500 
Supplement  to  the  “ Tropierd  Agrimdiarhty  [Jan.  1,  1896. 
is  bound  to  bo  a success  in  (Colombo.  liuUed,  wo 
liave  not  bad  sufficient  data  to  go  upon  to  arrive 
at  such  conclusions.  AVe  can  only  state  that  as 
far  as  the  c\i)eriment  in  vine-growing  has  gone, 
the  varieties  of  Australian  grapes— some  ten  in 
number — which  have  been  planted  in  the  grounds 
of  the  School  of  Agriculture  have  done  lemark- 
ably  well.  We  have  yet  to  see  whether  they  will 
continue  to  thrive  as  they  have  done,  and  whether 
the  severe  pruning  which  M.  Zanetti  has  given 
them,  in  accordance  with  the  system  practised  in 
Australia,  will  suit  the  vines  in  their  present 
situation. 
We  are  glad  of  one  result  of  this  experiment, 
and  that  is,  that  many  enterprising  gentlemen 
have  secured  cuttings  of  the  e.xcellent  varieties  of 
grajies  vvhich  M.  Zanetti  has  introduced  into 
Ceylon.  Some  of  Ihe.'e  cuttings  have  gone  to 
Chilaw  and  ruttalaiu,  which  have  always  been 
spoken  off  as  suitable  places  for  grape  growing. 
The  system  of  cultivation  in  connection  with  the 
experiment  at  the  School  of  Agriculture  has  been  to 
limit  the  spread  ot  the  vino  to  the  accommodation 
afforded  by  a standard  some  -ii  feet  high<  It  will 
thus  have  to  be  seen  further  whether  this  system 
will  suit  our  conditions  of  soil  and  climate,  in 
jdace  of  training  the  vine.s  on  trellises,  the  common 
method  in  Ceylon.  What  we  should  greatly  desire? 
is  to  see  some  of  I lie  hest-llavoured  varieties  of 
the  grape  put  into  t^.e  shillful  hands  of  the  Jattini 
vine-dressers  instead  of  the  “ wild  grape"  which  is 
hardly  worth  the  esu'vgy  which  they  spend  upon 
its  cultivation.  This  is  a matter  which  the 
(iovernment  Agent  of  the  Northern  Province 
might  interest  himself  in.  With  the  knowledge 
of  the  process  of  grafting  which  the  people  of 
Jaffna  possess,  some  of  the  introduced  varieties  of 
grapes  might  successfully  be  grafted  on  the 
vigorous  stocks  to  be  found  in  the  North. 
o 
OCCASIONAL  NOTES. 
Writing  at  the  eiid  of  1S95  wo  wish  all 
our  readers  “A  llapiiy  New  Year,’’  and  trust  that 
1896  has  jirosperous  seasons  in  store  for  agricul- 
turists in  Ceylon  and  abroad,  and  that  it  will  prove 
to  be  a year  of  plenty.  For  ourselves,  we  shall 
make  the  “fresh  resolution”  to  do  all  we  can, 
in  our  own  little  way,  to  further  the  interests  of 
Agriculture  in  the  Island  through  the  coming  year. 
Jn  less  than  a month  after  the  jiruning  of  the 
Vines — referred  to  in  the  arlicle  on  Grape 
Cultivation — they  have  again  made  rapid  growth, 
and,  this  time  a fairly  large  number  have  init  out 
blos.som,  which,  if  it  set,  should  give  a nice  little 
crop  early  next  ye  r. 
The  “ Model  Earm” — now  only  so  in  name — 
is  after  a long  period  of  neglect  again  beginning 
to  look  a bit  trim.  To  keej)  such  parts  as  are 
not  under  .Mauritius  grass  in  this  condition  is  no 
easy  macter,  considering  tliat  it  has  been  over- 
run by  that  most  troublesome  of  weeds,  the  8en- 
sitivo'  plant.  The  m'w  manager,  Mr.  Samara- 
nayaka,  has,  however,  made  a good  beginning  in 
clearing  away  brushwood  and  cleaning  the  land, 
and  while  gradually  extending  the  cultivated 
areas,  imiiro\ dug  such  ])ar;s  as  are  a\ailahle  foi' 
pasture.  Tlie  extent  of  the  farm  is  over  two 
liundred  acrcN  Tliere  an?  at  in-esent  L'd  head  of 
cattle  from  the  Government  Dairy  at  grass  there. 
