Nov. 2, 1903.] THE TKOPtCAti 
AGRICULTURIST. 
331 
Sinhalese— that every drop of rainfall should be 
utilised before it reaches the sea..— Brisbane 
Courier. 
HORSE-BREEDING ESTABLISHMENT, 
DELFT AND IRANATIVU. 
Fall particulars of the establishment will doubt- 
less appear in the Government Agent's report. 
I visited the islands in January, and again in 
October, and carried out the necessary work with 
reference to branding, castration, sbippiog, &c. 
Ten colts were operated upon, all successfully. 
Owing to the scanty pasture heavy loss occurred 
amongst the foais during the year, the mothers 
not having sufficient milk for them. This was due 
first to drought, and then to floods which covered 
up a great deal of the pasture and only subsided 
at the close of the year. Another reason for the 
scanty pasture is the enormous number of cattle, 
goats, and sheep on the island. Several thousands 
died of starvation during the year. There are too 
many for the pasture ; their extremely small size 
(some of them not much larger than sheep dogs) 
indicates the difficulty there is in getting 
enough to eat. Butchers taken up from 
Colombo to buy cattle and establish a trade 
laughed at the cattle and declined to buy any. 
Any one who knows anything at all of stock 
raising must have been very amused in reading the 
various accounts published of the hardships en- 
countered on Delft by the presence of the handful 
of ponies in comparison to the number of cattle. 
The figures given speak for themselves. It was 
stated that there were 14,0U0 cattle, 8,000 sheep 
and goats, and 250 buffaloes on 10,000 acres of 
grazing land, if my memory is correct. The graz- 
ing land is in parts coral rock, swampy areas in 
which the principal pasture is a kind of moss, 
areas of recently cultivated land, and areas of 
good (or what is called good) pasture. The grass 
is the fine grass common in Ceylon, but is very 
thin, and I have never seen it in sufficient abun- 
dance to cover one's boot sole. It is said 14,000 
cattle, 8,000 sheep and goats, 250 buffaloes, and 
78 horses are kept on this available 10,000 acres 
of grazing land. The best pasture in the world 
would not carry them, much less a pasture subject 
to drought for half the year. The horse establish- 
ment on Delft numbers in all 78, including mares, 
stallions, and foals ; the presence of these is said 
to be a great hardship to the people, eating all the 
best pasture from their stock. There is no restric- 
tion as to pasture or water, and horses, cattle, &c., 
roam over the same land. While I was at work 
in the horse kraal on the horse plains hundreds of 
cattle were grazing outside the walls and around 
my camp all day. A parallel ease would be for a 
man to have one horse grazing on Galle Face and 
another man a hundred cattle, the latter accusing 
the owner of the horse of inflicting hardship upon 
him by taking all the best pasture. On Iranativu 
k he case is different ; the owners reduced their 
cattle and goats as advised, with the result that 
there is a plenty of pasture for all — ankle deep— 
and all the animals are in excellent condition. 
Showing how much interest) is taken in the 
cattle on Delft, it is nearly impossible to get a 
pair of bulls to pull a cart, and having obtained 
them very few can be driven, being absolutely 
untrained. I do not think there is a single pair 
of trained cart bulls on the island. In travelling 
about the island a cart is pulled by coolies, and 
one genetally walks. 
Parasites. — The ponies and cattle are pestered 
by ticks and flies ; the ticks are successfully com- 
bated ou the young foals by periodical dressing 
with a mixture of Stockholm tar, sulphur, and oil; 
on the older horses it is difficult to do anything to 
prevent the worry of flies. I collected specimens 
of the two common flies and forwarded them to Mr 
Green, Government Entomologist, who reported! as 
follows : — The large fly is Hippobosca inaculccta 
(LeachJi a blood-sucker, and has strong, sharp, 
irritant claws, does not lay eggs, the larval stage 
being passed in the ovaries oi the parent, and finally 
extruded as pupa, which hatches out as a fly. There 
is no external larval existance. The small fly was 
new, and was sent by Mr Green to Mr E E Austin 
of the British Museum, who reported that it is 
a species of Lyperosia (Fam. Muscidte), and in all 
probability new, since as far as he was aware, no 
species of Lyperosia has yet been described from 
the Oriental region. The specimen forwarded being 
very near to Lyperosia minuta (Beggi) from 
Soraaliland, but appears to be distinct. In England 
Lyperosia irritans, with its allies RcBmatobia 
stimulans (Mg.) and Stomoxys calycritans (L.), 
is a common plague of cattle and horses in the 
fields in summer. At the horse show held in 
Colombo in August the first prize for country-bred 
ponies was awarded to a Delft pony, " Rajah," the 
property of Sir F Burdett, Bart, A.D-C. — Adtninis 
tration Report. 
THE CEYLON MODEL PAEM. 
The farm started in January, and has been 
successfully worked during the year by Mr P Sama- 
ranayaka, the manager resident on the farm, who 
has worked throughout the year to make the 
farm a success. 
Stock Oattle : — At first some Scind cattle 
were sent to the farm from the Government Dairy. 
They suffered from the drought considerably and 
did not thrive, and were all returned, except six 
calves. It was then decided to purchase native 
cows and cross them with a Scind bull. Nineteen 
native cows were purchased and put on the farm. 
These so far have done well, and should come into 
profit in 1903. 
Sheep and Goats. — Eleven native ewes and 
eleven lambs and three New Zealand ewes were 
purchased. Some were put to a half-bred Austra- 
lian ram and others to a good native ram. 
During the year nine lambs were born, three 
males and six females. The former will be sold, 
and the latter remain in the herd for breeding 
purposes. 
So far the sheep have been successful, and would 
have been more so had there not been such pro- 
longed droughts during the year. 
Five goats were purchased in Scind, but have not 
turned out successful, as they could not stand the 
climate. They became afi'ected with a form of 
giddiness and rheumatism and three died. Four 
kids were born, of which two died. 
Garden Produce. — As an adjunct to the farm 
a vegetable garden was started, and the following 
were cultivated experimentally on a small scale, 
with success. Lettuce, radishes, horse radish, 
vegetable marrow, spinach, yams of different 
kinds, luffa (of two kinds), snake gourd, water 
gourd, beans, melon, brinjal, and pumpkins. They 
were sold locally ; the amount realised will bQ 
seen in the statement annexed. 
