Aua  1,  1896.] 
Snpplempnt  tn  the  “ Irnpicfd  AgricuHarkty 
141 
The  paddy  cultivated  is  very  little,  a?  the  staple 
food  is  wlieat  which  is  grown  at  higher  altitudes 
far  away  in  the  interior.  Wherever  paddy  is  grown, 
it  is  always  first  sown  in  nurseries  and  then  plant- 
ed out  wlien  the  seedlings  are  about  tliree  or 
four  weeks  old. 
Indian  corn  is  sown  on  dry  lands  early  in  June, 
so  that  the  plants  may  grow  during  the  rains  and 
the  cobs  mature  in  fairly  dry  weather.  The  cobs 
are  gathered  before  the  seeds  are  fully  ripe  and 
are  eaten  roasted  or  boiled,  some  of  the  best  plants 
being  allowed  to  inn  to  seed. 
The  rotation  of  crops  practised  here  is  worthy  of 
notice.  In  a field  of  maize,  for  instance,  and  legu- 
minous crop  such  as  beans  or  gram  is  first  grown, 
and  after  it  is  gathered,  the  land  is  tilled  and  ma- 
nured, and  then  the  maize  is  sown  which,  in 
turn,  is  followed  by  a leaf  crop.  Then  the  round 
begins  again  with  the  leguminous  crop,  and  the 
land  is  not  allowed  to  lie  fallow  except  for  a few 
weeks  just  before  the  maize  is  sown.  In  this  way 
while  the  fertility  of  the  land  is  preserved,  the 
greatest  possible  profit  is  obtained  from  it.  The 
maize  crop  which  succeeds  the  bean  or  gram  is  aUo 
benefited  by  the  nitrogenous  matter  left  in  the  soil 
by  the  latter. 
Allied  to  rotation  of  crops  is  tlie  system  of  grow- 
ing mixed  crops  by  which  is  meant  raising  crops 
of  two  or  more  kinds  simultaneously  on  the  same 
land.  The  Indian  ryot  fully  recognizes  the  benefit 
of  this  method  of  culture  and  makes  up  for  the 
deficiencj'in  mauring  by  adopting  it,  At  the  Poona 
Farm  I noticed  that  Mr.  Mollison  had  given  his 
sanction  to  this  method  by  growing  a mixed 
crop  of  bajiri  and  dhall  in  a few  plots.  The  dliall 
was  planted  in  lines  4 feet  apart,  and  3 rows  of 
bajiri  sown  one  foot  apart  were  grown  between 
every  two  rows  of  dhall.  The  special  benefit  of 
growing  a papilionaceous  plant  such  as  dhall 
side  by  side  with  a cereal  will  be  manifest  to  every 
one  who  is  avare  of  the  fact  that  the  former  class 
of  plants  can  asssimilate  the  free  nitrogen  of  the 
air  by  means  of  bacteroids  contained  in  the  tuber- 
cles attached  to  their  roots. 
Cattle  and  horse  droppings  are  used  as  manure 
in  the  form  of  dry  cakes  or  “ bratties  ” which  are 
often  spread  on  the  land  and  burnt  before  the  rains, 
the  ashes  beiiig  ploughed  in  soon  after  the  burn- 
ing. This  practice,  although  it  has  the  advantage 
of  destroying  the  grubs  and  maggots  which  breed 
in  the  dung,  has  the  serious  drawback  of  being 
attended  with  the  loss  of  the  organic  portion, 
especially  the  nitrogenous  part  which  the  farmer 
can  ill  afford  to  lose. 
Bratties  are  often  used  as  fuel,  and  where  this 
is  the  case  the  ashes  from  the  kitchen  ought  to 
form  a valuable  manure  as  it  contains  the  potash, 
phosphates,  and  certain  nitrates  and  other  mineral 
ingredients  of  the  dung. 
Wool  refuse  is  a favourite  manure  especially 
for  maize. 