Tile  only  objection  to  tlie  Modid  Farm  —which  is 
otherwise  a mo.st  desirable  site,  and  indeed  a very 
])icture.squ  ! sjiot, — is  that  a good  part  of  it  is 
liable  to  go  under  water  at  certain  seasons  of  the 
year,  but  wo  will  ho])e  that  before  very  long  the 
working  out  of  the  Hood  outlets  scheme  will 
remove  this  defect. 
IVe  draw  attention  to  the  first  jiart  of  a paper 
written  by  JMr.  Jlollison,  on  the  management  of 
Dairy  Cattle.  The  writer  who  rendered  such 
invaluable  help  at  the  inception  of  tlie  Ceylon 
Government  Dairy  is  admitted  to  he  tlie  best 
authority  on  stock  in  India.  M'e  commend  Mr. 
Mollison's  paper  to  the  careful  attention  of  all 
those  ivho  have  anything  to  do  with  milch  cattle. 
Agricultural  science  will  be  much  the  poorer 
for  the  loss  of  I’rofessor  Hellriegel,  whose  name 
is  .*0  familiar  to  students  of  Agriculture,  parti- 
cularly in  connection  with  the  subject  of  the 
relation  of  the  free  nitrogen  of  the  air  to  plant  life. 
RAIN! 
'ALL  AT 
THE 
SCHOOl 
^ OF 
AGRI- 
CULTURE 
DURING  NOVl! 
IMDER. 
1 
. . -07 
12  . . 
Nil 
24  . . 
1 ■Od 
o 
. . -51 
1.4  .. 
Nil 
24  . . 
1-07 
*) 
• > 
. . Nil 
14  . . 
•02 
2d  . . 
Nil 
4 
. . -42 
Id  .. 
Nil 
26  . . 
Nil 
•’ 
. . -27 
16  . . 
Nil 
27  . . 
•0(! 
(i 
..  •1.’) 
17  . . 
Nil 
28  . . 
Nil 
7 
. . -02 
18  . . 
•08 
2!)  . . 
•I  1 
8 
. . Nil 
19  . . 
•t)4 
40  . . 
l-d4 
!) 
. . Nil 
20  . . 
■Of 
1 St  D('c 
•02 
10 
. . Nil 
21  . . 
•04 
- 
1 1 
. . Nil 
•10 
Total... 
6-42 
JIean..T.5 
Greatest  amount  of  rainfall  in  any  2J  hours, 
.’fOth  November,  Fd.d  in. 
Kecorded  by  J.  D.  Jayawickr.vma. 
EAINFALL  TAKEN  AT  THE  SCHOOL  OF 
AGRICLM/rUHE  DURING  THE  MONTH 
OF 
DECEMRER, 
1895. 
1 
Sundiiy 
. . -02 
19 
Th  ursday 
. 1-09 
2 
Monday 
. . Nil 
20 
Friday 
. Nil 
3 
Tuesday 
•2 
21 
Saturdav 
. Nil 
4 
IVeduesday 
■ ■ t •60 
22 
Sunday 
. -04 
0 
Thursday 
24 
Monday 
. o;-! 
6 
Friday 
. . Nil 
24 
Tue.sdav 
. Nil 
/ 
Satunlay 
. . -29 
2d 
M'eduesday 
. Nil 
8 
Sunday 
..  2-17 
26 
Thursday 
. Nil 
!) 
Monday 
. . -08 
27 
Friday 
. -01 
10 
Tuesday 
. . Nil 
28 
Saturdav 
. D29 
n 
Wednesday 
. . Nil 
29 
Sunday 
. -di 
12 
Thursday 
. . Nil 
40 
Nlonday 
. -56 
14 
Friday 
. . Nil 
41 
TiiesUay 
01 
14 
Saturday 
. . -01 
•1 
M'ednesilay 
•1 
Ld 
Sunday 
. . Nil 

16 
Nlonday 
. . Nil 
Total 
. 7 7 • » 
17 
Tuesday 
. . Nil 
18 
M'eduesday 
. . -92 
Mean . 
2d 
Greatest  amount  of  lainfall  in  any  L’l  laiiirs  on 
the  8th  instant,  ‘2-17  inches. 
Ib'corde.l  by  1 1 MNDiiiru  (L  DiiAini ADA.s.i. 
