498 
THE TEOPICAL AGRICULUEIST. [Jan. 1, 1901- 
IN DIAN CATTLE-BREEDING SCHEME. 
There is a tendency at the present day to 
follow the example of India, and even in 
the case of education Ceylon is about to 
adopt the Indian system. We should like 
to see, however, the spirit of liberality and 
philanthropy, so much in evidence in India, 
infecting the people of this island. Owing 
to the appalling loss of cattle in Guzerat 
there is a great scarcity of animals there for 
agricultural purposes. In order to supply 
this want, a scheme (which originated with 
the Governor of Bombay) has been set on 
foot for preserving that excellent breed of 
both draught and milch cattle. The scheme 
provides for the lease of 2,000 acres of grass 
land, for the procuring of 400 of the best 
cows, for ring-fencing the land, for a supply 
of fresh water and constructing yards and 
shelter sheds. The farm is to be under a 
superintendent, and the cattle-keepers of the 
district who have lost nearly all their animals, 
will be employed as herdsmen. The male 
calves will be disposed of as yearlings to 
the natives for breeding purposes. According 
to the estimate made, a sum of at least 
half a lakh is required to stai't the scheme, 
and an annual exjjenditure of R4,000 is 
anticipated for the hrst four or five years, 
after which the farm is expected to be self- 
supporting. The absence of any expectations 
of profit IS indicative of the liberal principles 
on which the scheme is based. The sordid 
element of a return in revenue for money 
expended (an element which, we regret to 
say, is apparent in nearly every local measure 
intended for the good of tlie people) does not 
mar this scheme, the highest hope of which 
is that after some years the farm will 
support itself. The details of the project 
are in the safe hands of Mr. Mollison and 
Mr. Leley, and the funds for working the 
scheme are being provided by voluntary sub- 
scriptions, the Governor of Bombay heading 
the list with Rl,500 and a number of others 
— Civil Servants, Merchants, etc. — following 
Avith Rl.OOO each. It is intended to form 
a trust for the administration of the fund. 
A letter signed by the Governor's Private 
Secretary commends the scheme, on behalf 
of His Excellency, to the favour of the public. 
We quote the final paragraph from this 
communication : — 
" His Excellency, in now placing the scheme before 
the public, is confident that its objects are such that 
it cannot fail to command widespread sympathy and 
hearty support. He desires hereby to thank most 
cordially those gentlemen of Ahaiodabad who have 
in so practical a manner testified to their agreement 
in the benefits which it is to be hoped will be derived 
from the scheme and so generously contributed 
towards its funds, besides agreeing to make over their 
cows for breeding purposes at less than market rates. 
His Excellency feels assured that this is a scheme 
which must appeal most strongly to all who are 
interested in the welfare of the country, and it will 
be a matter of the deepest gratification to His Ex- 
cellency if he can hereafter feel that he has been 
personally connected with a measure to promote the 
well-being of a Province which has been so terribly 
^.fflicted by the recent famine." 
COFFEE PLAJJTING IN COSTA-RICA. 
WALKER'S PULPERS. 
( By the son of a Ceylon Missionary, horn in 
the island.) 
Extract from a letter lately received from archi 
Costa Rica, Central America :—" It is not too 
much torspeat my thanks for the ' Coff.-e Planter's 
Manual' (Ferguson's) which you sent me. I con- 
sider that the mere perusal of the articles re- 
lating to artifii'ial manurintr, whiei) are really 
only summaries of planters' experiences in that 
part of the business, ii.tlueiicefl our proprietors 
to adopt the practice on tiieir estates, the result 
being that in August, I reci'ive4 a shipment of 
30 tons of a well-known coffee fertilizer (Ohlen- 
dorffs's) from London, and a conHrmation of a 
previous order to pick up or purchase all such 
manures as cattle-dung and cane trash that can 
be got cheap and handy, without limit. 
" When the Boston people ^urae down next 
month, I will draw their attention to Walker's 
Palpers and .shall be very glad if you will send 
me one of their catalogues with prices. There 
is a probability of a further extension of our 
business operations in the near future in the shape 
of the introduction of new machinery i.f larger 
capacity and greater working power and of maknig 
advances to the native farmers for riie delivery 
of their coffee to us. We have lately imported 
a monster lui bine for the— station where improve- 
ments on a large scale have been projected." 
RIVAL FERTILISERS. 
NITRATE OF .SODA AND SULPHATE OF AMMONIA. 
The rival claims of nitrate of soda and sulphiite 
of ammoiiia as fertilising substances for agricul- 
tural land have for a number of years been the 
subject of much spirited debate. There are many 
expf rieuoed farmers who pronounce nnreservedly for 
sulph+te of ammonia as tr.e best nitrogenous ac- 
companiment to mineral manures, while ihe major- 
ity perliaps hold as firmly to nitrate of soda as 
the more effectual dressing. This sharp conflict of 
opinion is not surprising in a sense, for the acute 
dissension that exists on almost every point con- 
nected with the wide subject of mannrifig is one of 
the most remarkable features of modern tarmiug. A 
closer examination of the testimony arrayed on e'i'her 
side of this long-standing debate, however, reveals 
traces of argument somewhat removed from the 
region of practical and unbiased evidence. The pe- 
culiar circumstance connected with the use of the 
rival nitrogenous manures is that tho respective 
sides rigidly adhere tj the sub3tauce of their fancy, 
whatever may be the character of the crop or of 
the soil. Unprejudiced discrimination seems to be 
conspicuously absent, for the two materials seem to 
be seldom found on the oae holding. A searching 
investigation of the relative merits of the two 
manures does not confirm the wisdom of the ex- 
clusive use of either of the invaluable materials. 
The substances are really less antagonistic than is 
usually supposed. They are similar in their ci'e- 
mical contents but essentially different in their 
fertilising elfects, and consequently the one sub- 
stance is often incapable of economic substitution 
by tho other, as is intelligently shown by Professor 
Warrington in the paper that appears over his 
name in the Eoyal Agricultural Society's journal. 
Nitrate of soda is, of course, the more speedy iii 
its action, and is thus peculiarly adapted for ap- 
plication as a top dressing when the estabhshed 
plants appear to need encouragement. It ia also 
more effectual in dry seasons than salphate of 
