34* 



THE TllOflCAL AGRICULTURIST, 



[NoVEMfifiR i, 1883. 



CoEN" BIeal, as everybody Imows, is the best aud cheap- 

 est feed for fatteuiug all kinds of poultry. The meal should 

 be fed raw oue day, made iuto a stitf dough, aud cooked 

 the uext. Feed every four hours during the day, begiuuiug 

 early and ending late, aud give as much at a time as \viU 

 all be eaten immechately, and uo more. .Season plentifully 

 with .salt as persons do their food, and add a slight sprinkle 

 of cayenne occasionally. These condiments serve a double 

 purpose — that of improving appetite and digestion and the 

 quaUty of flesh for the table. — Rural CaliformKn. 



CoppEU AND Cholera. — Referring to the paper read before 

 the French Academy (as reported in your last issue) on 

 copper as a preservative against cholera, it may be worth 

 while to state that when visiting the great copper mines 

 at Fahlim, in Sweden (probably the oldest aud largest in 

 the world), 1 was informed that cholera had never appeared 

 there, aud that so well was the fact known, that on the last 

 visitation of cholera in Sweden .some memlwrs of the Royal 

 family took up theu- abode in Fahlun to escape the disease. 

 - The atmosphere was there loaded with copper fumes to 

 .such an extent, that not a trace of vegetation was visible 

 on the hills surrounding the town ; so that this really seems 

 to confirm by experience on a large scale the theory alluded to. 

 — Water R. Beowxe. — Nntnre. 



OocoA Cultivation in Ceylox.— Dumbara, Sept. 19th. — 

 The cocoa in (his district is now ijuite au estabU.shed enter- 

 prise, and it may be said of the valley now that where there 

 is coffee, cocoa will be found growing amongst it. Large 

 preparations are now being made in many of our stores for 

 the more general preiiaration of cocoa, which hitherto has 

 been but secondary to coffee. Upon PaUekelly there is a 

 large new clearing planted alternately with cocoa and coffee. 

 Some parts appear almost too closely planted in .some parts 

 of the districts. It would be very interesting now to ob- 

 tain some information regarding the many new kinds of 

 cocoa growing more or le.ss throughout the lower coffee 

 districts. As far as my experience extends, one old variety 

 or species is the only kind in the Island which has inside 

 a white kernel, the others all having rose or purple interiors. 

 Many of these are very much hardier than the original, 

 mdeed most are, but their shells and pods are also much 

 thicker. The great idea here at present is the removal of 

 shade, which is being largely undertaken ; indeed some estates 

 have almost cleared the whole away. As a rule the Dumbara 

 ])lauters have not begun pruning their cocoa, and herein 

 they differ from theii- Kuruncgala friends, who undertake 

 it on nearly all their estates. — Coi: " Local Times." 



Experienced gardeners .and orchardists frequently state 

 that boiUng water, applied with a syringe to oranges, ;uid 

 fruit trees generally, covered with scale and other blights, 

 will remove every trace of the insects without working any 

 injury to the tree. Au instance has just been made known 

 to us in Southern Queeusland, where soapsuds were useil 

 so hot that the person apjilying them had to protect his 

 hands with a cloth whUe he worked the .syringe, .and he has 

 found the remedy effective, and to the tree harmless. A 

 correspondent of the JIark Zune Exjness writes as follows 

 with reference to the effects of hot water on phants: — "I 

 read in some of the papers lately about a Frenchman re- 

 storing the vigour of weakly pot plants by watermg them 

 with water at 140°. It was not with the idea of prov- 

 ing the value of this plan, which I doubted at the time, 

 but to prove the repute<l effects of hot water on insects, 

 that I lately made the following experiment, which has 

 had a rather singular and unexpected result, so far con- 

 firming tlie Frenchman's experience. Some six or seven 

 weeks ago I dipped a narrow-leaved croton in water at about 

 130 ° for about a minute or more, and afterwards set it 

 in its place and waited the result. In twenty-four hours 

 or less every leaf, embryo bud, aud insect was quite dead. 

 I expected the leaves to go, but not the numerous small 

 buds that were showing on the stems. However, aU were 

 killed, and the plant itself .seemed killed to the root for 

 three weeks, when it began to push freely from the old 

 wood all over, but the new leaves were not the leaves of 

 C. aiKji'.stifulins, but of the broad-leaved variegated croton, 

 only much greener and healthier than that variety usually 

 is. The old dead leaves were still on the plan white and 

 bleached, and in this condition several of my neighljours 

 fiaw it and were much struck at the metamorphosis. The 

 true leaves of C. augiistifohus are now coming again at the 

 points of the shoots." — Quecndaitder, 



Rubber in Assam. — The area of Government forests in 

 Assam at the end of the year 1881-82 was 8,011 square 

 miles, made up as follows: — 



Keserved forests... ... 2,066 square miles. 



