850 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[June 1, 190 1. 
On this point I may say I disbelieve the accuracy 
of Mr North Davidson's figures ; and I may point 
out that the ovt^neis of two of the principal packs 
are out of the Island, and cannot speak for them- 
selves. Of this Mr North Davidson is probably 
aware : I personally know nothing of their bags. 
One other point, as to Mr North Davidson's 
talk about " monopoly." How does he think a 
man would be received who shot stags in Devon- 
shire: lots of proprietors and others could do so. 1 
could have done it myself some years ago when I 
had a shooting in that county ! One would as 
soon shoot a fox in Leicestershiie, and if Mr North 
Davidson is the good sportsman he used to be 
thought, he will feel the same about shooting 
sambhur in the Galagamnwa valley, the ''Leicester 
shire" of hunting to a knife. — Yours, &c. 
J. C. KENNEDY. 
V. 
Udapussellawa, May 2. 
Dkab Sir,— In his letter of the 23rd Ap-^il, 
Mr Kennedy says it is selfish of the stalkers 
to refuse him the monopoly of 1— 1,000th part 
when they have 999 -l.OOOths. Mr. Kennedy 
apparently overlooks the fact that he and his 
fellow " knifers" also have this 999— l.OOOths to 
kill game in ; so why give them a monopoly of 
the 1-] ,000th ? I don't see his logic. In Novem- 
ber 1902 two Masters of Registered packs, for 
whom Government reserve and preserve 
Crown forest at about 4,000 feet elev.ation, 
took their packs toWellanwittia, a plateau in 
the Haputale District at about 1,500 feet 
elevation— which is about the best stalking 
country in the Island, and shot about 12 
deer, including hinds, over their dogs. Having 
mopped up this country and spoilt it for 
stalking, they proceeded to kill sambur in 
theirown reservation. How is this for Nabotli's 
vineyard ? Mr Kennedy doubts the accuracy 
of my figures. I said a fair average estimate 
would be 100 sambur per season per Registered 
pack. Mr Bagot, on selling his Registered 
pack early in March, advertised them in his 
sale list as having killed this season, to end 
of February, 64. head of sambur and pig ; as 
this was in the worst half of the season he 
would doubtless have doubled this amount or 
have killed my estimate of 100. I am 
ignorant of what the Horton Plains pack 
kills, but Mr Kennedy can easily publish 
a detailed list of the slain and enlighten 
us all, if he thinks fit. The best bi-ed pack need 
not be the most killing.— Yours faithfully, 
NORTH C. DAVIDSON. 
VI. 
Fairlawn, May 9. 
Sib, — As I am leaving the Island in a few 
days, and as Mr. North Davidson's last letter 
did net appear to touch the point at issue 
(viz., the recommendation by the Game Pro- 
tection Society that a stated portion of the 
Horton Plains be reserved for hunting to a 
kriTfe and elk shooting be prohibited there), 
I had no intention of continuing this discus- 
sion. It seems to me, however, that there is 
a way of conciliating all interests, which may 
be worth consideration! 
Mr. North Davidson complains that a pac 
of hounds was taken down to Wellanwittia 
a good many sambhiu', &e. , being shot, and 
injury done to the best stalking country in 
the Island. This sounds a most just griev- 
ance. (1 may say, however, the Hoiton 
Plains pack were not the offenders.) Sup- 
posing that, instead of fighting for the shadow, 
i.e., the right to stalk in the Galagamuwa 
Valley which is ill adapted for stalking, Mr. 
North Davidson should contend for the sub- 
stance, i.e , bring forward a resolution at the 
next meeting of the G.P.S. asking Govern- 
ment to forbid hunting with packs of hounds, 
or gangs of men driving, in the Wellanwittia 
district, and to reserve it for legitimate stalk- 
ing ; would not this be a fair and reasonable 
adjustment of the difiiculty? If the Wellan- 
wittia district be the choice stalking country 
he claims that it is, I cannot but believe that 
he would have a large number of supporters, 
even among those who like best hunting to 
a knife.— Yours, &c., J. C. KENNEDY. 
COTTON-GROWING AND COTTON SOIL. 
London, April 15. 
Gentlemkn,— The enclosed cutting from the 
Times of the llth inst, will be interesting to 
those who are thinking of planting cotton :— 
COTTON IN THE WEST INDIES. 
2o the Editor of the " 'limes." 
Sir, — We shall be glvid if you will kindly publish 
the following, as ic is most interesting matter for 
people interested in cotton-growing within the 
Empire ; — 
"We are now busy shipping cotton from the 
West Indies on a moderately large scale, I propose 
to issue quarterly returns of the cotton shipped 
from these Colonies which will be published in the 
Agricultural News. If you happen to come across 
a young man with command of a capital of £1,500 
or £2,000 he might find a fair opening for cotton- 
growing at Sd. Vincent and tiie small islands in its 
immediate neighbourhood. The localities I have in 
view are entirely beyond the reach of the Soufriere 
so that there would be no risk from that source." 
This is an extract from a letter from Sir Daniel 
Morris, of the Imperial Department of Agricul- 
ture, Barbados. — Yours faithfully, 
ELDER, DEMPSTER, & Co. 
African-house, Water-street, Liverpool, April 8. 
—The Times, April llth. 
The West Indian Bulletin, price 6d, vol. iv. 
No. 3, 1903, published by the Imperial Agri- 
cultural Department for the West Indies con- 
tains nmch useful information respecting the 
growth, manuring and soils suitable for cotton. 
No doubt extracts from the Magazine will in 
due time appear in the Tropical Agriculturist. 
Cotton as a crop is not an exhausting one, 
if the seed, after the extraction of the Oil, in 
the form of ground meal be returned to ihe 
land. It flourishes best on medium soils, 
neither too light and sandy nor too stiff and 
clayey. On light sandy soils the yield is small 
while on clay lands especially in wet seasons 
the plants attain a large size ; but yield only 
a small amount of lint. Even in favourable 
seasons Cotton on heavy land is liable to 
disease and the attacks of insect pests. Judg- 
ing from cotton-growing experiments now 
being carried on in various countries, the best 
