10 
Magazine  of  the  School  of  Agriculture. 
There  is  no  direct  export  of  the  fibre  from 
India,  nor  is  it  sold  at  all,  except  either  as 
an  adulterant  of  jute,  or  under  the  name  of 
hemp.  I u Dacca  and  Mymensingh  it  is  said 
to  be  exported  under  the  latter  appellation  to 
the  extent  of  a few  thousand  cwts.  yearly. 

OCCASIONAL  NOTES. 
We  have  been  requested  to  experiment  and 
cultivate  some  seeds  sent  to  us  as  Jowari  and 
Dajri,  by  a gentleman  residing  in  Colombo. 
The.  former  we  find  is  the  arisi-cholum  of  South 
India,  which  is  grown  to  a small  extent  by 
the  natives  of  Madampe  and  other  places,  and 
used  in  the  same  way  as  Indian-corn  in  Ceylon. 
Jowari  is  one  of  the  varieties  of  Sort/hvin  T ulgctrc, 
and  is  known  here  as  wain  or  karal  eringu. 
Bajri  is  identical  with  cumbu  ( Pennisetum  typhoi- 
cUum)  and  is  also  found  in  native  gardens. 
Some  years  ago  both  these  millets  were  raised 
successfully  in  the  School  grounds,  and  if  the 
seeds  supplied  us  are  good,  we  have  no  doubt 
they  will  come  up  well  again. 
Two  other  packets  of  seed  labelled  Sorghum 
vulgare  and  S.  saccharatum  have  also  reached 
us  from  Messrs.  Sutton  & Sous  of  Reading. 
We  are,  however,  led  to  believe  that  both  are 
varieties  of  Sorghum  vulgare  (cliolum),  one,  the 
black  variety,  (labelled  as  S.  saccharatum)  being 
knowm  as  karapu-cholum  ; the  other,  the  reddish 
variety,  (labelled  as  S.  vulgare)  being  known 
as  songu-cholum.  Sorghum  saccharatum  or  the 
sugar  sorghum  is  known  among  the  natives  here 
as  edal-eringu.  All  these  varieties  are  we  learn 
found  to  a small  extent  cultivated  in  the  Island, 
and  have  been  experimentally  grown  before  from 
seed  imported  by  Mr!  A.  W.  Jayawardene  of 
this  School. 
We  are  in  receipt  of  an  interesting  publica- 
tion (dated  June  189x)  coutaining  memoranda 
of  the  origin,  plan,  and  results  of  the  field  and 
other  experiments  conducted  on  the  farm  and 
in  the  laboratory  of  Sir  John  Bennet  Lawses  at 
Rothamsted,  Herts.  It  forms  a valuable  work 
of  reference. 
A course  of  lectures  for  students  will  he 
delivered  by  several  well-known  gentlemen 
at  the  School  of  Agriculture  in  the  fall  of  the 
year.  Mr.  J.  II.  Marsh,  m.a.,  late  Principal  of 
the  Royal  College  is  offering  a prize  for  the  best 
collection  of  notes  on  the  lectures. 
The  contents  of  the  last  Journal  of  the  Royal 
Agricultural  Society  of  England  (June  30th)  are: 
Vermin  of  the  Parm,  The  Evolution  of  Agri- 
cultural Implements,  Desirable  Agricultural  Ex- 
periments, Contagious  Root  Rot  in  Sheep, 
Variation  of  ,tl)e  Pour-Course  System,  The  Trials 
of  Ploughs  at  Warwick,  Wild  Birds  in  Relation 
to  Agriculture,  Official  Reports,  and  Notes,  Com- 
munications, and  Reviews. 
The  Agricultural  Instructor  lias  ;In(tel.y  been  the 
subject  of  some  criticism.  In  the  administrative 
report  of  one  official  he  is  put  down  a failure 
in  his  role  of  reformer  of  the  qative  system  of  j 
paddy-cultivation,  and  is  advised  to  turn  his  atten- 
tion to  fruit-culture.  A writer  in  the  Ceylon 
Patriot  considers  that  the  character  and  duties  of 
the  Agricultural  Instructor  himself  require  a good 
deal  of . reforming.  “ I look  upon  agricultural 
instruction  as  a peculiarly  knotty  social  problem,” 
he  says,  “ and  it  ivould  be  worth  while  our  putting 
our  heads  together  to  rectify  the  present  defective 
system." 
Mr.  Lye,  the  Colonial  Veterinary  Surgeon,  has 
begun  his  course  of  lectures  to  the  students  of 
the  School  of  Agriculture.  Mr.  Lye  can  also 
be  privately  consulted  any  morning  in  the  week 
at  his  offices  at  the  School. 
The  students  of  the  School  are  busy  cultivating 
special  plots  allotted  to  them.  Trials  are  being 
made  with  certain  English  and  Indian  seeds, 
with  the  object  of  ascertaining  the  possibility  of 
increasing  our  supply  of  cattle  fodder. 
Musk  plants — which  produce  the  musk  seed  re- 
ferred to  iu  an  extract  among  our  General  Items — 
grow  without  much  trouble  and  produce  large 
crops  of  seed.  W e believe  the  seeds  were  exported 
to  some  extent  by  one  of  our  local  planters,  hut 
it  is  now'  of  little  value  owing  it  is  said  to  the 
fragrant  principle  having  been  produced  artifi- 
cially and  more  cheaply  by  the  aid  of  chemistry. 
TREE  PLANTING. 
In  the  suggestions  for  teachers  and  others 
interested  in  the  planting  of  trees,  issued  by 
the  Brisbane  Department  of  Agriculture,  Prof. 
Shelton  says  that  the  first  objection  to  the 
method  of  pot-hole  planting  is  that  the  holes 
are  too  small.  Make  them  say  8 or  10  feet  iu 
diameter,  and  see  that  the  soil  replaced  has  been 
properly  enriched,  and  the  hole  itself  thoroughly 
drained,  and  an  excellent  start  in  tree  planting 
has  been  made.  The  great  cost  of  the  large  hole 
in  labour  is  the  chief  and  a very  serious  objec- 
tion to  it.  A hole  of  smaller  size  fills  more  or 
less  with  water,  and  retains  it  for  the  most  part 
until  removed  by  evaporation.  This  to  the  roots 
of  the  growing  trees  means  great  extremes  of 
cold  and  heat,  and  ultimately  rapid  exhaustion 
and  decay.  The  small  hole  again  does  not  afford 
room  for  the  outward  growth  and  spread  of  the 
roots  of  the  tree ; the  growing  tree  from  the 
first  finds  itself  imprisoned  within  the  walls  of 
undisturbed  earth  w'hich  surround  it  on  every 
side.  Better  far  to  dig  deeply  or  thoroughly 
trench  the  wdiole  area  to  be  planted. 
The  operation  of  trenching  is  variously  con- 
ducted. Essentially  it  consists  in  thoroughly 
breaking  up  soil  and  subsoil  to  the  depth  of  18  to 
24  inches,  and  mixing  with  the  broken  earth 
substances  likely  to  act  as  fertilisers,  or  sub- 
stances W'hich  serve  simply  to  ameliorate  the 
subsoil.  Ordinarily  work  is  begun  at  one  side  of 
the  area  to  be  treated,  by  digging  a trench  a 
full  spade  or  fork  deep  the  entire  length  of  the 
side,  throwing  the  earth  on  that  side  of  the 
furrow  which  is  to  remain  undisturbed.  Let  the 
bottom  of  the  trench  thus  formed  then  be  tho- 
roughly spaded  or  forked  over  a full  spade  deep, 
wising  with  tlie  soil  thus  broken  up  the  refuse 
