44 
Magazine  of  the  School  of  Agriculture. 
the  soil  and  its  fertility,  help  the  soil  to  retain 
rain  water,  and  lastly  when  pulled  up  and  applied 
to  the  land,  in  decaying,  enrich  it.  The  rapid 
growth  of  weeds,  says  Warrington,  will  greatly 
diminish  the  loss  of  nitrogen  by  drainage,  and  be  of 
use  in  other  ways  as  a green  crop.  When  the 
weeds  are  ploughed  in,  the  valuable  matter  stored 
up  by  them  again  becomes  available  as  plant  food. 
Here,  however,  Warrington  refers  to  the  growing 
of  weeds  on  land  not  in  crop,  or  rather  on  land 
between  the  intervals  of  cultivation.  That  it  is 
desirable  that  some  vegetation  should  grow  on  land 
in  the  absence  of  a regular  crop,  even  though 
the  clearing  of  such  when  it  has  taken  a firm 
hold  on  the  soil  entails  some  trouble,  no  one 
will  deny  ; but  the  question  with  us  as  regards 
such  perennial  growths  as  coconuts,  coffee,  tea,  &c., 
is,  whether  it  should  be  the  object  of  the  cultivator 
to  keep  his  land  always  as  clean  as  possible,  or 
whether  it  would  be  to  his  advantage  to  allow  a 
natural  crop  of  weeds  to  spring  up  and  flourish,  and 
then,  at  some  trouble  and  expense,  clear  his  land 
and  apply  the  weeds  as  manure.  In  this  con- 
nection we  may  quote  the  words  of  Mr.  Joseph 
Holloway  who,  writing  to  the  Ceylon  Observer  on 
October  19th,  says  : — ‘‘I  have  the  pleasure  of  stating 
that  I have  tested  my  system  of  using  weeds  for  the 
saving  of  wash  and  also  as  a manure  in  the 
cultivation  of  coffee,  cinchona,  cacao  and  tea  to 
my  entire  satisfaction,  and  am  now  carrying  on 
the  same  system  on  this  estate  (Marakona  estate) 
with  marked  success  in  the  cultivation  of  cacao. 
The  record  of  this  experience  of  Mr.  Holloway  is 
most  welcome  and  useful.  Looking  at  the  natural 
conditions  under  which  weeds  grow  in  a tropical 
country  such  as  ours,  it  would  seem  that  they 
were  intended  to  serve  some  more  useful  purpose 
than  is  generally  associated,  with  them.  In  this 
country  the  natural  agents  would  seem  to  favour 
the  propagation  and  growth  of  weed  to  an 
inordinate  degree, — wind,  weather,  and  temper- 
ature assisting  to  the  fullest  extent  in  this  work 
which  is  in  a far  less  degree  favoured  by  the  same 
agents  in  temperate  climes.  No  one  can  appreciai  e 
this  difference  more  than  he  who  has  seen  the 
operation  of  weeding  in  the  course  of  cultivation 
in  a temperate  country  and  its  lasting  effect  there  ; 
and  has  subsequently  witnessed  the  weeding 
process  and  the  unsatisfactory  sequence  of  the 
labourious  operation  on  land  in  our  tropical  zone. 
There  is  another  consideration  worthy  of  the 
student  of  Agriculture,  and  that  is  that  the  decom- 
position of  weeds  when  buried  is  a much  quicker 
process  with  us  than  in  temperate  countries. 
Again,  from  the  fact  that  we-cultivate  perennials 
in  a large  measure,  we  have  better  opportunities 
for  making  use  of  this  process  of  green  manuring 
while  the  crop  is  standing  than  they  who  almost 
solely  cultivate  annuals  and  biennials,  and  nearly 
alw'ays  plants  ('seldom  or  never  shrubs  and  trees). 
These  considerations,  we  think,  would  warrant 
our  cultivators  of  strong  perennial  shrubs  and 
trees,  in  inquiring  more  closely  into  the  functions 
which  our  various  weeds  are  intended  to  fulfil  in 
agricultural  economy,  and  thus  endeavour  to  avail 
themselves  of  any  advantage  which  the  fostering 
of  weeds  would  appear  to  secure  for  them. 
