THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST, 
[JaU.  i,  I&)3. 
444 
Available  for  plant  food.  Had  the  bone  dust 
been  in  the  soil  for  a season  before  planting,  or 
had  a more  readily  assimilable  form  of  phosphate 
been  used,  and  had  the  conditions  of  growth  been 
more  natural,  I have  no  doubt  the  result  would 
have  been  more  markedly  in  favor  of  the  phos- 
phatic  manure. 
Although  I cannot  refer  to  the  analyses  of  any 
Ceylon  soils  fertile  for  the  paddy  crop,  I am  able 
to  quote  from  the  “ Journal  of  the  Chemical 
Society”  analyses  of  two  Burma  rice  soils  from 
Syriam  near  Rangoon.  The  analyses  are  by  the 
late  Dr.  R.  Romanis,  Government  Chemical  Ex- 
aminer at  Rangoon,  who  says  that  in  any  one 
district  “the  valuation  of  the  soil  bv  the  amount 
of  phosphoric  acid  present  corresponds  pretty  well 
vrith  the  settlement  officer’s  valuation.  Compar- 
ing two  district  with  each  other,  it  was  found  that 
soil  in  one  district,  comparatively  poor  in  phos- 
phoric acid,  might  yield  as  large  crops  as  soil  in 
the  other  district  which  was  richer  in  phosphoric 
acid  ; but  it  could  generally  be  explained  by  the 
fact  that,  whereas  in  the  latter,  where  the  hold- 
ings were  larger,  the  grain  was  sown  broadcast, 
in  the  former  the  rice  was  grown  in  nurseries  and 
planted  out  by  hand.  The  conclusions  drawn  from 
these  investigations  by  Romanis  are  that,  climate 
and  situation  being  equal,  the  value  of  the  soil 
for  paddy  cultivation  depends  on  the  phosphoric 
acid  in  it,  and  that  the  planting  out  system  is 
far  superior  to  the  broadcast  system  of  cultivation. 
The  following  are  the  two  analyses  referred  to. 
Both  are  alluvial  soils  from  the  delta  of  the  Irra- 
waddy. No.  2 was  virgin  soil. 
Analyses  of  Burma  Paddy  Soils. 
(Romanis.) 
Per 
cent. 
Soluble  in  Hydrochloric  Acid. 
No  1.  | 
No  2. 
Organic  matter 
4-590 
8-508 
Peroxide  of  iron  and  alumina 
8-939 
7T79 
Magnesia 
•469 
•677 
Lime 
traces 
T31 
Potash 
•138 
T87 
Soda 
•136 
•337 
Phosphoric  acid 
TOO 
T08 
Sulphuric  acid 
•025 
T17 
Silica 
•005 
Soluble  in  Sulphuric  Acid. 
Alumina 
17-460 
15-684 
Magnesia 
•459 
•446 
Lime 
•286 
traces 
Potash 
■616 
1-250 
Soda 
•317 
•285 
Residue. 
Silioa 
61T52 
59-546 
Alumina 
3-062 
4-178 
Lime 
•700 
T34 
Magnesia 
Potash 
•212 
•276 
traces 
1T80 
Soda 
•503 
1-048 
Japan  Bice  Soil  and  Ordinary  Arable  Soils. 
Professor  O.  Kellner,  Agricultural  Chemist  at 
the  College  of  Tokio,  Japan,  gives  analyses,  shew- 
ing the  chemical  composition  of  the  soil  of  the  rice 
field  as  compared  with  the  ordinary  arable  soil 
at  the  Experimental  Farm  of  the  College. 
Comparison  of  the  chemical  composition  of 
ordinary  arable  soil  with  soil  of  rich  field  on 
Experimental  Farm,  Tokio.  Kellner) 
Dry 
Field. 
Rice 
Field 
Soil. 
Subsoil. 
Soil. 
Subsoil. 
