432 
Sitpphmeui to the ^' TrojHad JrjricuUnrid.' 
[Dec. 2, 1901. 
October, says: "This is a country of great 
promi>e— not yet fulfilled — with very rich soil 
and plenty of water, but the water has not 
been .stored or made available. Its pos^sible 
future might be anything. The climue 
is a little too variable, briglit and bracing 
generally; but just now the mists are 
down on the hills and the rains have 
It is very like Nuwara Eliya when 
are hanging low down. Indeed, 
.situated in a basin like a large 
Nuwara Eliya. Johannesburg is much higher 
(5,60U ft.) and is colder. My three Sinhalese 
servants have done excellently, and we are uow 
installed in a charming little house." 
commenced, 
tile mists 
i'retoria is 
Agricultural Banks for Ceylon have been 
more than once advocated in our columns. 
The description of the system as it exists on 
the Continent and in England M'ill be read 
wich interest by those who are calling for the 
adoption of some measure (such as exist in India) 
for helping the small cultivator. 
School gardens appear to be making head- 
way in distant Samoa, as to judge by the 
following extract from a lettter kindly placed 
at our disposal by Mr. J. P. Williams, the well- 
known seedsman of Ilenaratgoda. The writer 
(Rev. J. VV. Hills) says: "I am introducing 
new plants of commercial value for the benefit 
of the agricultural department of our Boys' 
High Schoi 1, and the Directors of the Society 
make me only a small grant for the purpose. 
However, 1 am askii g you to send me one case 
filled with specimens of the various plants 
mentioned in your note as near as you can do 
it. I may say that our garden here at the 
school is beginning to attract the notice of planters 
and officials, so that in the long run you will 
end in increased business in this quarter of 
the world.'' 
RAINFALL TAKEN AT THE SCHOOL OP 
AGRICULTURE DURING THE MONTH . 
OF NOVEMBER, 1901, 
Friday 
Saturday 
Sunday 
Monday 
Tue.sday 
Wednesday 
Thursday 
8 Friday 
9 Saturday 
10 Sunday 
11 Monday 
12 Tuesday 
13 Wednesday 
11 Thursday 
15 Friday 
16 Saturday 
17 Sunday 
1 
2 
3 
4 
tit 
6 
7 
. '16 
18 
Monday 
•08 
. -21 
19 
Tuesday 
•72 
. 1'85 
20 
Wednesday ... 
•21 
. -0.3 
21 
Thursdaj' . . 
'84 
, -04 
22 
Friday 
•81 
. -34 
23 
Saturday . . 
1^08 
. -24 
24 
Sunday 
3^72 
. 2-48 
25 
Monday 
1^62 
. -47 
26 
Tuesday 
•43 
. -6 
27 
Wednesday... 
Nil 
.. 2 62 
28 
Thursday ... 
Nil 
. 2-41 
29 
Friday 
Nil 
. -56 
30 
Saturday ... 
Nil 
. -01 
1 
tiunday 
Nil 
. Nil 
. •4« 
Total... 21 -26 
. -12 
Mean... 
•7o 
Qrotttes' amount 
tlOW cn the 24ih 
of rainfall registered ia 24 
N>v, 3'72iocher, 
ilt'COrdod by C, PRIBBERei 
MARKET GARDENING— THE RAISING 
OF SEED. 
Having prepared the soil, and decided upon 
^yhat to grow, and maiked outliie groiiud ii. .sec- 
tions tor die different crops, the mxt most iji- 
portant question is that of 
.SEEDS. J 
Seeds to be irofitable must be of firsi-class 
quality, and h will be found cheaper in the 
end to pay a good price for good .-.^eeds tiian 
to buy inferior rubbish, which is dear at any 
jjrice. Always purchase your seeds from a rdi 
able seedsman, who has his reputation to niuin- 
tain, and who can be depended upon to send 
out only seeds of good germinating power, and 
free from mixtures of any kind other than the 
variety of which the name appears on each 
packet. 
Some kinds of seeds retain their germinat- 
ing power unimpaired for several years, cabbaoe 
and turnip seeds, for instance, and cucumbers, 
melons, &c. ; while otherM such as onions' 
carrots and parsnips are of very little use 
when more than a year old. 
Peas, beans, &c., are also at their best dur- 
ing the first season. 
As it would be a difficult matter for the 
amateur to distinguish in all cases between good 
seeds and bad, the only plan is to always puiclia.se 
from a reliable seedsman. [Seeds m^y be 'ened 
by placing them ou diuup flu.nel and notin./ 
whether they germinate or not. — Ed. Q.A,J.] ° 
SELECTING VARIETIE.S. 
In making your choice of liie kinds of 
vegetables to grow, do not be mitled by glo\v- 
mg descriptions of certain kinds of cabbuae.s 
or peas, and purchase them under the impre« 
sion that you have got Bomething wonderful 
It IS much safer and more satisfactory to 
buy varieties which are catalogued as standard 
varieties or ffood market sorts. It is also wortli 
while to find out from your neighbours th» 
names of any varieties which they have grown 
successfully, and you will thus be enabled to 
plant something which has already been proved 
good, and will be likely to have some measure 
of success with it yourself. 
Many beginners in gardening are disheartened 
at the commencement by the miserable results of 
their first attempts, which are in many instances 
attributable to trying to grow varieties unsuited 
to the soil or climatic conditions. 
If you have no reliable data to go upon, your 
.seedsman will probably be able to help vou 
in the selection of good varieties. 
In any case, until sufficient experience has 
been gained in growing well-known and tested 
kinds of vegetables, it is not advisable to 
experiment with anything new or rare. The results 
of such attempts are sometimes far-reaching, 
inasmuch as a certain kind of crop is fre- 
quently condemned as suitable for a district, 
because " So-and-so tried it and proclaimed ic 
a failure.' People are very apt to accept etdte- 
menta of tbi- kind without going to the trouble 
of verifying them for themselves, 
