COLOMBO. 
/t deled as a SufiiAement Monthly to the. " TBOPIOAL A&ltlCULTUEIST.' 
Tne fol'o.viiig pao-es include the Contents of the Arjricullurcd Magazine for 
Julv : — 
Vol. XIV ] 
JULY, 1902, 
[No. 
OURSELVES. 
HE Agricultural Magazine 
has rounded off another year of 
its existence, and with the 
present issue appears the first 
number of Vohime XIV. Of 
modest aspirations the Httle 
periodical has, we venture to thinlc, done 
good worlc, and that it is appreciated is evi- 
denced by the many appUcations we have 
received for special numbers from those 
who are not regular subscribers Through 
the Magazine .as an exchange, we have been 
enabled to keep in touch with the agricultural 
literature of other countries, and to the 
Editors of foreign Journals we owe much 
thanks for their lil.eral co-operation in the 
cause of agricultural advancement. We 
have also to thank our subscribers, both 
local and foreign, for the support we have 
jCceived during the past year. 
CLOSE PLANTING. 
TIium; i< little doubt that one of the unfortiuiai e 
teudeiieies in planting, and particularly in the 
cultivation of perennial crops, is planting too 
close. The manner in which trees are crowded 
together in native gardens where sunliglit and air 
are to a great extent kept away from most of the 
folinge, and almost altogether from the stems and 
roots of crops, is often spoken of with scorn and 
ridicule, but are we sure that we are growing our 
Cocouut.=, for instance, to the best advantage when 
we plant 75 trees to tl.e acre ? The advantngcs of 
reducing the number of trees per acre have before 
now been discussed by correspondents in our 
columns, and we fancy that there is a tendency- 
slow but sure— towards increasing the distance be- 
tween the trees on coconut plantations. The idea 
of getting the most out of one's land by occupying 
it as fully as possible is difficult to get over, and 
there are a large number of growers who have yet 
to be persuaded that this is false economy, and that 
tlie liberal treatment of trees in the matter of air 
and light is reciprocated in a measure that leaves 
no doubt as to the wisdom of such treatment. 
A cocoa planter of long experience lately stated 
to us that if he hud to plant an estate again he 
would not place bis trees less than 20 feet apart. 
Many will smile at the decision, and say that 
there is no necessity for doing so, as the cocoa tree 
does not develope to the space provided by such a 
system ot planting. The truth is that it does not 
because it has not the opportunity. Give it the 
chance aud it will. The extreme artiflcial condi- 
tions of plant Hfe under cultivation are in a great 
measure answerable for the trouble that has 
foil jwed the cultivator, who is generally set on 
tu iking what he fhiuks the most of his resources 
with a thought only for the present aud none for 
the future. 
The latest illustration of the advantages to be 
gained by a more liberal system of cultivation- 
liberal as regards the natural environments of 
plant life, so as to produce the fittest individuals 
witliout the struggle for existence— is t!ie ex- 
perience with regard to coffee cultivated according 
to what is called the Leemiug system, which 
