570 
Supplement to the " Tropical Agriculturist." |Fbb. 1, 1902. 
M r. Fairchild is also interested iu finding 
drought-resisting wheat and other plants, witM 
which object he is visiting the arid region around 
the Persian Gulf where such wheat is reported 
to be growing. In Ceylon what took his fancy in 
this connection was Eleusine coracana, ordinarily 
known as kurakkan, the common millet of th* 
" dry or chena cultivation " of the island; 
Unfortunately the search for kurakkan fields an<^ 
seeds was thought of after our visitor had returned 
to Colombo, a day or two before his departure) 
but we were able to discover a low-country 
chena for Mr, Fairchild through the help of 
Mr. H. D. Lewis, Sub-Inspector of Schools, who 
Succeeded in procuring a quantity of seed for 
transmission to America. 
Mr. Fairchild was struck with the absence 
of any attempt on the part of the Government 
or of orgainsed agricultural bodies, to facilitate 
the propagation of cultivated crops, whereby 
only the best varieties could be selected fo^" 
growing. In the case of dicolytedonous plants 
the perpetuation of the best varieties, when 
discovered, was ensured by the practice of budding 
and grafting, which are considered the only reliable 
means of making plants " breed true," and 
must not be neglected if the best results in pro- 
duce are to be secured. He instanced in proof 
of the value of the methods of propagation the 
dissemination of the seedless variety of orange 
known as the Washington Navel. The advantage 
of budding and grafting, as regards early maturity 
is well-known, but it was further pointed out 
that by these methods it was possible to ensure 
that the produce of the several trees in a 
plantation should be practically the same in 
quantity and quality, and, in the case of season 
crops, that such produce should be borne all at the 
same time so as to be handled and marketed at 
once, as has been done in almond cultivation in 
America, In tliis connection Mr. Fairchild was 
surprised to observe how many kinds of coconuts 
were found growing side by side in one plantation > 
and he counted no less than fourteen different 
varieties on a single estate. The only way to 
secure one perfect type of nut, as regards size, 
shape, weight, development of kernel, &c, is by 
selection of seed. As in the case of the pedigree 
whe^'it, selection of sf^ed in the monocotyledon does 
v lr.i budding or grafting doi^sfov the ilicotyledoii. 
M'^re ^eioOLion of si,ed from a tree be i ring good 
iruir, crops does not suffice;, for ljiu .-im[)]e iea.son 
,hat the fertilization of the flowers are not under 
control. A good tree, therefore, while it may 
produce good fruit need not necessarily reproduce 
a good tree through its fruit. There is thus no 
alternative but to control fertilization if the fruit of 
a tree is required to "breed true." Without doing so 
the orange from a good tree may quite possibly 
reproduce a sour orange tree or even a variety of 
lemon, lime or pumelo, while under the same circum- 
stances a coconut from a selected tree may re- 
produce a variety different from itself. This 
remark is of course not intended to discredit selec- 
tion of fruit without control of pollination. Such 
selection undoubtedly helps to secure a uniformity 
of good varieties in a plantation, but only 
partially so. What then is to be done to complete 
the means for the end in vie w ? Only this, that the 
inflorescence of the coconut palm should be pro- 
tected before it is, so to speak, ripe for fertiliza- 
tion, by gauze veiling or other means which will 
prevent cross fertilization taking place. Here we 
come upon the principle which underlies th« 
practice of breeding among animals, and the 
principle stands in the case of vegetable reproduc- 
tion as well. Who among our planters of the 
present day will be prepared to practice this 
complete means of selection, even with the tempt- 
ing prospect of having all his trees uniform in 
developeraent and productiveness, and the nuts of 
standard size, shape and quality ? " The thing," 
says Mr, Fairchild " has been done over und over 
again in the West, and will come to be done in 
Ceylon as regards coconuts before many years 
are past." We can only ^ay that we hope so. 
Some of our readers will now guess what 
Mr. Fairchild's explanation is regarding the differ- 
ence in the developement and productiveness of 
tr«es often growing side by side on the same land 
and even raised from the samejai of seed nuts. 
Makiug all allowance for differences in environ- 
ment and treatment, it lies he says in the one 
word heredity. The moral therefore obviously is, 
practice selection by controlling fertilization if 
you would have uniform excellence. 
With the School Gardens scheme Mr. Fairchild 
was in the greatest sympathy, and it was only 
want of time that prevented him paying a visit to 
one of these gardens which he was very anxious 
to see. He thought there was much to be done 
by introducing budding and grafting among the 
people through the agency of village schools, and 
was kind enough to give us a note of introduction 
to Mr. L. H. Bailey, Professor of Horticulture in 
the Agricultural Department of the United States, 
through whose help we hope to be supplied with all 
requirements for carrying on and teaching these 
methods of propagation, of which Mr. Fairchild 
gave practical demonstrations at the School of 
Agricalture, 
On his recommendation we are endeavouring to 
procure buds of what he considers the best varieties 
of plantain, viz., "Pisung Radja," "Pisung Radja 
Sere" and " Pisung Mas " from Java, as well assets 
of the following yams from Jamaica : "Horn," 
" Chinese" and "Yampie," the last of which he 
speaks of as the " best in the world." 
Altogether the vi^ic of Mr. Fairchild was as 
full of interest to us as it was to him, and we 
shall look forward with pleasure to his next visit 
which will not unlikely be about the middle of 
the year. 
