Vol. XIV. No. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS 



301 



THE MAHUA OR ILLUPEI TREE OP 

 INDIA. 



The mahua, malwa, m iwlia, mowa, or mowra treei t [ndia 



tree throughout the ' 



it Lc, Wesl t loasl and ( 'entral [i dia, tnd Gi 

 ding north as far as ( ludh and Ivnn 

 tn < )rissa, ace I 



at Calcutta. Though found in wild state in many 



parts of [ndia, the value of the How fruit b i msed 



it to be brought undei more oi less cultivation. The 

 mic value of the trei lii in il edible dowers and 

 oil-yielding seeds, although the gum 01 giitta that flow 



iions on the stems show 18"9 



nt. gutta, 38"S j cei resin ■ ■ I I 2'3 per cent. ash. 

 The bark also is used as a dye, while many of the properties 

 of the tree are used to some extent medicinally. The mahua 

 puts forth its leaves from February to April. Cream-coloured 

 flowers appear in great clusters of thirty to fifty near the ends 

 of the branch from March to April. About the end of 

 March the flowers begin to arrive at maturity, and every 



morning il I sunrise the succulent corolla tubes fall in 



bowers to the ground, which has been cleared of grass 

 and underbrush and preparedfor the harvest. This continues 

 to the end of April, but usually the fall from a single tree is 

 complete in seven to ten days. The flowers are then spread out 

 ami left to dry in the sun; in a few days they shrink in size, 

 i in colour to a reddish brown, and their peculiar sweet 



nore apparent. These Mo ri eaten exten- 



while fresh, but generally speaking they are dried 

 thoroughlj ' I with rice and other'grains. Sometimes 



re completely dried and redu 1 to a powder, and in this 



condition are cooked in found cakes and mixed with a variety 

 of foodstuffs. Mahua is extremely sweet, and the ability to 

 eat and digest it must be acquired. Few Europeans are able 

 more that one flowei on i single occasion without 

 * disagi i effects. Sugar and molasses of 



a good quality are also made of mahua. 



Tin u illing these flowers is a very ancient 



For the manui spirits the flowers, when dried, are 



sold to villa Lllers or Government distilleries. The 



! in water for ;i ! " ut four days; they are 



ermented and thereafter distilled. The spirit produced 



has at first a strong, smoky flavour, but age remedies this. 



The seeds of the mahua, which succeed the flower from which 



the spirit is made, me extensively used fur the manufacture 



of mahua butter, which is employed in the adulteration of 



for lubricating and illuminating purposes, and for eating 



by the native people. The method of expression is crude. 



The kernels are taken from the smooth, chestnut-coloured 



i j bruised, rubbed, and subjected to a moderate 



pressure. In the Central Provinces the kernels are pounded, 



d evei il folds of cloth, and the oil thereaftei 



expressed. (Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, July 16, 



1915.) 



DEPARTMENT NEWS. 



The Imperial Commissioner "f Agriculture left 

 Barbados on Augusl 31 b] fchi S s Guiana' for the 

 purpose of making an official to St. Lucia. The 



Commissioner returned toBarbadosby the C.R.M.S. 

 'Caraquet' on September 8. 



MOTOR PLOUGHING IN THE WEST 



INDIES. 



The following no baken from a rei 



published reporl on the Agricultural Experiment 

 Station, St. Croix | D. W. [.); 



The Twin City 10 h. p. gasoline tractor, and the John 

 Deere six bottom engine gang plough with 



dments, mentioned in the last report as having 

 ordered forthe Department ol Agriculture, arrived in A 



ami <i then has been kept in fairly continuous work. 



The machine is hired to planters, who pay for the work done 

 according to the amount of g tsoline and oil used on the j ib. 

 The wages of the men employed on the machim havi 

 be paid by the planter for the days when they are working 

 on his estate, also any shares broken have to be paid for, and 

 a small charge, viz. 5 per rent, of the total cost ol the 



liing, is made for repairs and to allow for ex] 

 during the time when the plough is lying idle. 'I 

 received for ploughing in this way Ins nearly covered the 

 expenses. The total number of acres ploughed to th 

 of June was about 120, and the total rust of this has been 

 about sl.'.iiio. In iii the land was subsoiled as well 



us ploughed for this sum, and where' subsoiling was not dom 

 the plough generally carried a harrow. It must be 

 remembered that periods occurred when the plough was idle 

 for some weeks. During sueii idle time the wages of the 

 driver in charge have continued. All this has been included 

 iii the cost given above. There has been no breakdown of 

 the tractor, but several repairs have had to be made to the 

 ploughs themselves. The hitter are rather too light to: 

 of the work we have to do, and in strong ground shares 

 break rather frequently. It is too early yet to saj what 

 effect the deeper ploughing over that ordinarily practised has 

 had on the cane crop. The machine has been made use ol 

 for cotton planting as well as for cane, and in this case the 

 subsoilers have not been used The ploughing of cotton land 

 to a depth of 7 or 8 inches in fields which are not too short, 



Can be done for |2"50 to $3*00 per acre. 



The Experiment Station Record (Vol. XXXIII, No. Ij 

 refers to a recent article by Professor Mc.Fadyean which is 

 stated to consist of a discussion of the measures which i I 

 to be put in force against tuberculosis, prefaced by a short 

 examination of the evidence l< r and against the view that the 



d is transmissibli to man. The subject is dealt with 



under the headings of transmissibility of bovine tuberculosis 



to man; types of tubercle bacilli; the eradication of bovine 



tuberculosis; measures i essary to safeguard human health 



and measures to be taken against breeding cattle which have 

 n u ted to tuberculin, from the point of view of international 

 trade. 



'Thereis i u I onlj , method by which tuberculosis 



can i radicated fr a herd, namely, that which relies upon 



the systematic use of tubejeulin for diagnosis, and which 

 requires the perm met i non-rea nimak from 



tlio>e which have not been tested or which have re cted. 



