502 
Sujti)leinen.t  lo  the  “ Tropical  AyricallariHt.''  [Jan.  1,  1896. 
more  prufilable  for  making  huUer.  But  a 
good  number  of  Sind  eo\v$  are  kept  on  tbe  'farm, 
and  these  are  held  in  great  repute  as  they  are 
by  far  tlie  best  milkers  in  Western  India. 
o.  The  points  of  a good  milker  are : — a 
mild  temper,  a clean  cut  ho  id,  forequarters  light 
but  allowing  sullicient  room  for  the  heart  and 
lungs,  a large  belly,  well-sprung  back  ribs,  and 
strong  massive  hind  quarters,  thus  giving  the 
animal  a wedge-shaped  appearance  when  vieweil 
lengthwise  from  the  front.  The  best  signs  of 
milking  qualities  are,  however,  to  be  found  in 
the  udder  and  the  milk  vein.  Tlie  latter  should 
l;e  prominent,  /.c.,  easily  noticeable  all  along  the 
abdomen  until  it  disajipears  at  tlie  brisket.  I'lie 
larger  the  capacity  of  the  udder  the  better, 
ju’ovided  it  is  not  lleshy.  U should  e.vtend 
well  forward  on  to  the  abdomen  and  come  well 
Imck  between  the  thighs.  The  teats  should  be 
large  enough  to  ])crniit  the  milker  to  take  a good 
hold  of  them.  They  should  be  sipiarely  set  iu 
the  udder,  be  of  eipial  size  aud  not  grouped 
together  in  a cluster  but  be  wide  apart.  Most  of 
these  points  are  found  iu  Sindh  cow-^.  but  the  only 
defect  in  tlie  shape  of  the  udder  noticeable  in  many 
of  them  is  that  it  is  too  iiendulou-!.  This,  however, 
is  not  positive. 
6.  All  the  green  fodder  and  hay  required  for 
the  dairy  animals  are  grown  and  prepared  on  the 
farm  itself,  only  the  concentrated  food  such  as 
oilcake,  cotton  seed,  grains  and  pulses  being  pur- 
chased. The  chief  fodder  croiis  raised  there  are 
Guinea  grass.  Maize,  different  varieties  of 
‘•'Jowari”  such  as  Son//ium  vulfjare,  Sorghum 
S'icchamtu7n,  “ Bajiri,”  I’enicillaria  spicata,  L > 
cerne  and  other  iiapilionaceous  crops  such  as 
Dolichos  wxijlorus. 
7.  Of  these,  Guinea  grass  and  Lucerne  are  the 
most  important,  as  they  are  permanent  or  iieren- 
nial  cro])S,  and  are  each  the  best  of  their  own 
kind  as  fodder.  Guinea  grass  grow.s  eipially  wi‘11 
under  the  shade  of  big  trees  .such  as  the  mango 
and  banyan  as  in  the  open.  It  also  does  well  in 
damp  situations  if  there  is  no  stagn  uit  water. 
If  well  m inured  and  regularly  watered  it  can  be 
cut  ten  or  twelve  times  iu  the  year,  the  mowing 
being  al  ,vays  done  as  close  to  the  crown  of  the 
root  as  possible.  A (Guinea  grass  plantation  has 
to  be  renewed  once  iu  every  three  years,  becau->' 
the  tufts  get  overgrown  iu  that  time. 
8.  Lucerne  ranks  tir.-t  <d  (he  leguniiiious  family 
of  fodder  crops.  If  free  fr.nu  disease  and  iiroperly 
attended  to  as  regards  weeding,  manuring,  Ac., 
a lucerne  field  will  last  for  four  or  more  year.^, 
and  can  be  cut  ten  or  twelve  times  in  the  year, 
its  worst  enemy  is  a fungeid  liisease  wnich 
affects  the  roots-  No  remedy  is  known  for 
this;  but  prevention  must  be  sought  in  the 
selection  of  land,  method  of  sowing  and  general 
care  of  the  crop.  It  is  best  grown  in  a deep 
friable  lime  soil  on  ridges  two  feet  apart,  10  lbs. 
of  seed  being  used  for  an  acre.  It  is  .said  that 
when  Guinea  grass  and  Lucerne  are  grown  as  a 
mixed  crop,  the  latter  is  less  subject  to  fungoid 
disease. 
