TME MAGAZINE 
OF 
Tf)G mWOl OF AGRI(^OLTaK€, 
COLOMBO. 
Added as a Supplement monthhi tn the TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST: 
The follo-vving pages include the contents of the Magazine of the Selwol of 
Agriculture for August : — 
THE "CINGALEE" V. THE S^HALESE 
PLOUGH. 
good deal of discussion lias re- 
sulted from Dr. Yoelcker's com- 
mendation of the Indian and 
Sinhalese system of " scratching 
the ground;" and against this 
Iheoretical yiev,' the Madras "papers have quoted 
the practical data given by Mr. Sewell, the 
Collsctor of Bellary, who is about to under- 
take ft .series of tests to prove the advan- 
tages of deep-ploughing. The Times of Ceylon in 
an article on " Deep v. Light Ploughing " asks : 
"What have Mr. Green and the various Agricul- 
tural Instr-'ictOTs to say to Dr. Voelcker's theory ? 
We know that the experiments made by Mr. 
Gteen all wei.: to prove the superiority of his 
methods, but this may have been due to other 
'things than the deep ploughing with European 
•ploughs, such as the methods of sowing, &c." 
Now in the experiments referred to, there were 
a good many in which cultivation was carried on 
iiccording to the native system in every detail, except 
■that the improved plough was used in preparing 
i;he land— the method of sowing being the same 
a» that adopted by the native cultivator. The 
results of experiments with the "Cingalee" 
■plough have been embodied in a pamphlet which 
18 a summary of reports from authentic sources 
in this pamphlet the following experiments were 
earned out to test the advantage of using the im- 
proved instead of the native implement, no other 
Change in the ordinary cultivation being made • 
no '"transplanting" being done, and no manure 
used : — 
At Minuwangoda, 32i bushels an acre were got 
■bj' using the improved plough against 17^ bushels 
by working with the native implement; at Mul- 
UittiTu, 28 bushels an acn. against 14 bushels. 
At Nikaweratiya, the Agricultural Inatnictor 
realised about 53 buflhels per acre after using tb« 
improved plough — the neighbours getting 5 to 6 
bushels per acre. 
At Galle and Batticaloa, Mr. Elliott reports 
28| and 47 bushels per acre were taken in after 
the use of the improved plough. 
At Toppur the Instructor took in about 33^ 
bushels after the use of the improved plough, only 
getting 14 bushels per acre -^vith the native im- 
plement. 
One another occasion the crop realised at Toppur 
after using the ' Cingalee ' plough was 86J bushels 
per acre. 
Of course where "planting out " was practised 
in addition to the use of the improved plough the 
yields were mucu higher than where the seed -was 
at once sown broadcast. Many of the results given 
in the pamphlet mentior.ed above, were obtained 
not only by Government Agricultural Instructors, 
but also by private cultivators; the reports being 
in every case perfectly reliable : so that the supe- 
riority of the improved method of ploughing over 
the " scratching of the ground " cannot hut be 
acknowledged. 
The deeper ploughing as well as the turning over 
of the soil results in the bringing to the surfac* of 
a part of the lower and inert soil which is not 
reached by the native implement. This turned-up 
soil, under the influence of the atmosphere, im- 
proves vastly in character ; while after being 
moved and softened it becomes capable of retaining 
water and less liable to damage from a sudden defi- 
ciency of irrigation water. Though deep ploughing 
may not always give a great increase in produce 
the first year, it appreciably increases the out- 
turn in succeeding years. There are of course 
soils that will not bear deep ploughing, such as 
those which have a sterile substratum below a feTr 
inches of good soil, a subsoil which under [ any 
circumstances it is not desirable to bring to the sur- 
face. Of course any one who knows anything of the 
^ haracter of soils will be able to use his judgment in 
