April 1, 1 895. Supplement to the "Tropical Agriculturist." 
713 
the native husbandmen, following their stereo- 
typed system of cultivation, are still in the 
dark abyss of ignorance, and remote from those 
rational principles which have held up agricul- 
ture as an important science in the eyes of the 
civilised world. Not only are their implements 
of the rudest and most primary t3'pe, but they 
are hardly alive to the necessity of giving nour- 
ishment to the soil to bear the strain of yielding 
continuous crops. Had not India been blessed 
with a very rich and fertile soil, interspersed 
with a net-work of navigable rivers and canals, 
which annually overflow a large portion of the 
cultivable area, replenishing with a plentiful 
deposit of silt the exhaustion caused by culti- 
vation, it would not be capable of supplying 
what little it does as food for its famished 
population. 
The paddy plant belongs to the natural order 
of grass, of which wheat, barley, oats, rye, etc., 
are the species. It is of the genus oryza, akin 
to the Arabic Aruzz (rice), or to the Indian 
uro, " wild rice-" The cultivated paddy is bo- 
tanically named oryza sativa, and has its habitat 
in the swamps and marshes of the tropical 
region. It is now extensively cultivated, not 
only in India, but in America, Africa, China, 
Japan, Spain, Italy, and even in Australia. 
Humboldt found it wild in the Himalayas, but 
Dr. Roxburgh assigned its origin to some 
place in the Telegu country in Madras, while 
M. De Condolle considered it to be of China. 
.In the face of such wide difference of opinion 
as to the probable country of its nativity, it is 
impDssible to determine correctly from the data 
already in hand the true place of its birth. 
Carolina rice, which is considered the best variety 
of rice at present known, and is in great demand 
in the European, market is only an improved 
variety of the Madagascar rice — how and when 
it was introduced into that solitary island is 
not known at all. The numerous cultivated 
varieties of rice found in this country may be 
classed in three groups, namely, first, aus, or 
the early autumn crop ; secondly, the amun, or 
the winter crop ; and thirdly, the boro, or the 
spring crop, but the botanical division is other- 
wise. A further classification is, however, pro- 
posed by some, according as the crop is raised 
by the help of more or less water. The aus and 
the boro varieties are not so extensively cultivated 
as the other, which, is therefore, considered the 
main crop, and one that supplies the best table 
rice of the Europeans. The aus and the boro 
are only cultivated by the ryots for home con- 
sumption in time of need, as they are less de- 
pendant upon rain water and inundation, and 
are therefore less liable to failure. If, however, 
the better varieties are gradually introduced — 
amongst them being the early paddy, such as is 
found in the districts of Dinagepore and Maldah 
— and their culture systematically carried on, 
they should come into use among well-to-do 
people in Bengal, at least in a year of drought. 
Last year I Obtained through the good offices 
of a friend of mine, a couple of maunds of the 
Dinagepore aits paddy seed, locally known as 
Banafuli rice, and had it experimented upon in 
my farm with different manures and in different 
ways, and tested the result with the ordinary 
but coarser paddy of this district. 
In conducting the experiments I had three 
objects in view, viz. to see which manures gives 
the largest yield, to compare dibbling with 
broadcast sowing, and to ascertain the relative 
outturn of the finer and the coarser varieties. 
The land I selected for the purpose had only 
previously been cropped with potato, wheat, and 
vegetables. It had lain waste for over twenty 
years, and had become over-grown, therefore, 
with a luxuriance of vegetation so I had to 
undergo much expense and labour to make 
it lit for cultivation. The plots on which 
potato was grown had been well-manured with 
a mixture of bone-meal and cowdung and with 
each of them separately ; the wheat plot and 
only a top dressing of saltpetre ; while the 
other was without any manure. I divided the 
experimental plots thus, each with an are a 
equal to l-60th of an acre : — 
No. I Bonemeal and cowdung 
No. la do 
No. II Bonemeal only 
No. Ila do 
No. Ill Cowdung only 
No. Ilia do 
No. IV Without manure 
No. IV a do 
No. V do 
No. Va do 
No. VI do 
No. Via de 
Banafuli, it must be stated, 
variety of the 
(Banafuli) 
(Coarse) 
(Banafuli) 
' Coarse) 
(Banaful!) 
(Coarse) 
(B) 
(C) 
(B) 
(C) 
(B) 
(C) 
the finest 
have ever 
early paddy that 
seen. It has ivory-white grain when husked, 
is scented, and is fit for competition with the 
best of the winter crop. 
The previous cropping having rendered the 
plots free of weeds and obstinate vegetation, I 
gave only a few ploughings after the first 
i shower of rain in April last year to reduce them 
to the required tilth. The monsoon having 
burst rather late last year, I could not com- 
mence sowing till May following. All the plots 
from 1 to Va had the seed dibbled four inches 
apart in rows of the same distance, while Nos. 
VI and Yla sve:v sown broadcast. Dibbling 
required 42 lbs. of the coarser and 36 lbs. of 
the finer variety per acre, while broadcasting 
required double the quantity. The seeds before 
being sown were steeped for six hours in a 
mixture of camphor water and cow urine in the 
proportion of ten seers to one for every half a 
maund of seed. A small quantity of powdered 
sulphate of copper was thrown over it and 
hurriedly mixed therewith. Then the whole was 
mixed with wood ashes of sufficient quantity 
to soak the liquid from the seeds and mako 
them fit for sowing. This precaution was taken 
to hasten germination and to preserve the seed 
from the attack of insect pests, in accordance 
with the directions contained in the valuable 
printed instructions of Mr. N. G. Mookerji, Agri- 
cultural Deputy Collector of Berhampore. The 
seedlings appeared on the third day, and ten 
days later they attained the height of six 
inches. As the plots had been embanked on nil 
sides, rain water could not drain off, but was 
absorbed by the ground. A dose of saltpetre was 
applied to all plots down to No. l\'a at the rate 
of (50 lbs. per acre, which gave them a livsh start, 
and in a fortnight the seedlings so multiplied 
t hein<elves that there was scarcely any space 
risible between the plants and the rowa. Little 
or no weeding having been deemed necessary. 
