104 
The teopical AOPidULTumsT, 
[April i, 1891. 
CASTOR AND COCONUT CAKE AS MANURE, 
Discassing the commuuicalion that appeared some 
Mme back ia your colnrans, as to the relative value of 
Castor and Coconut cakes as fertilising agents, I see 
it asserted that the latter is possessed of some con- 
stituents that render it as valuable as castor cake. If 
such bo the case, surely an Agriculturist of Mr. 
Hughes’ standing would rot have overlooked them, 
and he would not have recorded, what must be re- 
garded as his deliberate opinion, that taking the white 
castor cake he analysed as a standard of comparison 
with 100 as its equivalent, Coconut poonao fcores 
only 53.* Unfortunately, the sample cannot be re- 
garded as a fair one, h r the stuff was imported and 
was also damp. Of cour,‘e, nitrogen is not the only 
food plants require, but isn’t it the chief food of 
plants f According to my W’ay of thinking, coconut 
poonac must be less than half the price of castor 
cake to make it preferable to the latter as a fertiliser, 
anl to permit of the applicaiion of twice the quantity 
of castor cake per acre. 
I daw an extract not long ago in one of the local 
papers that for fruit- bearing trees there was no treat- 
ment that answered better than mulching. I am sorry 
I cannot lay my hand on the extract to find out 
whose opinion that was. I thought it would have found 
a place in the Tropical Agriculturist for tbe current 
month, but it has not. The value of mulching in 
agriculture is undoubted, although when in the palmy 
days of the coffee enterprise .some estates were mulched 
wiih mana grass, planters were found to condemn 
the system. Their objection was that the operation 
drew the roots — the rootlets rather — to tlio surface, 
and that the I, a ter state of the trees become worse 
than the first. The same objection was urged by those 
who havo the management of the Horrekelle Estate 
to the use of fibre dust as a mulchiug. Though the.se 
objections have some force, yet they are not of sulii- 
cieut weight to counterbalance tlie advant iges of mul- 
ching. These are manifold. 1. It prevents the caking 
of the soil. 2. Keeps it open and porous and pe-mits 
of its being aerated and cool. 4, Prevents too rapid 
evaporation, and affords moisture to the roots. Though 
those are not the only advantages of mulching, yet 
they are of sufficient imporiance to remove doubts as 
to its value. It is well known that roots can take up 
plant food only by absoi ption. If there be no mois- 
ture in the soil, trees muT as a necessity starve. All 
the food in the soil is not present in a soluble form, 
indeed only an infinitesimal joortion of it is in such a 
state. The preparation of foods goes on continually 
by the aid of certain agencies, not the least of which 
are water and carbonic acid and o.xygen. Now, if by 
the aid of mulching moisture is conserved in the soil, 
and it is kept open and allows the free pa=sage through 
it of the oxygen and caibonic acid of the air, not to 
speak of the large quantities of the latter which will 
be generated by the decomposition of the mulch, I 
think it follows that mulching is of great advantage 
in Agriculture. The decay of the mulch, and iu fact 
of all vegetable matter, forms humua. This is an 
absorbent, and in its dry state takes up ammonia 
from the atmosphere and gives it to the soil during 
rains. 
In coconut cultivation we have ready at hand 
material for mulching round the roots of the trees. 
Before mulching I think it best for the soil to be 
brok'.n up round 1 lie stem as deep as possible, from 
about four feet from it to (he distance of about S 
or 10 feet. 'J'ho application of manure before the 
operation will be a dccidtd advantage. After this the 
brandies as they fall and tlie weeds as they grow can 
be applied over Ihe liroken ground and the soil never 
diTurbod again, iinbseijuoiil manurings can take place 
one year between the lOWs of tree,', and next iu the 
rows. By tliis means tlio shook to the tike by the 
bcreakiijg of tho r. ots will bo miiiiini-ed. 
