
experiments with wheat in India. Professor 
Shelton referring to the cow-pea says : It is 
everywhere pronounced to be invaluable, furnish, 
ing hungry, washed-out soil with the nitrogen 
needed for tin? subsequent crop. 
The cow-pen, we find from experiments made 
with seeds received from India, thrives well here. 
Ste have not heard that the beans are generally i;sed 
for human food, but it has been used here and 
appreciated as such : while the whole plant is 
well-known to be greedily eaten by stock. So 
that in the cow-pea we have a plant which 
serves three ends, for while it supplies food for 
man, it can ulso be utilized as fodder for cattle or a s 
il nitrogenous green manure. Even were the plant 
cut and carried off the land to feed cattle the 
residue in the form of stem and roots will in itself 
add much to the fertility of the soil ill which it is 
left. The ' cow-pea can thus be either grown as a 
restoring crop before sowing the seeds of cereals or 
other short lived plants, or it can be grown without 
inconvenience am >:ig cultivated perennial trees. 
In an article on we !s which appeared in the 
pages of this Magazin :ome time ago, we referred 
to weeds in this conn ion, namely, as fertilizers 
of the soil. The adva- ge in the cow-;.e>, how- 
ever, is as we have poi ed out, that it also serves 
other purposes and is of three-fold utility, and we 
should like to see a goon trial of it made on some 
of our tea and cocoa estates. The value of leaf 
manures is to some extent recognised by native 
cultivators, (witness the use of Kepittiya — 
Orbton lacciferum— -leaves in the cultivation of betel 
and other crops), so that the introduction of the cow- 
pea or other papilionaceous plant as a restorative 
crop on lands which are generally in much need 
of ' restoring', would nr - be altogether an innova- 
tion. We commend th'i ■ subject to the serioas 
attention of our Agricultural Instructors, as 
offering them a means oi furthering the interests 
of the native cultivator. 
OCCASIONAL NOTES. 
The School of Agriculture reopened after the 
Vacation on the loth January. The present 
strength of the school i 8 resident students and 
day scholars. 
The Forestry lectun - prepared by Mr. A. F. 
Broun, the Conservator of Forests, c >ntiuue to be 
given out to the stnden . Mr. Broun being able, 
in spite of his duties a- Conservator, to carry on 
his self-imposed task. We are sanguine that 
after the uttemnces of II. E. The Governor at the 
prize-giving ceremony. ;be preliminary difficulties 
regarding the establishment of n Forest branch at 
the School of Agriculture will soon be overcome 
