Magazine  of  the  School  of  Agriculture. 
manure.  “ It  was  tried  extensively,”  says  our  in- 
formant, “ but  it  did  not  pay.”  And  it  is  there 
fore  we  suggest  to  our  correspondents  to  calculate 
beforehand  as  exactly  as  possible  the  cost  of 
the  compost  he  suggests  as  a substitute  for  cattle 
manure,  so  that  the  “will  it  pay”  question 
might  be  at  least  well  threshed  out  if  not 
definitely  settled. 
GENERAL  ITEMS. 
The  following  are  the  guaranteed  Analysis  of 
Lawes'  Guanos : — 
Lawes'  Guano  No.  1. 
Moisture  . . . . . . 1026 
‘Water  of  combination,  ammonia  salts 
and  organic  matter  . . . . 36'43 
Monobasic  phosphate  of  lime  __  . . 13'66 
Equal  to  tribasic  phosphate  of  lime 
rendered  soluble  by  acid  . . (21 '39) 
Insoluble  phosphate  . . . . 6'32 
Sulphate  of  lime  . . . . 27 '14 
* ‘Alkaline  salts  and  maguesia  . . 4'05 
Silica  . . . . . . . . 2'14 
lOO'OO 
‘Containing  nitrogen  . . . . 7 'll 
Equal  to  ammonia  . . , . 8'71 
“Contains  sulphate  of  potash  . . 1'96 
Lawes'  Guano  No.  2. 
Moisture  . . . . . . 9'43 
‘Organic  matter  and  water  of  combi- 
nation . . . . . . 30'56 
Monobasic  phosphate  of  lime  . , 14'09 
Equal  to  tribasic  phosphate  of  lime 
reudered  soluble  by  acid  . . (22'06) 
Insoluble  phosphate  . . . . 8'80 
Sulphate  of  lime..  ..  ..  29'54 
“Alkaline  salts  and  magnesia  . . 3'9o 
Silica  . . . . . . . . 3'63 
lOO'OO 
‘Containing  nitrogen  . . . . 5'42 
Equal  to  ammonia  . . . , 6'58 
“Containing  sulphate  of  potash  . . 1'81 
Mr.  John  Hughes  reporting  on  these  guanos 
says  : — -The  ammonia  has  been  rendered  non-vola- 
tile by  the  addition  of  sulphuric  acid,  and  there  is 
consequently  no  danger  of  any  of  this  important 
constituent  being  lost  by  exposure  or  otherwise. 
The  phosphates  have  been  rendered  soluble 
to  a great  extent,  and  are  therefore  much  more 
valuable  than  in  raw  guanos.  The  greatest  care  is 
paid  in  its  preparation  to  ensure  its  being  sent 
in  good  condition,  and  it  may  always  be  de- 
pended to  be  in  a fine  powdery  state,  thereby 
rendering  it  readily  available  as  plant  food, 
which  is  not  the  case  with  much  of  the  guanos 
now  offered.  The  analysis  being  guaranteed, 
the  buyer  can  always  rely  upon  obtaining  the 
percentage  of  ammonia  and  phosphates  stated, 
which  he  is  unable  to  do  when  he  buys  with- 
out guarantee. 
Giant  caragua  maize,  seeds  of  which  were 
sent  to  us  by  Sutton  and  Sons  of  Reading, 
is  coming  up  well  on  the  School  of  Agri- 
culture grounds,  and  one  or  two  Agricultural 
Instructors,  to  whom  we  sent  a few  seeds, 
report  well  of  the  growth.  Sorghum  Sacchar- 
atum  also  promises  to  be  a success,  but  Sanfoin 
and  Lucerne  though  holding  on,  do  not  appear  as 
vigorous  growths.  Mr.  Gunasekere  reports  from. 
Balangoda  that  kidney  vetch,  in  addition  to 
giant  maize  and  sorghum,  is  doing  well  with  him. 
The  plots  allotted  to  the  students  at  the 
School  of  Agriculture  now  show  successful  culti- 
vatiou  of  radish,  trunips,  endive,  tomatoes,  yams, 
vegetable  marrow,  cucumbers  (English  and  na- 
tive), betel,  manioc/sorghum,  maize,  snakegourd, 
onions,  &c.  Mr.  J.  A.  G.  Rodrigo,  who  is  now 
acting  as  Practical  Instructor  is  doing  good 
work.  Our  thanks  are  due  to  Messrs.  Miller  & 
Go.  of  Kandy  for  a parcel  of  English  vege- 
table seeds. 
Lawes’  chemical  manure  for  cereals  and  grasses 
was  tried  on  Mauritius  and  guinea  grass  as  a 
top  dressing  in  the  proportion  of  1 to  10  of 
fine  earth.  The  results  have  been  most  striking, 
the  grass  showing  rapid  and  vigorous  growth 
within  a week  of  the  application, 
