808 
Siipplemenl  to  the  “ Tropical  Agriciiltarist." 
[May  1,  1897. 
Kalliv  corn  was  something  new  to  the  island,  where 
though  not  systematically  grown,  it  ist'ouiidin  one 
of  Its  many  varieties  w herever  there  are  Tamil 
settlements,aswellusinnativt  chenalands.  Among 
the  Sinhalese  two  varirties  of  it  are  known  as 
Idal-iringu  ” and  “ Karal-iringii,”  Jvallir  corn  lias 
become  a tavouiite  crop  in  America,  Africa  and  tlie 
Australian  Colonies,  but  a few  notes  regarding 
the  plant  as  grown  in  India,  and  particularly  in 
lower  India,  should  prove  useful  to  our  readers. 
Referring  to  “Jowari’'  or  “Juar”  Dr.  Watt 
says  ; — *'  It  is  a cereal  which,  after  rice,  is  perhaps 
the  most  valuable  single  article  of  food  in  this 
country.  If  Bengal  ( the  great  rice-eating  province) 
bo  left  out  of  consideration,  Juar  takes  the  lirst 
place  as  the  staple  of  Indian  diet,  and  ranks 
a long  way  before  wheat,  barley  or  Indian  corn 
and  again,  “ sorghum  holds  in  India  a position 
very  much  like  that  of  oats  in  Scotland.” 
By  the  natives  of  India  sorghum  is  regarded 
as  more  wholesome  than  wheat  or  rice,  because 
more  easily  digestible.  It  is  ground  into  meal 
and  eaten  a;  cakes  or  porridge,  and  as  parched 
grain  is  also  used  in  various  ways. 
Apart  from  the  highly  nutritious  nature  of 
the  grain,  which  compares  very  favourably 
with  rice  and  wheat,  sorghum  has  many  good 
qualities  which  have  led  to  its  extensive  cul- 
tivation. It  grows  on  most  soils,  even  very 
poor  ones,  though  soils  like  those  of  the  black 
cotton  soil  of  India  give  the  best  returns.  The 
more  trouble  the  cultivator  takes  to  plough 
deeply  and  work  up  the  soil,  the  better  out- 
turn is  he  likely  to  get,  no  doubt  on  account 
of  the  firmer  roots  sent  out  by  tlie  plant.  In 
India  sorghum  is  generally  gro.vn  as  a mixed 
crop  with  dhall,  green  gram.  See.  The  returns 
of  cultivated  crops  shows  that  no  less  than 
2-3,000,000  acres  are  devoted  to  sorghum  alone. 
Taking  0 maunds  j)cr  acre  as  the  average  yield 
of  grain  for  all  India,  the  total  comes  up  to 
1.30,000,000  maunds  or  5,357,142  tons,  practically 
all  of  which  is  consumed  in  the  Tresidency. 
We  might  write  a great  deal  about  the 
excellence  of  sorghum  both  as  a cereal  grain 
and  as  a fodder  plant,  and  how  much  it  is 
esteemed  as  such  wherever  it  has  been  grown. 
We  consider  it  eminently  suited  for  pure  cul- 
tivation or  for  systematic  mixed  cultivation 
in  most  parts  of  the  Island  on  all  high  and 
dry  lands  unsuitable  for  paddy.  Under  irrigation 
it  should  succeed  admirably  in  the  A'ortli  and 
North-Cent  al  divisions  of  Ceylon,  ft  behoves 
Covernmont  to  place  facilities  in  the  way  of 
cultivators  obtaining  seeds  of  the  best  varieties 
of  sorghum  obtainable  from  India  as  w'ell  as 
America,  and  to  issue  a bulletin  giving  full  in- 
structions regarding  cultivation  Ac.,  so  as  to 
encourage  the  regular  cultivation  of  this 
valuable  plant  by  the  natives.  By  such  measures 
it  will  be  doing  much  towards  bringing  a large 
proportion  of  the  high  lands  now  lying  waste 
and  in  .jungle  in  many  j)rovinces  under  the  plough. 
