TI-IE MAGAZINE 
OF 
Tf)G moot OH AGRICULTaHG, 
COLOMBO. 
^ddcd an a Supplement mnnthh/ to the ^'TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST:’ 
_ The followinii pages inclnile ihe 
S^'WHlture for August : — 
the “CIXGALEE” V. THE SlXIfALESE 
PLOUGH, 
gnoil deal of discussion has re" 
suited from Dr, Voelcker's coni- 
inciulation of the Indian and 
Sinhalese system of “ scratching 
file gromul;” and agaiinst this 
the,.rctical vie,^• the Aladras-pa, era have quoted 
the practical data given hy Mr, Sewell, the 
Collector of liellaiy, who is about to under- 
take a gerie,s of te.sts to prove the advan- 
The rimes of Ceylon in 
‘‘Vhat '’l«'>KWng'Cks- 
tural T.iar ^ ^ 0 ™ and the various Agricul- 
Creeu H ^ ! V >'>ii<le hy Afr, 
methods hut' n- ‘'’® superiority of his 
ploughs^ 1 pl'iiighing with European 
Now the methods of sowing. &c," 
f Rood nintii'"- referred to, there were 
HcSrLTto^l " ‘'«’'i'’ntion was carried on 
that the ^^niproved plough "w" 
the land -the method n^f c^T ? "*'1'“ preparing 
"s that adopted hy flip ^ ’’<■"?» the game 
tesnlts of Pex-periL, r ■ I,''® 
Plmigh have been embodied in a ^ 
a summary of renorts L panijihlel which 
■■ J™”:, S";.?,!:* 
hvtsiim ’tushels an acre were got 
'•.rCrIcS iVrhmslm^s 
Uittiru 28* 'lative implement; at Mul- 
^ft. ^8 bushels an acre against M bushels. 
contents of tlio Magazine of the School of 
At Nikaweratiya, the Agricultural Instructor 
realised about 153 bushels per acre after using tha 
improved plough— the neighbours getting 5 to 6 
bushels per acre. 
At G.ille and Batticaloa, Mr, Elliott reports 
28i and 47 bushels per acre were taken in after 
the use of the improved plough. 
At Toppur the Instructor took in about 28J 
bushels after the u.se of the improved plough, only 
getting 14 bushels per acre with the native im- 
plement. 
Due another occasion the crop realised at Toppur 
after using the ‘Ciugaleo’ plough was SBJ bushels 
per acre. 
Of course where “idanting out " was practised 
in addition to the use of the improved plough the 
yields were much higher than where the seed was 
at once sown broadcast. Many of theresults given 
in the pamphlet mentioned above, were obtained 
not only by Government Agricultural Instructors, 
but also by private cultivators; the reports being 
in every case perfectly reliable : so that the supe- 
riority of the improved method of ploughing over 
the “ scratching of the ground ” cannot but be 
acknowledged. 
The deeper ploughing as well as the turning over 
of the soil results in the bringing to the surface of 
apart of the lower and inert soil which is not 
reached by the native implement. This turned-up 
soil, under the influence of the atmosphere, im- 
proves va.stly in character ; while after being 
moved and softened it becomes capable ofretaining 
water and lc.ss liable to damage from a sudden defl- 
cioucy of irrigation water. Though deep ploughing 
may' not alway's give a great increase in produce, 
the first year, it appreciably increases the out- 
turn in succeeding years. There are of course 
soils that will not liear deep ploughing, such as 
those which have a sterile substratum below a few 
inches of good soil, a .subsoil which under ' any 
c ircumstances it is not desirable to bring to the* sur- 
face. Of course any one who knows anything of the 
c, haracter of soils will bo able to use his judgment iit 