• WouTii that jiroportioii stand in reference to all 
kinds of fruit tieisi' If the analysis was not made 
with regard to UoconutH, it would ba an advaiitago to 
aKccrtaiii tlie percentage of the eonstituciit.s in Castor 
gnd I’oonac which tho palm chiefly atf re' s, — E d. ‘‘E x,’’ 
Speaking of the breaking of roots reminds me that 
Mr. John Eerguson, iu his lengthy notes of a trip 
through the Eastern Province, speaks of the desolate 
appearance of the coconut plantations there owing to 
the long continued drought. In one iostanee he 
meutiens thit the effects of the drought had been 
aggravated by breaking the roots of the trees with an 
elephant plough. Ponder over that ye prophets who 
recommend iilougbiugs “annual and ofteaer ” of coco- 
nut, and ye their disciples. Mind, I do not say “ never 
break up the soil of your coconut plantation,” but as 
experience and observa'ion both point to the operaiion 
being attended by severe shock to the trees, “break”, 
I say, as few roots as you possibly can at a time ” 
The same writer observes that, uulike fiuit trees in 
Eogland, coconut trees seem to resent root prirn’ng. 
Ploogbirigs, “annual and oftener,” represent a very 
severe form of root pruning and of a quite unscientific 
description. Besides, it roust not be forgotten that 
there is a va.st climatic difference be' ween Europe and 
the Tropics. There, heavy root and branch pruning 
must be resorted to check growth, and to give a 
sufficient shock to the tree to induce it to bear fruit. 
Here, nature does that in the drought we have, and 
there is never much neces-ity to supplement her 
operations. I very much think that one of the reasons 
for leaf disease taking such a firm hold of our coffee, 
was the enfeebled condition cf the bushes owing to 
heavy branch and root pruoings — manuring having 
involved tho latter operation. 
Tho warning, if not rebuke, of the veteran Editor of 
the morning sheet to those whose zeal outruns their 
discretion in recommending the cultivation of myriad 
products, is well timed. It comes with singular force 
from him who, when in ihe vigour of manhood, was 
closely iden'ified with our great planting indusiry and 
took a prominent personal part in the trial cultivation 
of many minor products. Because a product does well 
when cultivated over a small area and receives special 
and unremitting attention, it by no means follows that 
it will do equally well over large areas. Indian corn 
with us is tssenlially a garden cultivation, and does 
well on the garden plots that surround tho cooly Imcs 
of up-country plantalio; s, as also on the garden plots 
of the neighbouring villagers. One knows how well 
these plots are manured naturally and artificially, and 
how well cultivated they' are. Agriculture, except per- 
haps iu the North ot the Island, has not with us 
reached such a stage as to cause us to expect ihe same 
careful treatment of the soil over even moderately 
large areas as iu garden cultivation. In times gone 
by, and perhaps even now, large quantities of Indian 
corn were grown in the now historic Walapane villages, 
and found a ready sale on Estates for feeding horres 
and poultry. The surplus found its way on the heads 
of villagers to Nuwara Eliya, a distance of about 15 
or 20 miles, and over a road infested with dangerous 
rogue buffaloes and elephants. The markets were the 
same for all garden prodace, including plantains. This, 
mind you, by villagers who in recent years have been 
credited with preferring starvation and death to 
honest labour. 
Like the sea-serpent and the monster gooseberry', 
certain products are discussed here periodically with 
all the force and freshness ot novel ideas. One of 
these is the Sunflower. At one time its malaria- 
absorbing properties are trumpeted forth, and the 
possibilities of reclaiming malaria-laden regions are 
discussed. At another, the wonderful properties of its 
seed-fattening poultry and making them lay. At 
another, the oil-yielding property of its seed, making 
it an ornamental, useful and valuable economic product. 
At the present time, when fuel is jocosely said to be 
a burning question, the value of the stalks for fuel 
and its extensive cultiv'aticn for this purpose is spoken 
of. Was there not published in the Examiner the 
resulls of a rather extensive cultivation of this pro- 
duct by the enterprising Mr. de Soysa at Hanguranketa, 
a few years back ? I cannot find this iu the Tropical 
Agriculturist. Sunflower as fuel was discussed years 
ago. Its use as such, and its being equal to coal as a 
beat-producing agency, were discovered, like all other 
great discoveries, in Amerioa.-^B. — Loc»l “ Examiner.” 