India  can  boast  of  a greater  variety  of  native 
agricultural  implements  than  Ceylon.  The  ryots 
carry  on  cultivation  on  an  extensive  scale,  espe- 
cially on  dry  land.  With  them  necessity  has  been 
the  mother  of  invention  as  regards  their  imple- 
ments. They  cannot  afford  to  loiter  over  about 
with  unsuitable  tools  when  they  have  vast  tracts 
of  land  to  be  operated  upon  in  a short  space 
of  time,  and  by  the  mere  handful  of  labourers  at 
their  disposal.  Driven  to  their  wits’  end  by  the 
force  of  circumstances  they  have  invented  a 
variety  of  implements  specially  suited  for  different 
operations.  While  some  of  these  bespeak  a 
rather  high  degree  of  inventive  skill  and  ingenuity, 
others  are  of  a primitive  kind.  I shall  only  select 
a few  of  these  for  consideration  here. 
Tlie  Indian  plough  is  very  like  thenative  plough 
used  ill  Ceylon,  but  the  share  is  thicker  and 
stronger  and  goes  a little  deeper. 
As  an  example  of  the  implements  of  the  primi- 
tive type  may  be  mentioned  the  huge  log  of  wood 
drawn  by  bullocks  and  used  as  a sort  of  harrow  or 
clod-crusher  and  leveller  after  dry-ploughing. 
Others,  however,  are  of  an  improved  or  better 
type  such  ns  the  bullock  rake,  bullock  hoe  and 
the  seed  drill.  The  bullock  rake  and  the  bullock 
hoe  as  their  names  imply  are  drawn  by  bullocks. 
The  former  is  used  like  an  ordinary  spiked  har- 
row, and  the  latter  is  used  for  weeding  between 
rows  of  plants  when  they  are  sufficiently  wide 
apart  to  admit  of  the  bullocks  walking  between 
them  without  trampling  the  plants. 
The  seed-drill  called  i)cimal  or  thiffen  by  the 
ryots  is  a really  useful  implement  and  is  well 
worth  introducing  into  Ceylon.  It  is  said  that 
it  answers  almost  as  well  ns  the  English  seed 
drill.  Its  price  is  only  about  five  rupees. 
But  since  of  late  a cheap  and  very  convenient 
.sowing  box  or  machine  has  been  invented  in 
England,  which  it  would  be  more  advantageous 
to  introduce  to  Ceylon,  Sowing  is  so  irregularly 
done  in  our  Island  at  present,  and  so  large 
a quantity  of  seed  is  wasted,  that  a cheap 
but  efficient  seed  drill  cr  sowing  machine  is  a 
great  desideratum  and  would  prove  a great  boon. 
E.  T.  HOOLE. 
SERICULTURE. 
It  must  be  admitted  that  we  have  very  few  in- 
dustries in  the  Island  which  are  capable  of  giving 
employment  to  the  native  agriculturist  and  es- 
pecially to  the  members  of  his  family  during  the 
time  they  have  little  work  in  the  paddy-fields. 
The  Sinhalese  cultivator  is  frequently  accused  of 
apathy  and  gross  laziness,  but  the  average  tiller 
of  the  soil  cannot  be  expected  to  possess  the  know- 
ledge and  resources  necessary  for  experiments  in 
connection  with  new  industries  with  a view  to  their 
adoption.  No  one  will,  however  deny,  that 
when  he  is  instructed  in  the  details  of  an 
industry  that  is  likely  to  bring  him  an  income 
and  will  not  interfere  either  with  the  cultiva- 
tion of  his  field  or  with  his  liberty  as  a pro- 
prietor, he  is  not  only  ready  to  adopt  them,  but 
is  capable  of  carrying  on  the  work  with  suc- 
cess. Under  these  circumstances  it  surely  behoves 
those  who  have  the  welfare  of  the  country  at 
heart  to  experiment  in  connection  with  and 
popularise  such  industries  as  will  give  employ- 
ment to  and  draw  forth  the  latent  energies  and 
capacity  of  a large  number  of  the  rural  popula- 
tion. The  improvement  of  the  villager’s  condition 
cannot  be  effected  by  the  introduction  of  any 
industries  which  require  large  capital  and  which 
will  necessarily  involve  factory  work  and  cooly 
labour.  These  will  benefit  the  larger  ca])italists 
but  the  material  and  moral  welfare  of  the  agri- 
cultural masses  can  only  be  irajiroved  by  providing 
them  with  work  that  will  not  necessitate  the  sacri. 
