i38 Supplement to the " Tropkal Agriculturist." [Aug. 1, 1901. 
exist in Nature, lie should begin with things nnd 
not with ideas ; in other words, the ideas should be 
suggested by the things, and not the things by the 
ideas and proceed from the known to tlie unknown- 
This will give some ideas of the raison ■ dJc'^re 
of Nature Study, about which a great deal more 
might be said, if necessarj-, but sufficient ha? been 
said, we think, to show that the intention of tlie 
new movement (for it is little known out- 
side America) are such as to commend Nature 
Study as the most rational method of enlarging 
the minds of children, giving them a new interest 
in life, and placing them in closer sympathy 
with Nature, results which will at once be 
admitted by all to be most worthy of attainment 
under any circumstances, and especially so in the 
case of village children. 
RAINFALL TAKEN AT THE SCHOOL OF 
AGRICULTURE DURING THE MONTH 
OF JULY, 1901. 
1 
Monday 
, Nil 
17 
Wednesday 
Nil 
2 
Tuesday 
.. Nil 
18 
Thursday . . 
Nil 
3 
Wednesday . 
.. Nil 
19 
Friday 
•08 
4 
Thursday 
.. Nil 
20 
Saturday . . 
•21 
6 
Friday 
. -15 
21 
Sunday 
•0.5 
6 
Saturday 
. 1-16 
22 
Monday 
Nil 
7 
Sunday 
. Nil 
23 
Tuesday . . 
Nil 
8 
Monday 
. Nil 
24 
Wednesday 
Nil 
9 
Tuesday 
. -25 
25 
Thursday . . 
Nil 
10 
Wednesday . 
.. -59 
26 
Friday 
Nil 
11 
Thursday 
. -60 
27 
Saturday ... 
•70 
12 
Friday 
. 1-12 
28 
Sunday 
Nil 
13 
Saturday 
. -43 
29 
Monday 
•10 
14 
Sunday 
. -86 
30 
Tuesday 
Nil 
15 
Monday 
. -02 
31 
Wednesdajr 
Nil 
16 
Tuesday 
. Nil 
1 
Thursday . . 
•13 
Total. .6^45 
Mean.. -20 
Greatest atnounfc of rainfall registered in 24 
hours on the 6th July 1-16 inches. 
Recorded by U. Dbibberg. 
OCCASIONAL NOTES. 
On 1st July last the Government Dairy was 
transferred from the Department of Public Instruc- 
tion to the Veterinary Department. Presumably, 
the change was necessitated by the fact that the 
bite Superintendent (who was the Superintendent 
of the School of Agriculture as well) is now doing 
duty as Inspector of School Gardens, an oiHce 
which calls for his frequent absence from 
Colombo. 
Mr. P. Samaranaynke, late manager of the 
Colombo Stcck Garden, has been appuinled cieik 
to tbe Colonial Veterinary Surgeon. 
It is intended to establish typical school gardens 
at Murugampola, Kahatuduwii, Jambureliyn, lur- 
riwaltuduwu, i'anala, Ilandapaiigoda, Kumba- 
loluwa, Danowita and Matugama schools during 
the present half year, 
On June 1.5th, Mr J. C Willis, Director of 
Botanic Gardens, Ceylon, delivered a lecture on 
School Gardens and Uature Study at the School cf 
Agriculture, Colombo. 
Mr. J. II. Barber of the " Grove " cacao e^t 'e, 
Ukuwala, Ceylon, and the only local manufacturer 
of chocolate and cocoa essence, has left on a tour 
through the Australian Colonies with a view to 
establishing a business in the chief cities there. 
■ 
FIRST STEPS IN AGRICULTURE. 
Firiit Stai/e — ord Lesson. 
BY A. .J. B. 
In the last lessen you were told something about 
the soil. We will continue that subject and find 
out what soils are made up of. If you go into the 
country and look round you, you will notice th.it 
in some places the soil is black, in others it is 
red ; further on you find brown or chocolate- 
coloured soil ; on the open hillsides you will often 
observe stony, gravelly soij : and, lastly, you will 
meet with soils which contain a good deal of sand 
(this is called a sandy loam), or others, again, 
which are composed entirely of pure sand. It is 
too soon to explain to you what it is that gives 
the various colours to all these soils. That you 
will learn when you are more advanced in the 
subject. Now, if a farmer were looking for a good 
piece of land which will yield him good crops, he 
would not be content with merely looking at the 
surface. You have already seen that ihe roots of 
many farm crops run deeply into the ground, so 
the farmer wants to know what sort of soil there 
is beneath the surface. To find this out he must 
dig down into it for at least two feet. The surface 
may be composed of rich soil, but just below it 
there may be very bad soil, which would prevent 
the land from yielding heavy crops. 
A rich soil, you told me the other day, is such 
as is found in scrubs and on the black snid red soil 
plains of the Darling Downs, What is it that 
makes scrub soils, as a rule, so rich and fertile ? 
If you were to examine scrub soil by the help of 
a microscope, you would find that it is principally 
made up of decomposed (that is rotten) leaves, 
sticks, and trees, which have fallen to the ground 
during a number of years, probably tor manj' 
hundreds of years. Mixed with this rotted matter 
called " humus," there is a quantity of lime. This 
lime is derived from countless thousands of snail 
shells, which you can And in most scrubs. If you 
have ever seen the great mounds heaped up by the 
scrub turkeys, you must have noticed the ground 
surrounding them strewn with these shells. The 
mother turkey has gathered them day after day to 
feed ber little chickens mitil they are able to run 
about and hunt for their own food. At a future 
time you will learn that lime is very valuable to 
the farmer. Then, in addition to the humus and 
the lime, there is a certain quantity of fine sand 
and slime washed on to tbe land during floods. 
Tbe.-e scrub soils are often of great dep'h, and the 
deeper a soil is the better it is abletosujipjy plaii^ 
food to the crops, 
