Supplement to the " Tropical AgricuUutist.'* [Marcs 2, 1908 
and form a single rounded thread which is still, lever and bucket lift tem, is the best, 500 gallons 
however, much too fine and delicate for use, and of water can be raised per hour with tera (4) 
several of tbeee threads have to be twisted and For great depths, tlie single and double mot and 
spuntogether to form a thicker thread. These the Egyptian or Punjab pattern Persian wheel 
are what are used in weaving and from which all are the best. The mots will gave about 1,000 
the gay-coloured cloths that you know so well are gallons per hour, and the Persian wheel about 
mfmufaclured. The actual weaving is too compli- 500 gallons. Considering the cost, the single wo« 
cated a process to be described here, but perhaps is to be preferred to all others for great depths, 
some of you may have seen native cotton cloths and to adapt ordinary ring wells of only 3 tu 
being woven. Silk cloths can be woven in just diameter, and to avoid spilling of water, the 
the same manner, bucket can be mada to slide up two steel ropes 
E, ERNEST GPcEEN, stretched vertically from the bottom of the well 
Government Entomologist. "P the beam whence the pulley is suspended." 
September, 1902. 
• ♦ 
INDIAN PLOUGHS AND WATER LIFTS. 
There are many of our readers who will be glad 
to know what farm implements and macliines 
can be cheaply procured from the neighj:)0uring 
continent where they have been found useful. 
The following extract from a leview of Prof. 
Mukerji's work on Indian Agriculture by the 
Indian Agriculturist gives the views of that 
experienced officer on the subject : — 
Among different forms of improved plough 
preference is given to the Meston, which has 
recently beeu invented by the Agricultural De- 
partment of the North-Western Provinces, and the 
price of which is only Rs. 4. It is said, however, 
to be useless for heavy soils. Of other varieties, 
we are told: "The Watt's Plough, also N,-W.P. 
Agricultural Department plough, is stronger and 
more efficient, but its price is Es. 7. The Shih- 
i:ur plough is rather too heavy for ordinary 
Bengal bullocks, and its price is Es, 7'8, Both 
Watt's plough and Sibpur plough can be used 
for ploughing heavy soils. Jessop & Co.'s 
'Hindustani Plough,' 'Seeley's S. S. Plough,' the 
' Kair-er Plough,' and the ' Baldeo Plough' of the 
N--W. P. Agricultural Department, are other im- 
proved ploughs th'it may be mentioned here. 
The Baldeo plough, vvhicli has also a mould-board 
like !.he other improved ploughs, has been actu- 
ally sold for Rs. 3 each, but it is too light and 
inefficient, and it is altogether unsuitable for 
heavy classes of soil. Of the ploughs tried at the 
Sibpar Farm, the soil of which is very heavy, 
the Sibpur plough has been found the most 
effective. It does a little over one-third of an 
acre a day (8 hours) at the first ploughing, and a 
little over half an acre a day at the subsequent 
ploughings. The bullocks should be at least 
high- class Bengal bullocks, The comparative 
efficiency of the different forms of water-lift in use 
is exhaustively discussed, and the following are 
the c nclusions arrived at: "(1) The Don is the 
best implemeat for Indian use for small depths 
(up to 6 ft.), its lifting capacity being 10,000 
gallons per hour. (2) Next to it comes the swing 
basket, which, in the hands of dexterous coolies, 
will lift about 2,000 gallons of water per hour 
from a depth of 10 ft. (3) For medium depths, 
either a double or triple series of Dons, or the 
PEETILIZING BANANAS. 
Experimenting on a banana plantation under 
irrigation, and where bananas have been grown 
for 12 years, sulphate of ammonia applied alone 
very quickly gave an impetus to vegetative vigour ; 
the tree grew very large, but produced bunches of 
very disappointing size relative to the huge plant. 
On another piece basic slag was applied ; this 
fertiliser is rich in phosphate and lime, the trees 
were not forced to huge growth as with the 
sulphate of ammonia, but bhe bunches produced 
were very good and well repaid the cost of 
fertilizing. The bunches were about equal with 
both fertilizers, but the trees with sulphate of 
ammonia were the best looking. However, as the 
basic slag only cost £4 lOs. a ton and the sulphate 
of ammonia cost £15 a ton, the best net return 
was of course with the slag. An application of 
lime alone did not show any results where two 
tons and a half were applied per acre, but where 
five tons were applied the trees at once responded, 
the stexs were stouter than on the rest of the 
plantation, and seemed very firm with very strong 
roots, and the fruit was much improved. Further* 
experiments will probably be carried through with 
simple fertilizers like bonemeal, which contains an 
appreciable amount of nitrogen, and is especially 
rich in phosphates ; and with cocoanut meal from 
the Oil Factory, which contains nitrogen, phos- 
phate and potash, but is richest in the first named. 
Then complete commercial fertilizers may be tried, 
that is, compounds of the different elements con- 
taining nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash, 
calculated on the needs of the plants, and the soil 
as indicated by the first simple experiments with 
single fertilizers. To get the maximum of crops 
the soil must be perfectly adapted to the needs of 
the plant, and the experiments are being carried 
through at some expense in the hope that a 
combination will be hit upon that will causa the 
fields to yield fruit quicker and of a higher grade 
when, as in the case with fruit-growers generally 
in other lands, the result may give a good return 
on the outlay for fertilizing. The soil being 
already fairly rich in potash as shown by chemical 
analysis, no experiments have included potash, 
but in the great majority of soils every fertilizer 
for fruit trees should be strong in potash, — 
Jamaica Agricultural Society. 
