July I, 189 1.] 
Supplement to the " Tropical Jgnculturisi.^' 
85 
houi', these villagers armed with mamoties pro- 
ceed to the land, headed by the owner, and turning 
their faces in the direction of Adam's Peak give 
out the cry of " Ha para hodai " (Ha ! a good 
beginning!). At sun turn the workmen retire for 
their midday meal. During the time the villagers 
help the goiya in the cultivation of his field, 
they are supplied by him with food and other 
necessaries. 
No particular ceremony is observed in ploughing, 
except that wreaths of sweet smelling flowers are 
twined round the horns of the buffaloes, and the 
ploughmen keep intoning the words " UvS Uv&uve, 
Uvi Uveuve" which are considered pleasant and 
encouraging to the animals. 
When the field is ready for sowing, the ceremony 
of Pela mala Hadanawa takes place after the fol- 
lowing manner : — On the advent of a lucky hour, 
the goiya leaves his dwelling after having recited 
a number of religious stanzas, bearing an areca- 
nut flower and a pata (handful) of paddy. Having 
arrived at his field with his eyes turned towards 
the favourable region of the sky, he buries the 
paddy in a corner of a ridge, having first mould- 
ed the earth at the spot so as to represent a 
peculiarly-shaped symbolic figure, and lays the 
arecanut flower on the top of the mound. On 
enquiring into the significance of this ceremony, 
Kehelpanala Pohath Nayake Unnanse, High Priest 
of Kotmale Pansale, informed me, that the 
arecanut flowers were intended as an offering 
to the gods who are held to have a great love 
for them, while the paddy is believed to be taken 
away to provide a meal. After a lapse of 
five days all preparations are made to sow the 
field : but a consideration of the ceremonies which 
attend the sowing of the field I must postpone 
for another occasion. 
T. B. PoHATH Kehelpanala. 
Gampola : Angammana Adikaram Walauwa. 
June 26th, 1891. 
- — 
MANUEE VALUATION. 
The instructions drawn up by Dr. Aitkeu, 
Chemist to the Highland and Agricultural Society 
of Scotland, for valuing manures, give all cul- 
tivators of the soil the means of computing for 
themselves the commercial value of the fertilizers 
they use. The calculations are based on the 
analysis of the manures and on the unit values 
of the ingredients. The units are based on 1 he 
market prices at port, the terms being cash in- 
cluding bags gross weight, not including carria^-es 
When these units are multiplied by the paren- 
tages in the analysis of a manure, they will 
produce a value representing very neaiiy the 
cash price at which one single ton may be bought 
in a fine sowable condition. Large purcha-ses 
may be made on more favourable terms. The 
units are of course not constant, but are fixed 
for different "seasons." For season 1890, the 
units for soluble phosphates are 3«. 36?. in dis- 
solved bones, 2s. Qd. in superphosphates, and an 
average of 2s. IQd. in dissolved compounds ; for 
insoluble phosphates, 2,s. Qd. in Ichaboe guano, 2.?. 
2d. in genuine Peruvian guano, I*, dd. in Jish 
guano, Is. M. in Prey-Bentos guano, Is. lOd., l.<. 
'dd., and Is. ^d. in the three classes of bones. 
Is. ^d. in steamed bone flour, Is. Qd. in dis- 
solved bones, and an average of Is. 9d. in dissolved 
compounds ; Ammonia 17s. 6c?. in Ichaboe guano, 
16s. in genuine Peruvian, 12s. in Fish guano, 
13s. in Frey-Bentos guano, 12s., lis. Qd. and 
lis. in the three classes of bones, 12s. in steamed 
bone-flour, 13s. in dissolved bones, and an average 
of 13s. in dissolved compounds ; potash 3s. Qd. 
in genuine Peruvian guano, and an average of 
4s. in dissolved compounds. 
The phosphates (soluble and insoluble), Ammo- 
nia and Potash are the only items to be valued. 
As an example, suppose in a high class mix- 
ture, the analysis shows : — 
Per cent. 
Soluble Phosphates . . . . 20 
Insoluble „ . . . . 5 
Ammonia (total) . . . . 10 
Potash . . . . . . . . 5 
Then 
20 p.c. Soluble phosphates® Md. p. unit= 68G<;. 
a „ Insoluble „ @ 2ld. „ = \05d. 
10 „ Ammonia @150d. „ =1500^. 
0 „ Potash @ 48d. „ = 240(?. 
or, £10. 10s. M. per ton. 
Suppose the manure is pure dissolved bones, 
and the analysis shows 15 % soluble phosphate, 
20 % insoluble phosphate, and 3 % ammonia. 
Soluble phosphate. . 15 x 3s. M. =£2 8 9 
Insoluble „ . . 20 x Is. Qd. = 1 15 0 
Ammonia „ . . 3 x 13s. Od. = 1 19 0 
Value per ton =£6 2 0 
GENERAL ITEMS. 
Mr. Kumaravellu, who has lately returned 
after a tour in the North, vn-ites : — " There is little 
doubt that the Northern Province contains more 
stock than any other in the Island. The stock con- 
sist of bulls and cows, sheep and goats, but few 
buffaloes. In the Jaffna peninsula, though stock- 
owners are most assiduous in their attention to 
their animals, it cannot be said that cattle are 
at all fed as they should be. The Jaffna culti- 
vator does not raise any fodder crops, and 
depends for his supply of cattle food on what 
grass he could get from jungles and unculti- 
vated places. Bnt even this wild grass is only 
available to any extent at certain times, so 
that at other times cattle are fed mainly on 
straw. Goats are allowed to stray about and 
find their own food, which, however, tliey do 
not get very much of. In the mainland on the 
other hand while there is more pasture land 
available for cattle, there are, for the area, few 
cattle-owners." 
" Erythrina and tulip (suriya) leaves are also 
used for feeding bulls and cows as well as goats. 
The former are got from the live fences or from 
betel-vine supports, and though they are relished 
by these animals, they are not suitable for 
working bulls as not only being not suflSciently 
nutritious, but as also having a tendency to 
cause laxativeness. Palmyra leaves are also used 
for feeding cattle, after being torn into pieces 
and mixed with straw. A few owners of cattle 
