April 1, 1895.] Supplement to the " Tropical Agriculturist." 
711 
The only ingredients of this fertiliser that have 
% money value are the nitrogen and phosphoric 
acid. Arranging these as before, and we have 
in tabulai form the value of 100 lb. of this 
fertiliser with the calculations for one ton. 
3 - 78 per cent nitrogen — in 100 lb., £. s. d. 
3-78 lb.— at 7 Ad. ... 0 2 4} 
21*42 per cent phosphoric acid — in 100 
lb , 21-42 lb.— at 3d. ... 0 5 4{ 
Value of 100 lb. ... 0 7 8A 
Value per ton of 2,240 lb. ... 8 12 8 
It is possible for every user of commercial ferti- 
lisers in this way to estimate the value of any of 
the various goods that are offered in the market. 
MILKING WITH AND WITHOUT THE 
CALF. 
The following is an extract from a letter written 
by an Australian Dairy Farmer to the Agricultural 
Journal of Cape Colony. The experience given 
here, re the subject of milking without the calf, 
is valuable, in view of the fact that the established 
practice in Ceylon is to milk with the calf: — 
" When 1 started my dairy some twelve months 
ago 1 thought I would try English ways of 
milking, and as I brought out from home my 
white boy, a good milker, and to be depended 
on, I thought 1 would show that cows could 
be milked without their calves ; but in this 
matter, as in severe 1 others, I have found out 
English customs will not always do in this colony, 
although no doubt some of them will show an 
advance on colonial ways. I bought two pure 
colonial bred Shorthorn cows of Mr. Hall, near 
Middeiburg, who has for the last 10 years kept 
importing pedigree stock. Consequently they are 
what we can term pure-bred. The reason I 
make this remark is because it is my opinion 
that Shorthorns are much kinder milkers than 
any other breed. The cows had their third and 
fourth calves by their sides about six weeks old. 
I took away the calves first once a day, and 
then altogether for a week, and found the cows 
would have dried up altogether despite every means 
I tried for them to give their milk, such as heavy 
chain weights across the loins, hot flannels, &c. 1 
also found that what milk I did get was of very 
poor quality, although the cows were stall-fed. I 
was at last obliged to let the calves to the cows, 
and one of them 1 tried myself, but could not get a 
half pint. Iter letting the calf to cow, I milked 
with ease another four bottles of rich milk. Not 
liking to be laughed at by our colonial friends who 
are always ready to do so, I tried on a heifer just 
calved. 1 took away the calf at once and she has 
proved a splendid milker, which increased con- 
siderably after the first week. I quite agree with 
Mr. Smith, the Government Dairy Expert, that 
heifers treated in this manner will not only milk 
better and give richer milk, but that they will milk 
much longer, and improve after every calf they 
have. This is not the only heifer I have tested, 
and it will not be the last, as I um sure it will pay 
better to do as some of the milkmen do at home, 
where they keep cioss-bred cows for milking only 
to kill t he calves when first born, or give them 
away to small cottagers to bring up on meal sub- 
stitute for milk instead of letting them suck 
the cows." 
NOTES FROM A TRAVELLER'S DIARY. 
As regards vegetable and fruit garden cultivation, 
the villages around Kelaniya and Kotta dis- 
tricts appear to stand pre-eminent in the low- 
country, and a large quantity of vegetables and 
fruits sold in the Colombo market is supplied 
from these villages. Most of the vegetables 
grown here are purely native, such as cucumber, 
snake-gourd, pumpkins, long beans, bandakka, 
different varieties of yams, &c. The villagers 
know that the cultivation of these pays them, 
and as there is always a ready market for the 
produce, they take to vegetable cultivation with 
earnestness. Betel cultivation is also carried on 
extensively in these districts, and a large quan- 
tity of the leaves is sent to different parts of 
the island, particularly to npcountry. Sugar- 
cane is also grown to a large extent, for which 
also a ready market is always found in Colombo 
and its suburbs. The principal fruits that are 
to be found here are oranges, pine apples, 
mangoes, bael fruits, custard apple, rambutans, 
&Cs The oranges and pine apples grown in the 
Kotta distiict are noted for their sweetness. 
Plantains are also grown in these districts to 
a fairly large extent, but not so extensively as 
in the villages bordering the Maha-Oya and 
its tributaries, from where cart-loads of plantain 
bundles are brought down to Colombo for sale 
and also transported to different parts of the 
island by rail. 
Another place where vegetable cultivation is 
the principal industry is a group of villages 
about 3 or 4 miles distant from Pauadure on 
the Ratnapura road. Large quantities of native 
vegetables, such as snake-gourd, cucumber, ban- 
dakka, &c, are systematically cultivated here 
and transported for sale to Galle, Bentota, Co- 
lombo, &c. Of these villages Pamunugama and 
Alubomulla take the lead, and I was particularly 
struck with the large acreage of snake-gourd 
plantations which line the road at the former 
place. I have never seen a place where snake- 
gourd is so extensively and systematically cul- 
tivated as here. The on'ita lands in these vil- 
lages have a rich soil unci are well adapted for 
vegetable cultivation, and the people appear to 
take to it in earnest. Snake-gourd is planted 
i:i holes, about 3 or 4 feet apart, previously 
occupied by some other crop, such as cucumber, 
bandakka, kc, and are trained on sticks ns in 
the ense of the betel vine. A pandal is constructed 
on the top by tying sticks together with 
long coir rope, and the creepers tind ample space 
for growth and production of fruits on this 
pandal. The appearance of such a field of snake- 
gourd witli a profusion of snowy white flowers 
and with long ashy- coloured fruits hanging from 
the top is very pleasing to the eye. 
1 have so far sta;ed the facts as they would 
appear to any casual observer, but wheu one 
looks more deeply into the state of affairs, ho 
is surprised that much more is not done in these 
districts with a view to supplying the market 
more regularly with fruits and vegetables of ft 
superior quality. Most of the vegetable gardens 
in the town of Colombo are in the hands of 
Coast Tamils, and they are good in their own 
