September i, iSgi.] 
S«pplmt»t to ilK “ Tropical AgncuHuriit." 
221 
In tlic smuf way a bottle of wine half flllod and 
corked, anc. laid on its side will always have 
the cork moist. 1 tldnk it may be .safely 
assumed that a nut planted in its natural or 
lif)ri>!ontal position, will in course of time germi- 
nate more successfully and pnalnce a. better and 
more vigoixats plant than one which is planted 
ve.rtically or in an umiutnrul positimi. 
So much for the imsition of the coconut when 
jdaiited in the ground. 
It will be fmind that the seh'ction of large 
vigorous nuts for the formatiou of a nursery 
reqnire.s great eottsiileratiou. The nut should be 
well mature<l, hut not too much withered or 
shrivelled up. 
Nuts which have remained Imig in store should 
not he selected, and the l)esl should ho cho.sen 
from large quantities freshly picktxl. If possible 
those nuts should be taken to gradnally form a 
nursery, which hare fallen of themselves and 
hat'e not been jiicked. On an estate of 300 or 
3'jO acres, from d to 300 nuts will drop from the 
trees in 'J4 hours, or in one day and one night, 
and 2')0 nuts will bo quite sufhcieiit to plant out 
one large nursefj’ bed, and this process may be 
rei)eated till 10,000 nuts have been laid 
down. 
Tile nurseries should Iw well watenul, ahout 
twice or three times a week. The soil should Ih! 
k(fpt moist but not flooded or dreiK-hod witli 
water, particularly when the sprouts la-giii to 
aijjwjur, as svater lodges in the eye whicli is some- 
what hollow and sometimes rots the young sprout. 
It is well to keep the nursery cleen, as dirt 
attracts worms and lu’etles, which not only attack 
the sprout, but the tissues of the nut as well. 
K. Atuebton, 
f To be coniimied.J 
s» 
NOTES FJiOil A TUAVELLEIi'S D1A»Y. 
I had lately the pleasure of visiting the Happy 
Valley Industrial and llefonnatory Schools. It is 
too soon yet I think to judge how far such Insti- 
tutions as this will be a success and heuelit to the 
Island. They certainly desene to succeed, for 
the w'ork of reforming juvenile offenders is in 
itself a most nohlo and bold undertaking. A 
great many of the boys who are taught here are, I 
believe, orphans, and they are therefore at the 
sole di.spo.snl of the Wesleyan Mis.siou.nuder whose 
auspices tlie Institution is coiidncted. 
OjMuious differ as to what are the best industries 
that sliould be taught in our ludustriid Schools. 
Some people think that local industries should 
he taken up and encouraged, while others 
think that foreign industries should be 
iiitroiliujed and adapted to local circumstances. 
This ((uestion will no doubt be soon settled, as the 
Colombo Technical School, which is likely to be 
9I'«ned at no distant date, ie e.vpected to teach 
just those indiwtrios which our boys should 
learn. 
Carpentry, Ehoeiug, Printing, Blacksmith's work, 
and Agriculture are some of the industries nt 
present taught at Happy Valley. Everybody 
will agree that a knowledge of ngrioulture in all 
its branches will he of much ])rKctical heiietit to 
the youth of Ceylon. Sheep-rearing, dairy-fanu- 
ing, and horticiiltnre arc .some of the branches of 
agi’iculture to whichattention isiMiid at Ilnputalo, 
wliile e.vperimeuts have Iweji mode in vititu- 
cultuiv, cotton, tobacco, pa<ldy cnitivation, ,V;c. 
Cotton, I am afraid, is not likely to be of any 
success in Ibis pjirt of the Island. Speaking of 
cotton, 1 mustn'poat here my aiivicetbat itslioiild 
ho grown together with some other crojw. There 
are niiuiy proctical planters who agree with me in 
this view. The so-called success of cotton has 
hium the case in only one out of n dozen experi- 
ments. Whether the failures recorded are <lue to 
had seed, biul cultivation, or climate, has yet to bo 
ascertained. Until then It will always bo safe 
to grow cotton with some other crops. 
The -\gricidtural Instructor attached to the 
Happy Valley Industrial School is, I believe, paid 
by Uorernmeut. The question is where will the 
boys of the Institution go when they become 
men, and what will they dof As 1 have said 
before, a great many of them, if 1 am not mis- 
taken, are at the sole ili.sposnl of the Wesleyan 
Mission, and the authorities of this iustitution will 
therefore, 1 believe* see that the young men are 
placed in good situations. W'o may reasonably 
e.xpect that some of them will he sent 
out to colonize, and when this has been accom- 
plished, and when the lauds which have been 
lying idle for hundretls of years under some of 
the best tanks in the Island are brought under 
cultivation by trained boys from Happy Valley, 
we could then say that this institution has been 
of real benefit to the Island. 
RICE CULTIVATION. 
The Madras iVgricultural Department luis pule* 
lished the more interesting aiul useful parts of a 
monograph on rice cultivation in Italy, where, 
though the travelleu.- never exjiocts to see lields of 
waving paddy, a goial deal of attention seems to 
'x' given to tile growth of the crop. 
Rice is supposed to have come out of Orissa, 
and hence its name Or^za Sativa, The earliest 
mention of rice is found in the tragedies of 
Sophtxdes, and it is supposed to have beca ftrst 
introduceil into Europe by tho Creeks of 
AlesamD’ia. The Museum of Agriculture at Home 
is said to contain 317 varieties of rice collected 
from all parts of tlie world. 
There is a good deal in this ituliau moiioginph 
said in praise of vleep plougliing, and among lU 
advantages are mentioned iiKreuse in feeding 
area, destruction of weeds, increase in roteative 
power for water, aud luiuiniisiug of danger from 
drought. It is further statwl that deep ploughing 
increases the outturn by alxjut 9 bushels of paddy 
pet acre^ that is of course where tlie substratuan 
is not of a storile nnturu. 
The section on soils aud uuiuures contains 
much useful matter. Rice is said to 
require soils rich iu potash aud nitrogen, not 
wautiug in phosphoric acid and not rich iu lime. 
It is stated, however, that diSerout varieties affoot 
n^m ripU aud sons compurativtily poor soils. As 