1).  When  such  cereal  crojis  as  Maize  and  .Sor- 
ghum are  grown  solely  for  fodder,  (ho  seed  is 
sown  much  thicker  than  when  < hey  are  intended 
as  grain  crops-  'J'ho  ipiality  of  tie-  fodder  is 
thereby  improved  bccau.se  the  -stalks  groiv  thinner 
and  more  delicate  ; and  further,  the  outturn  per 
aero  increased-  Ilie  best  time  to  cut  the  crops 
is  when  they  are  beginning  to  flower,  as  the  nutri- 
tive propertie.s  of  the  jilant  aie  then  well  distributed 
throughout  the  whole  plant.  Ij  iter  on  the  nutri- 
tion is  more  or  less  centred  iu  the  grain  aud  the 
stems  become  coarse  and  woody.  When  fed  on  fod- 
derciit  before  flowering,  cattle  are  apt  to  get  hoven 
as  the  cro])  are  too  green  and  watery  at  the  time. 
Maize  grown  as  fodder  is  cut  when  the  male 
flowers  appear. 
10.  .\ny  e.xtra  amount  of  green  fodder  grown 
on  the  farm  during  favourable  seasons  is  pre- 
.served  for  after  use  in  the  form  of  hay.  Guinea 
grass  makes  the  best  hay  aud  ne.vt  come  the 
Sorghums  and  Millets.  Lucerne  is  not  .suited  for 
this  [uiriiosi!  because  the  leaves  get  very  brittle 
as  the  c.'op  dries  and  a large  projiortion  of  them 
falls  off  and  is  lost.  lii  hay-making  the  grass 
should  not  be  allowed  to  get  ipiite  dry.  If  a 
little  of  (ho  sap  is  retained  a slight  amount  of 
beiielicial  fermentation  occurs  in  the  stack,  a 
sweet  flavour  and  fine  aroma  are  developed,  and 
the  hay  is  thus  rendered  more  agree  ible  to  the 
taste  and  smell.  Care  should  at  I lie  same  time  be 
taken  that  (he  hay  is  not  stored  too  moist ; for 
then  the  centre  of  the  stack  will  be  overheated 
by  excessive  fermentation,  whilst  near  the  outside 
the  hay  will  get  musty.  11  ay  should  be  stored 
under  suitable  cover  and  iu  the  I’oona  farm  there 
is  a spacious  shed  built  for  the  jmrpo.se. 
E.  T.  HOULL. 
2nd  November,  189o. 
TUB  EBRTILITV  OF  SOILS. 
Cl’liOFK.SSOR  KiXCH.) 
In  most  published  analy.ses  of  soils  the  total 
amount  of  nirtrogen  and  the  amount  of  various 
miner.il  matters  dissolved  by  strong  hydrochloric 
acid  is  stated.  Such  analyses  are  useful  for  some 
jmijm.ses,  and  in  some  cases  are  sufficient  to 
indicate  a deiiciency  of  some  particular  form  of 
jdaut  food,  but  they  by  no  means  indicate  the 
amount  of  av.ailable  jihuit  footl  iu  the  S()ii.  A few 
analyses  hai'c  been  made  by  extracting  the  soil 
with  water  charged  with  carbonic  acid  gas,  and  a 
few  in  which  dilute  acetic  acid  was  the  solvent 
used,  the-;c  being  thought  to  more  nearly  rejiresent 
the  action  of  the  living  jdant  on  the  soil, 
h’eceiitly  an  important,  advance  towards  determin- 
ing the  amount  of  available  mineral  jilant  food  in 
a soil  has  been  made  by  |>r.  Bernard  Dyer.  He 
examined  the  juice  or  saji  of  (he  roots  of  about 
one  hundred  difforimt,  jilants,  belonging  to  twenty 
diller.  nt  natural  orders,  as  far  ns  their  total  acidity 
went.  No  attenqjc  was  made  to  determine  tlio 
actual  acid  present  in  each  case,  but  only  (he 
actual  acidity  of  the  root  sap.  This  itself ‘is  by 
no  means  an  easy  task,  aud  any  method  used  is 
liable  to  errors.  However,  he  found  that  taking 
the  average  of  the  wdiole  number  of  jilanls  tried 
the  total  acidity  of  the  sap  came  to  rather  less 
than  that  which  would  be  jnodiiced  by  dissolving 
crystallised  citric  acid  in  water  to  a strength  of 
1 jjer  cent,  of  weigdit  of  the  aci<l.  Some  jdaiits  of 
the  rose  order — viz.,  Gcum  and  strawberry,  also 
evening  juimro.se  aud  thrift,  Aniwria,  had  a root 
saj)  with  a higher  acidity  than  this  , whilst  tho 
roi't,  ol  h>e)\s,  .some  mangel.'^,  and  some  grasses 
Nvcrc  much  h-.ss  acid.  L 'guminoiis  jdants,  white 
clover,  red  clover,  'uid  beaus  seemed  to  develoji  a 
much  less  aijid  root  sap  when  grown  in  pots  tliau 