We  know  of  one  of  two  agriculturists,  besides 
Mr.  Holloway,  who  believe  in  this  system  of 
leaving  their  estates  in  weeds  till  the  season 
arrives,  which  in  their  opinion  is  the  right  time 
for  their  extirpation  and  interment  ; but  Mr. 
Holloway  would  seem  to  us  not  merely  to 
have  been  satisfied  with  noting  the  effect  of 
this  treatment  of  weeds  in  general,  but  to  have 
studied  the  process  more  closely  and  to  have 
observed  that  some  weeds  which  appear  to  act 
more  beneficially  on  land  than  others,  deserve 
proportionately  to  be  treated  with  more  respect 
and  to  receive  greater  encouragement. 
We  have  no  doubt  but  that  Mr.  Holloway  well 
recognises  the  fact,  in  spite  of  his  prejudice  in 
favour  of  weeds, that  some  of  them  such  ns  “ JSluk  ” 
and  “ Atora  ” (our  tropical  couch  grasses)  which, 
owing  to  their  strong  and  rapid  growth  by  means 
of  penetrating  and  destructive  but  nearly  inde- 
structible ramifying  underground  stems,  are 
formidable  rivals  in  the  struggle  for  existence  in 
in  the  battle  of  plant-life  and  effectually  succeed 
in  arresting  the  free  and  healthy  growth  of  the 
more  useful  plants. 
One  of  the  “ weeds,”  which  Mr.  Holloways 
experience  has  proved  to  him  to  be  beneficial,  is 
the  Desmoduim,  known  and  valued  ns  a medicinal 
agent  umong  the  Sinhalese  as  undupiyali  and 
among  the  Tamils  as  sivan-coddie.  This,  Mr. 
Holloway  says,  is  in  my  opinion  the  best  of 
manurial  weeds,  as  it  requires  no  cutting  whatever 
and  makes  a thick  covering  on  the  top  of  the  soil, 
and  has  a thick  network  of  roots  under  the 
surface It  is  the  best  (of  three  named)  in 
manuring  qualities. 
Now  Mr.  Holloway,  though  as  a practical  man 
he  will  be  quite  content  with  the  results  of  his 
experience,  will  have  some  satisfaction  in  knowing 
that  the  species  Desmodium  belongs  to  the  order 
of  leguminous  plants,  which  the  latest  researches 
in  agricultural  science  have  proved  to  exert  a 
most  desirable  fertilizing  influence  upon  the  soil, 
and  that  in  encouraging  its  growth  and  in 
availing  himself  of  its  benefits  as  a fertilizing 
agent,  he  is  proving  himself  a wise  and  economical 
husbandman. 
SIDA  FIBRE. 
Of  the  family  Sida  belonging  to  the  order  Mal- 
vaceae, we  have  six  members  indigenous  to  Ceylon 
viz.,  <S'.  Humilis  (Sin.  Bevila),  S'.  Mysorensis 
(Sin.  Sirivedibevila),  S.  Spinoza,  S.  Carpinifolia 
S.  Rhombifolia  (Sin.  Kotiknn-bevila)  with  a variety 
S.  Rhomboidea,  and  S.  Cordifolia  (Sin.  Binbe- 
wila).  The  first,  second,  fifth,  and  sixth  are  well- 
known  in  native  medical  practice,  the  roots  and 
leaves  being  used  as  curative  agents;  but  all  these 
can  be  made  to  yield  a fine  white  fibre  which 
experts  have  pronounced  to  be  a fitting  substitute 
for  silk.  Half-a-century  ago  I)r.  Roxburgh  is  said 
to  have  described  the  various  species  of  Sida,  and 
speaking  particularly  S.  Rhombifolia  and  S.  Rhom- 
boiden , said  that  the  bark  yields  an  abundance  of 
white  delicate  flaxy  fibre.  A report  on  specimens 
of  fibre  from  these  species  was  pronounced  to 
“ much  resemble.our  best  dressed  jute.  It  is  very 
attractive  in  its  appearance;  its  silvery  bright  and 
clear  colour,  its  great  cleanliness,  and  its  excellent 
condition  are  well  exhibited, — much  better  indeed 
than  the  great  bulk  of  jute  which  is  exported  to 
Europe I think  from  the  length  of  the  staple, 
its  similarity  to  silk,  and  its  great  strength,  that 
it  would  fetch  a high  price  in  England.”  Unfortu- 
nately no  proper  trials  have  been  since  made  with 