Protected „ ... ... G59 „ 



Other ,. ... ... 2,799 „ 



Forests beyond revenue 



limits " ... ... 2,487 „ 



The area under plantations at the end of the year was 



1,151 acres, as agaiust 1,107 acres at the end of 1880-81. 



The total area was distributed in the following ijroportion: — 



Caoutchouc plantations... ... 912 acres. 



Teak „ ... ... 170 „ 



Other „ ... ... 31 „ 



Sowings of N.ahor and Ajhar ... 38 „ 



The teak plantations at Kulsi and Indiaiubber at Balipara 

 are reijorteil to be progressing favorably. A very large 

 number of the rubber trees at Balipara are now over feet 

 in height, and by constant care aud attention they have 

 been protected from injury. The licenses given during the 

 year to extract rubber from the district forests, which were 

 sold by auction, realised an income of E26,846. Some of 

 the Ucenses are reported to have realised immense profits, 

 in spite of the competition of foreign rubber, and of the 

 facility vrith which the trees can be tapped in any part and 

 the produce .sold as foreign. Besides the Biilipara plant- 

 ation, there are a number of old rubber trees in the Chand- 

 war reserve on which experimental tappings are to be made 

 to ascertain what amount of juice can be safely extracted, 

 the age at which tapping can be begun, and the effects on 

 a tree of judicious tapping. — Friend oj India. 



CiNCHON.\. — R. AV. Giles (Loudon) sums up his investig- 

 ation in the pharm.acy of cinchonas with the remark that 

 the fluid extracts of the present day possess agreeable 

 astringent properties and are quite acceptable as vegetable 

 tonics, but do not fully exhaust the b.ark. He calls further 

 attention to the very important statement of the late Dr. 

 Pereira that cinchona made its reputation as a febrifuge 

 by the use of a species of cinchona which was not rich in 

 quinia, but which contained a large amount of cinchoua, 

 aud that the preference for quinia is solely due to the mere 

 chance that it hajipened to be the first alkaloid discovered. 

 A Xeii' Jdiii. [Note. — This confirms what we — and, of 

 course, not we aloue — have maintained for many years, that 

 the Vest way to administrate Cinchona is to give what is 

 well-known as the crude cdkulaiilSjOhiaAued by pricipitatingan 

 acidulated decoction of the bark with soda; this pre- 

 cipitate contains pretty nearly every substance of any 

 medicinal activity. In our opinion equal parts of the three 

 b>arks (yellow, jjale aud red) should be taken, aud three 

 percent (of file bark) of concentrated mm-iatic acid; that 

 is, for every one hundred pounds of bai-k take three jjounds 

 of acid aud sufficient water to boil the bark in at least 

 twice. lu regard to Fluid Extracts of Cinchona, however, 

 we do not agree at all with Mr. Giles — knowing as we do 

 from experience in om' works that we are enabled practically 

 to exhaust the bark aud present it in fluid extract form. — 

 Ed. New Idea.] 



SuLPiLATE OF QuiNiA. — The Freuch Secretary of War 

 requires sulphate of quinine to stand the following tests: — 



1. It must be white, uniform and in crj'stals. 



2. Calcined in a platinum crucible it must leave a residue 

 not larger than 1-400. 



3. Heated to 212 ° F. it must not loose more than 12 

 per cent water. 



4. It nmst dissolve completely in 50 parts of water at 

 212 ° F. The solution must be perfectly clear, aud alkaline 

 to red litmus paper. 



5. It must dissolve completely iu SO parts of 85 per 

 cent alcohol at 6U° F. 



6. It nuist dissolve completely in cold acidulated water. 



7. It must not contain either quinidine, sahcine or other 

 extraneous matter. 



8. Its composition must be : — 



Quinine... ... ... ... 76-25 



Sulphuric acid ... ... ... 9'.42 



"Water set free at 212= F. ... ... 12-00 



Water remaining at 212 ° F . . . ... 2-33 



9. Not more thai' 2 per cent of cinchona arc allowed.— 

 Union i'liariiiacetitiijne 1883, 



