222 
SuppUmeni to the “ T ropical Agricultumt." 
[September I iSgt. 
to depth, the plant has superficial roots and can 
adapt itself to a very thin stratum of fertile soil, 
but, (/ it can fcnrl itn rmtu deefier, it will, like (til 
(•credit, t/ive a better crap, (jiencrully the best soil 
is clayey with a nioderale dose of lime, and a 
little silica ami humus ; afterwards follow clayey 
calcareous, then calcareous, and lastly silicioiis, 
but few soils are absolutely unsuited. An iut ercst- 
ing table of nnnly.sia gives the composition of 
paddy, rice, kc., taken from an acre. 
The composition of the 2S'7 cwt. of paddy got 
from the acre was found to be tll'.SIb. of nitrogen, 
IdS o of ash, I f’l of phosphoric acid, 10 of potash 
and .V.‘5 of lirao. The composition of the rice 
(11 cwt.> was lll'oof nitrogen, 17'4 of ash, A’7 of 
phosphoric acid, H'O of potash, 1 'tl of lime. 
With regard to innnures we read : It is usual 
not to give any manure on good soil and in 
succession to meadow for '2 years and for 1 year 
on average soil or in succession to cereals. In any 
case, some manure is spread the third year. This 
however would not answer on poronnial rice- 
fields when there is no rotation. In these, yearly 
manuring is es.sential to maintain the quality of 
the produce constant, and here it is particularly 
advisable to use alternately manures of different 
kinds such that one shall correct the defects of 
another. The manures used in Italy are lupin 
seeds, ro<;t8 of monks’ grass or Mumen paticutia, 
meadow truf when ploughed in, stable manure, 
stable drainage, waste of hemp, flax, &c., ashes of 
various plants, also bones treated with sulphuric 
acid or calciiuul. This Inst is of great value, and 
the siuue is sahl of normal and phosphutic guanos. 
Green crops are also jdoughed in, for which tho.se 
most used are red clovers, rye, vetches, oats, &c. 
Thepractice of alternating rice with other crops 
dates from the time of the introduction of rice into 
Italy, but it has become much more common of 
late years, since it has been found to increase the 
outturn. The principal crops with which rice is 
grown in rotation in Italy are oats, wheat, 
• grasses, maize, flax, clover and various fodder 
plants. 
IVith regard to the question of irrigation we 
arc told that it is imjioasible to establish any 
universal rule as to thequantity of water rotiuired 
as it diqiends upon too many causes, such as 
poro.sity of soil, quality of rice-tlelil, that is 
whether pennanent or in rotation. According 
to the engineer Cantalupi, in Lombardy l'2fl 
cub. feet pur second suffices for about fi4 acres of 
not very iwroua lun<l ; this is equivalent to 1 c. ft. 
per second to 64 acres or •fli c. ft. per second per 
acre. In Verona and ilontova •0k.> and ’048 c. ft. 
])er second are considered sufficient, llerti-richat 
put dowm the quantity required per second jior 
acre generally nt •0146 c. feet, w-hile (Jantoni and 
DeBegis fixed the average (piantity at c. feet 
per second per acre for rice in rotation, and 'Olti 
for permanent Helds. I’aolo Angiolini, another 
engineer, gives '036 c. feet for stiff soil, -071 for less 
stiff soil, uml- 1 4 for very porous land. The Soeiet a 
d'lrrigazione Vercellese, a largo tissociation of pro- 
prietors wdio irrigate their ow’ii lands with 
Govoriimrnt witter consuines on an avernge over 
several thousand acres, 'Oda c. ft. jw-t sec. per 
acre. <fn their clayey lands they use barely 019. 
The sources of supply of irrigation water in 
Italy are;— Gaimls, in 63 per cent of the total area, 
rivers autl streams, iu 24 per cent, springs, in 10 
per cent, artiticiul resorvoris in 2 per cent, and 
lakes and pomls I per cent. 
The water from canals has to be paid for. 
The ])nddy crop in Italy is said to vary from 22 
bushels to ItiO bushels i)cr acre, or an average of 
about 01 bushels for rotation rice-tields and 61 
bushels per acre for {)ermanent rice-tields. 
Thu above resume we think should not only 
jirovo interesting, as it w'ould from merely com- 
]iariug the system of cullivation iu Italy and 
Geylon, but should furnish a fewpracticnl hints us 
regards the (piestion of irrigation, manures, and 
rotation. 
GKNEItAL ITMMS. 
When ono cites exumi)le8 of practices carried 
on iu the West; and advices their adoption in 
the East, the remark is made that “it is all very 
W'ell iu the West, but people of the East will 
never be made to take to it,” or “ the thing is 
not practicable here,” such linve been the cus- 
toms that have mot the proposal that town 
sewage should Ire made use of for agricultural 
purposes iu Eastern towns, asit isiu Western cities. 
Before saying anything further let me (piote 
the following from the Imlinn Agricwlturiet 
of the 18th July: — “The Municipal towns in the 
I’unjab are realizing a steadily growing income 
from the sale of town sweepings and manure. 
From the several annual sanitary reports it is 
to be gathered that the sums realized have in- 
creased from R80,483 iu 1886 to Bl,20,790 
in 1890, and the field must still Ire a romuner- 
ativ’e one; for itis i-eported that iu many places 
a strong prejudice exists on the part of agri- 
culturists against utilizing sewage as a manure. 
The sooner this prejudice di.sappears the better 
for both the municipal coffers and the agricul- 
turist as a common gain must fall to both. At 
Uinritsur, for instance, there was once a pre- 
judice : now practical experience having shown 
the cultivator the value of sewage as a manure, 
there is eagerness to obtain it, and last year the 
Ahmcipality reidized 113,468 from thi.s' source. 
.\t I’e.shawur, too, there i.s a demand, and other 
Muncipalities would do well to create one. In 
this connexion it may bo remarked that the ex- 
portation from the country' of animal bones in 
largo quantities has attracted attention, and an 
endeavour is to be made to restrict this e.xpor- 
tation by' inducing the zemindar to use this 
valuable fertilizing substance which lies at his 
very door in the cultivation of his own land. 
The iSorth liniteh Agriculturist in reviewing 
IV arringtou s Chemistry of the Farm — the text- 
book in agricultural Chemistry for the senior 
class of the School of Agriciilture, says : — “ VVbir- 
ringtous chemistry of the farm is one of the 
most useful and most popular handbooks on 
agricultural science that have been issued, and any 
one who makes himself master of all the facts iu 
this half-crown manual of agricultural chemistry, 
will then have as accumte and complete a know- 
ledge of the scientific principles of agriculture 
as would bo ac((uired by attending a complete 
course of lectures on the subject by many a 
professor iu our universities and colleges. The 
fact that Jl7,CXX) copies of this handbook have 
