\ XIV. No. 331. 



THE AGRK QLTURAL NEWS 



A New Milk Pail. 



In the Indian Truch .1,.,., foi J11I3 28, L914, 

 then is a note on 1 he efficii ncj 1 he small top milk 

 |i a recenl Vmerican invert ion for keeping milk 



from dirt. 



The invention consists of an ordinarj pail fitted 

 with ;i cover with a small appi ire in it on the side 

 furthest from the milker. It is claimed that 97 per 

 cent, ofthe bacteria usually pres< were kepi out when 

 this pail was used in riol parti arlj clean cowsheds. 

 Under better conditions milk drawn into open pails 

 contained six and a half times as many organisms as 

 were found in that in the small top pail. 



It would seem therefore tha this simple appliance 

 1- very effective, but all farmers and milkmen must 

 remi mber thai even the use of such effective appliances 

 does not dispense with the necessity of three essential 

 operations before milking il grooming the cow: (2) 

 washing the udder and teats; (3) washing the hands. 

 It cannot be too strongly emphas zed that ii" invention 

 will render milking a cow with a dirtj udder into a half- 

 washed pail with a filthy pair of hands anything but 

 a crime. 



Carica Papaya The Papaw. 



'This well-known tree has been subjected to ill- 

 merited abuse, described as ugly and everything thai 

 i- disagreeable, ye'1 il may be i.juestioned if there is 

 a more handsome or generally useful tree in [ndian 

 gardens.' 



Fnder this text, in the Agricultural Journal 

 of India, Vol IX. pt. 9,L. B. KulkaSni, ofthe Bombay 

 Agricultural Department, has some interesting notes on 

 methods of propagation, and the advantages ol causing 

 the trees to branch. 



With regard to the firsl he gives details ot experi- 

 ments made in the Botanical Gardens, Poona, which 

 show that vegetative propagation In cuttings and 

 graftings has been successfu achieved. Both of 



these processes \ prove useful when the propagation 



6i some special variety is of imp* rtance. It is doubtful 

 however, as yet, whether they will lie* < >t any special 

 value in the practical cultivate 1 ofthe papaw. 



When a papaw tree grows 1 a considerable height 

 difficulty is 1 xperii nci 'I in looking after and gathering 

 the fruit. The tree too is liable to be broken off by 

 a heavy wind. In view of these drawbacks experiments 

 have been made al the same .aniens to eneourage 

 branching, by the removal ofthe tops of the stems just, 

 before the time of flowering. Not more than four 



branches were allowed to gn though mam 1 v 



started. The result was a syi 'Heal head, producing 



within reach, fruil of uniform size and shape. It was 

 observed also that the branch I trees gave a greater 

 number of fruit than those].! to grow straight up, 

 though the individual fruil aged less in weight. 



Another point made \<\ 1 author, , I the article 



1 fi rod to above, is that accord other experiments 



made al the si 1 gardens, the best results in papaw 



fruit are obtained bj judicious thinning out from the 

 stem of a certain number of frui . In fact any thai are 

 obviously going to be crushed b others, or are going 

 to In the cause ol others becomit . misshaped. 



The Shortage of Medicinal Plants. 



The Board of Agriculture and Fisheries has recent- 

 ly issued a hatht, ,\,i. 288, on the cultivation of 

 medicinal plants in England, pointing oul that the 

 supplies of vegetable drugs much in demand are b 

 to run short on accounl ofthepresenl war, owing to the 

 impossibility of obtaining them from Europe, and 

 giving advice as to the method of cultivation of such 

 medicinal plants as may be possibly grown in England. 

 Among these are threi species of Datura, commonly 

 met with iii the West Indies. The firsl is I). Stramo- 

 nium, thorn apple. The principal use of the drug 

 obtained from this plant is as an ingredienl in burning 

 powders for asthma. It has been chiefly imported 



from Germany and Hungary. The pri< f the dry 



leaves has risen since the outbreak ofthe war from 

 His. to 80«. per cwt. A closely allied species, D. Tatula, 



with purple flowers, is occasionally used i tdicine in 



place of D. Stramoniums The third species, B. Metel, 

 is a valuable source of the alkaloids hyoscine, hyoscya- 

 mine, and atropine. 



The crop is cut when the plants are in flower. 

 The leaves are stripped n ^' and dried as quicklj as 

 possible, usuall} h\ artificial heat. The seed is also a 



c mercial article, but in May limited demand. The 



thorny capsules are gathered when full-grown bul still 

 slightly green. They split, and shed their seed on 

 divine. 



Preservative Treatment of Timber for Estate 



Purposes. 



The Journal <>/ the Board 0/ Agriculture, 

 November 1914, has a note taken from the Quarterly 

 Journal of Forestry for July I!'I4. on experiments 

 undertaken to ascertain whether creasote treatment for 

 preserving timber could be modified or cheapened. 

 1 different lots of timber were t reated with pure creasote, 

 with creasote saponified by the addition of a very small 

 proportion of caustic soda, and with naphthalene. It 

 has been found so far that the addition of even 

 less than \ percent, ofcaustic soda to pure creasoti 

 improves penetration in t he case of timbers which take 

 the preservative with difficulty, and that the saponifi- 

 cation of the creasote makes it possible to dilute the 

 preservatives with water, thus cheapening the process. 

 For the treatment of estate timber l>\ the simple open 

 tank method, saponified diluted creasote would seem to 

 be a cheap and effective process, (loud results were 

 obtained when average creasote was diluted to half its 

 strength. Greater dilution than this was found in- 

 advisable, especially with only partially seasoned timber. 



The advantages of using naphthalene as a preserv- 

 ative arc that green limber can be treated as 

 effectively as seasoned timber, and that the discolora- 

 tion of the timber is less than with creasote. It 

 excellent preservative, bul large quantities are absorbed 

 by most timbers, and at present prices the pi 

 would not be cheaper t han creasol ing. 