Hygroscopic  water 
15-49 
18-69 
14-30 
12-84 
Loss  on  ignition 
20-01 
14-90 
22-30 
18-79 
Humus 
790 
7T7 
996 
8-86 
Nitrogen 
•80 
•60 
•489 
•799 
Combined  water 
11-31 
7T3 
11-850 
9' 130 
The  soils  of  both  fields  dried  at  100°C  and 
extracted  with  cold  hydrochloric  acid  Sp.  Gr.  1*15, 
gave  the  results  shewn  in  the  following  table : — 
Dry  Field. 
Rice 
Field. 
Soil.  , 
Subsoil. 
Soil. 
Subsoil 
Silica 
•31 
•29 
■82 
■79 
Alumina 
15-93 
19-73 
18-50 
14-15 
Peroxide  of  iron 
11-73 
11-36 
7-00 
7 49 
Lime 
•60 
•66 
•75 
•70 
Magnesia 
1-41 
1-44 
*45 
•55 
Potash 
•29 
•18 
•10 
T7 
Soda 
•17 
•13 
'14 
•01 
Phosphoric  acid 
.19 
•18 
•37 
•35 
Sulphuric  acid 
•11 
•12 
•18 
30-74 
34-09 
25-31 
24-21 
Insoluble  residue 
48-30 
49-48 
60-00 
51-16 
Humus  and  com- 
bined water 
23 '67 
18-33 
26  02 
25-83 
1102-71 
101-90 
101-33 
101-20 
The  character  of  the  surface  soils  in  Japan  is 
modified  by  the  prevalence  of  long  droughts  and 
high  winds.  The  finest  particles  of  the  soil  are 
blown  across  the  face  of  the  country,  collecting 
in  sheltered  places  after  the  manner  of  snow  drifts. 
The  rice  fields,  being  moist,  do  not  suffer  in  this 
way  ; but  on  the  contrary  are  fertilised  by  this 
fine  dust,  part  of  which  is  arrested  by  the  moist 
paddy  fields.  This  fine  dust  is,  therefore,  highly 
prized  by  the  cultivators  of  rice. 
It  will  be  observed  that  the  soil  of  the  rice 
field  is  nearly  twice  as  rich  in  available  phosphoric 
acid  as  that  of  the  ordinary  arable  field.  Both 
soils  are  very  rich  in  nitrogen. 
( To  be  continued.) 
The  Age  of  Orange  Trees.— There  has  been  much 
discussion  among  horticulurists  during  the  past  few 
years  concerning  the  extreme  age  that  orange  trees 
will  bear  well  and  produce  good  fruit.  There  are 
many  who  maintain  that  an  orange  tree,  no  matter 
how  much  care  is  put  upon  it,  will  slowly  wither 
and  die  after  it  has  reached  half-a-century  of  growth. 
Others  have  argued  that  about  seventy-five  years 
is  the  limit  of  usefulness  of  a well-cared-for  orange 
tree.  Several  horticulturists  who  have  been  travel, 
ling  along  the  Mediterranean  sea  have  recently  found 
trees  over  120  years  old,  that  are  still  producing 
fruit  of  excellent  quality.  On  the  island  of  Elba, 
where  Napoleon  was  banished,  there  is  an  orange 
grove  of  over  700  St.  Michael  orange  trees  that 
was  planted  by  an  Italian  in  1781,  and  it  produced 
last  year  over  1,800  boxes  of  fruit,  but  it  produced 
four  times  that  quantity  twenty-five  years  ago.  There 
are  several  small  orange  orchards  in  Southern 
Italy  that  are  over  eighty  years  old,  and  are 
still  productive  of  large  quantities  of  fruit.  On  the 
island  of  Malta,  James  Bellman  found  one  orange 
tree  that,  there  can  be  no  doubt,  is  142  years  old, 
and  that  yielded  seven  boxes  of  fruit  last  year.  It 
is  even  alleged  that  in  the  Azores  there  are  orange  and 
lemon  trees  over  200  years  old  that  still  bear  fruit,  but 
there  is  no  good  authority  for  the  allegation. — 
Horticultural  Times,  Oct.  31. 
