714 
Supplement to the " Tropical Agriculturist." [April I, 1895. 

the soil was at the early stage of the growth 
of the plants loosened with a hand rake or Dauli, 
as it was noticed that the heavy downpour of 
the season had already caked the earth and would 
have hindered the appearance of the shoots 
round the seedlings. Though the soil of the 
unmanured plots was also rich, having been 
recently reclaimed virgin soil, there was a marked 
difference in the luxuriance and general aspect 
of the plants in the manured and unmanured 
series. The dressing of saltpetre — of course 
crude, i.e., mixed with common salt, to some 
extent as is generally found in the market — 
had a marvellous effect on them. By the end 
of July the ears appeared averaging in length 
from 10 to 16 inches ; consisting of three to five 
branches. In due course the milky juice hardened 
into edible grain, and the plants unable to bear 
the burden, fell to the ground as if stricken by a 
hurricane. As soon as the grains were found to 
be fully ripe, the plants were, in the last week 
of August, cut with a country scythe, leaving 
the stubble to rot and serve as manure for the 
crop. They were then made into bundles and 
stacked on the threshing floor. The subsequent 
operations were those that are generally observed 
by our country cultivators, treading by cattle 
and winnowing by means of strong wind or bam- 
boo fan. The outturn of each plot was weighed 
and its quality compared. The yield from plot 
No. la stood highest, being 42 maunds per acre, 
that from No. 1 was greatest in its own class, 32 
maunds 15 seers per acre- Bone dust and cow- 
dung plots gave almost an equal quantity. The 
outturn of the saltpetre plot was higher than 
that of the unmanured plot ; while the outturn 
of the plot on which broadcasting had been 
practised stood last. As for the quality of the 
crop grown from seeds of Dinagepore, I found 
them on a comparison with the parent stock to 
be equal, if not superior. I am decidedly of 
opinion that this variety may successfully be 
introduced into this district, and may be used 
as a good substitute for the finer winter rice 
in time of drought. The careful selection of 
seed is a very necessary step in the improvement 
of indigenous agriculture, and ought to be a point 
for Government to impress upon the native 
husbandmen. 
GENEEAL ITEMS. 
otherwise promote conditions of soil and climate 
favourable to cultivation. 
The relation that subsists between Forests and 
the resources of a country (says the Editor 
of the Cape Colony Agricultural Gazette) has of 
late years become well understood. Not merely 
do better management and conservation re- 
sult in securing a considerable revenue from the 
sale of timber and other products, but the 
existence and influence of forests most favour- 
ably affect the productiveness of a country. This 
may be seen even in the limited extent to which 
plantations have been made on farms in Australia, 
and even in this country. But the evidence is 
on a much larger scale where, as in some old 
countries, the destruction of forests has been 
followed in after years by greatly decreased crops 
and almost barrenness of soil. Forests ame- 
liorate the climate, conserve the rainfall, and 
The following from the Live Stock Journal 
goes to recommend the practice, common among 
the natives of Ceylon, of keeping poultry in the 
open: — "A very striking example of the advantage 
of keeping poultry in the open, in place of (shutting 
them up in confined runs, was given at the last 
Birmingham Show. Captain Heaton, wLo is well 
known as a most successful breeder of various 
kinds of live-stock appertaining to the farm, is 
also an enthusiastic and most successful breeder 
of fancy poultry. His present devotion is to the 
modern show game birds, In which tightness and 
brilliancy of feather and hardness of condition are 
ii dispensable to success in the show pen. Of 
these he breeds a very large number in the neigh- 
bourhood of Worsley, but, in consequence of the 
depredations of poultry thieves, he had them all 
brought in from their runs ; after making a selec- 
tion of the best, he killed off all but fifty. He 
then found that for those that were reserved as 
likely to produce prize-winners he had only room 
for thirty-four, and the other sixteen were turned 
loose in the coverts to take their chance, roosting 
in the trees, and exposed to the weather and the 
changes of temperat ure incidental to such a life. 
Breeders of fancy poultry who coddle up their 
birds in close houses, where the pure air of 
heaven can rarely reach them, would, doubtless, 
have thought this fatal to success, and will be 
surprised to hear that the two birds with which 
Captain Heaton took the champion cup at Bir- 
mingham and the fourth prize, selling them after- 
wards for £100 a piece, were two of those that 
had not been reared on foul soil and in tainted air 
of poultry runs and houses, but had roosted like 
pheasants in the trees till sent to the show, where, 
in their splendid condition, they surpassed all their 
competitors. Verbum sap." 
The Superintendent of Farms in the Bombay 
Presidency writes thus about a machine which 
can be seen at the School of Agriculture, hav- 
ing been loaned to the school by Messrs. W. H. 
Davies & Co., the Agents for the manufacturers : 
— " The Planet Junior combined hoe and plough 
I have found extremely useful in the cultivation 
of Guinea grass and potatoes; also in the last 
ploughing for sugar-cane and in ridging up, 
preparatory to planting the sugar-cane sets. 
The last operation is commonly done by a native 
plough yoked with four bullocks. The Planet 
Junior does the work better and more expedi- 
tiously. It is easily drawn by two bullocks. 
It costs E33 in India." 
It has been ascertained by experiments (says 
the Agricultural Gazette, N.S.W.) that 1 acre 
of cowpeas turned under enriches the soil by 
3970 - 38 lb. of organic matter, containing 6P95 lb. 
nitrogen with a manurial value of £2. 
We have to acknowledge with thanks the re- 
ceipt of the following publications: — The Magazines 
of the Royal and S. Thomas' College, " Our 
Boys," and The Agricultural Gazette of Cape- 
Colony. 
