942 
THE TROPICAL AQRICULtURIST. 
[June i, 1892. 
Aooording to my new analyses of sun-dried oow- 
dung cakes every ton of these brattice contained 
in round numbers the following quantitks of tbq 
important plant food constituents. 
Lime . . . . , . 43 lb. 
Nitrogen . . . . 33 „ 
Fotsah . . . • . . 14 „ 
FbospUario acid . , . . 12 „ 
102 „ 
When such a manure is burned as fuel the 
nitrogen which originally in the manure existed as, 
organic matter becomes converted into gaseous | 
products which are either directly absorbed by the 
growing plants or crops in the ueighbonrhood or 
ate carried down by the rain into the soil and re- 
tained for subsequent use as plant food. 
The loss, tborefore, cl nitrogen by the use of cattle 
manure for fuel purposes is by no means as complete 
as is generally supposed to be the ease. 
While the ic/iofe of tbs mineral salts including . 
the valuable lime potash and pbosphorio acid are , 
retained in the ashes which under proper sanitary 
arrangements ought lo be carted out on to the land 
toget^r with the usual house refuse and vegetable 
rubbish always assooiated with domestic dwellings. 
It should be remembered that about 80 per cent 
of the atmosphere consists of free nitrogen, and 
that accoiding to the most recent ecientitiu research 
legumitlDUB plants such as clover, peas, beans, dc., 
have toe property of absorbing nitrogen irom the 
air and so yield large crops of valuable food, as 
well as by virtue of increasod root developement 
iDOtqasiog the nitrogen in the soil, so that not only 
a goQd orop has been obtained but the soil is 
aotually eniiohed and better able to produce other 
crops of a different cbaraatcr. In a smaller degree, 
most orops may be expected to absoib nitrogen 
from the air, to that in tropical climates it may be 
found that niltogeu is of all the important plant 
foods the one which can be pioat easily obtained 
by natural means, and if so Us artificial supply in 
the form of manure may be dispensed with the 
least loss. 
Certainly the custom so general in India of 
burning the stubbles after harvest and so destroying 
the straw left on the fields would tend to confirm 
the view that nitrogen in the form of organic mat- 
ter is not BO much required by the soil of the country 
as might have been supposed, bearing in mind too 
lbs widl-known miohauioal advantages of Jarmyard 
manure ; also its moisture holding prop- vties which 
in a hot country would strike most observers as 
of ipeoial value. 
Again the fact that some 40 to 50 thousand 
tons of bones and bonsmeal are being now 
annually exported to Europe, sti'l further proves 
that there cannot be any great demand of reully 
first-olosa fertilizers in India- Indeed a ccuntry 
wbiota bas produced year by year crops of oern, 
rioa and gram for centuries without sufiering any 
appreciable lose of fertility in tbo soil can probably 
allord to go on for centuries in the same manner. At 
the same time there should be judicious improve- 
ments of existing cusloms and practices, as it would 
be most unreasonable to maintain that no improve- 
ments wore necessary in order to provide for the 
vast and rapidly iDoreaeing population. 
Id the past periodical faminea prevented any 
undue inoreaso of population, but with the eiten- 
aioQ of railways and improved transit, the starving 
people can be readily reached with supplies of rioe, 
so that aided by Ibonghtiul and ent-rgetio adminis- 
tration famines will not prove the terrible scourge 
they did in former times when thousands died in 
eertain parts of that vast continent, while in other 
l^ita there was an abundaut plenty. 
In the discussion which followed the reading of 
the paper Professor Wsllaoe supported the present 
practice of burning cattle manure chiefly on the 
ground of the neoi saity of the ease, pointing out 
that until wood cr coal was provided by the 
authorities the poor natives were not to blame. 
Pur myself I am always inclined to believe that 
local ouetoms are usually the result of sound and 
long established experience, and in the foregoing 
remarks I have ventured to put forth my views in 
support of the present custom by way of explana- 
tion rather than of any now principle or theory. 
JOHN HUOHES. 
[There is this qualifloation. The praotioo of 
burning cow manure ns fuel is defensible because 
there is no wood. Bat why is there no wood 7 
Because the people keep the all-devouring animals, 
goats. These beasts are amongst the most formi- 
dalile enemies of forestry in Ind-a. ■ Rn- T. A-] 
The Madeas AeRi-HoRTioDLTOBAL Society : 
— The Madrat Mail of I4lh M y ys: — 
The Committee of the Agri-Hortionltaral Society 
of Madras recently brought to the notice of the 
Madras Government that for a period of 35 years, 
or from 18.54 to 1889, seeds to the value of K4,nOO 
annually were, by order of Govornraont, purchased 
from the Society hy regiruents serving in this Presi- 
dency, hut that since 1889, in aooordauco with an 
order of Government all indents have been made on 
the Government Botanical Gardens at Ootacamund. 
The result of this has been a serions loss to the 
Society, which was established in 18,S.'> for the pro- 
motion of agriculture and the encoarncement of 
improvements in agriculture generally. The Society 
elamis to be the only body in the Presidency which 
the Government can consult and seek assistance from 
in introducing new plants or improving those indi- 
genous to the coimtry. Sucli advice was, it is urged, 
often asked and always cordially given. The Society 
has also for many years supplied seeds to and prizes 
for the products of soldiers’ gardens, and aided the 
Government in the introduction of Mauritius sugar- 
cane, which now grows in all the sugar-growing 
Districts in this Presidency j and it ostablished a 
nursery for raising and distributing species of timber 
trees, foreign or peculiar to otlier parts of India. 
During tlie American War the Society tested every 
procurable species of cotton, and furnished much 
valuable information to Government as to the com- 
mercial value of the fibre of each and its suitability 
for the climate of Southern India. The Society has also 
been of great aer\-ice in the teaching of botany in the 
Government Medical College, the PresidencyCollego and 
the Ag ioulturai Uo'li ge at 8aidsp,'t. Sp-cimcus of 
p'aots are supplitd griitnitouiily for the Lecture Rooms 
of the rroiessors, and the pnpils regularly visit the 
Sooietv's Cardci s to receive practical lectures on the 
plants growing Iheie. The Society wue <he first body 
III ludia to instilulo a soioDtifio inquiry into the 
natural biatory of coffee borer ami to seek to obtain 
pome remedy for its 'err.b'o ravsg< a which have caused 
such loss to tha planter. Further Dr. Bidie, the then 
rionorary Secretary of the Si oiety, was epleited by 
the Madrna Governmeut to carry out the enquiry into 
the raviiges eommitted by the insect and suggest a 
remedy therefor. His report was published hy the 
Madras Govenment and Dr. Bidie wan thanked for 
the manner in which bo had con noted the enquiry. 
Considering, therefore, the great, and valuable services 
rendered by the Society to the Prechlency generally, 
and the fact that without the Oovorunient snbsidy, 
according to the Committee, the Society cannot exist, 
the Committee reqnested the Madias Government to 
order that the privilege of providing seeds for soldiers' 
gardms should be again restored to the Society. We 
hear DOW that Goceriiment has declined to sanction 
any alteration in the existing procedure under which 
seeds for soldiers’ gardens are now supplied, as the 
present arrangement was sanction! d by the Govern- 
ment of India after niaiure considerafinu, and in view 
to aseimiiate the practice with that obtaining in Bengal 
ftod Bombay. 