By  adopting  the  cultivation  of  a crop  Hire 
“ Ka'llir  corn " the  people  will  be  made  less 
dependent  on  their  paddy  crops  which  in  turn 
is  so  dependent  on  a copious  water  supply. 
Our  cultivators  are  much  in  need  of  another 
cereal,  and  that  a dry  land  crop  practically 
independent  of  a water  siqiply,  natural  or 
artificial.  Kafiir-coru  should  suit  them  admi- 
rably and  als9  give  them  better  opportunities 
for  practising  improved  methods  of  agriculture 
than  the  growing  of  “ swamp-rice”  affords  them. 
With  the  small  opportunities  for  reaching  the 
cultivating  classes,  we  did  what  we  could  to 
bring  “ Kallir-corn  ” to  the  notice  of  the  villagers 
by  distributing  seed  from  the  8chool  of  Agri- 
culture some  years  ago.  The  small  plantation 
which  existed  at  the  school  then  was  established 
from  seed  obtained  through  the  kindness  of 
General  La  Touche  at  that  time  resident  in 
Ceylon.  There  is  just  one  instance  how  much 
the  school  could  do  if  funds  and  the  necessary 
“ machinery " were  available  to  induce  the  cul- 
tivators of  Ceylon  to  better  their  position.  The 
possibilities  of  agricultural  improvement,  we  affirm, 
are  very  great  in  Ceylon,  but  the  means  of 
effecting  such  improvement  is  wanting. 
♦- 
OCCASIONAL  NOTES. 
We  have  had  an  enquiry  with  reference  to 
the  cultivation  of  mushrooms,  and  as  the  infor- 
mation which  was  supplied  should  be  of 
interest  to  our  readers,  we  give  it  below : — 
To  grow  a crop  quickly,  it  is  necessary  to 
engender  a moderatelj’  lasting  artificial  wanuth 
ill  the  material  emploj”ed  ; yet,  if  possible,  with 
moderate  latent  heat  only.  The  place  best  adapted 
for  their  production  is  a ratlier  damp  godown 
or  out-house ; in  this  should  be  arranged  a row 
of  shelves  at  a short  distance  from  the  ground, 
on  which  the  materials  in  which  the  mushrooms 
are  to  be  grown  should  be  placed  to  the  depth 
of  eighteen  inches,  and  firmly  beaten  down. 
The  compost  best  adapted  for  this  purpose  is 
made  up  as  follows: — Fresh  horse  droppings 
six  parts,  cow  dung  two  parts,  sheep  dung  two 
parts,  garden  soil  four  parts,  and  fresh  wood 
ashes  one  part  Before  these  are  mixed  they 
should  be  allowed  to  dry  in  the  sun  for  two 
or  three  days  to  take  off  the  excess  moisture. 
After  being  mixed,  and  the  bed  made  on  the 
shelves  as  described  above,  they  should  be  allowed 
to  remain  for  five  or  six  days  till  ferment  ition 
commences.  As  soon  as  a moderate  heat  is 
perceptible  the  spawn  should  be  added,  this  is 
done  by  making  holes  in  the  surface,  about 
12  in.  apart  and  3 in.  deep  ; in  eacli  of  these 
a small  quantity  of  spawn,  about  2 in.  square 
is  inserted,  after  having  first  been  dipped  in 
tepid  water;  these  should  be  slightly  covered 
with  the  compost,  and  the  whole  beaten  down 
firmly.  After  a month  the  beds  should  be 
covered  with  two  inches  of  light  rich  soil,  and 
the  whole  beaten  down,  and  then  well  watered; 
it  will  now  require  no  further  attention,  beyond 
occa,sionally  watering  the  walls  and  floor  of  the 
room  to  promote  a damp  atmosphere.  If  projierly 
managed  the  beds  should  commence  bearing 
freely  in  about  eight  weeks  from  the  time  of 
spawning  them.  On  the  jilains  the  best  time 
to  start  a mushroom  bed  is  from  September  to 
3larch  ; in  the  hills  from  April  to  October. 
IVith  reference  to  the  introduction  of  Jiew 
vegetables,  lately  discussed  in  co.inection  with 
agricultural  shows,  it  is  interesting  to  find 
a record  of  the  first  attenqit  to  grow  potatoes 
