Vol. XIV. No. 343. 



TIIK ACKICULTURAL NEWS. 



201 



Finally in addition t<> patois there is a curious 

 i Jai .: ■ > 1 1 . as it is calli I. Jargon speaking 

 can be applied to English as well as to patois. 

 It consists of inserting thi sound of /> with the 

 assonate vowel sound betweei syllables. When 



spoken fast jargon is quite incomprehensible to the 

 ininitiated. An example will explain this best: I gave 

 you three shillings Ap I gay-pay youpon threepet 

 slieepileepings. This extraordinary kind of school-boy 

 'annua.;.- appears to date back a long way, probably 

 i mi,. - of slavery. 



In concluding this note we may briefly but 

 seriously refer to the economic importance of elimi- 

 nating patois as much as possible from the labouring 

 population, for the simple reason that i( renders their 



administrati re difficult, and is a serious obstacle 



bhe advancement of education. 



Ceylon's Coco-nut Trade. 



A very complete account of the coco-nut industry 

 in Ceylon appears in the Tropical Agriculturist for 

 March 1915. According to the latest statistics, the 

 extent of the area m Ceylon cultivated with tea 

 amounts to 409,500 acres valued at £16,000,000; that 

 of rubber to 240,500 acres valued al £12,025,000; 

 whereas the area under coco-nut palm is estimated at 

 800,000 acres, which maj be vahied al £40,000,000. 



A. g I feature about the Ceylon coco-nut industry is 



that it is almost entirely in the hands of the local 

 people. An outstanding feature is also the variety of 

 products of the palm which Ceylon exports. These 

 include, copra from the dried kernels, coco-nut "il from 

 the copra, desiccated nut, poonac or oil cake, and 

 coco-nut fibre and yarn. Copra, however, is the chief 

 product shipped, amounting to nearly 21,000,000 tons 

 ii L914. I'ln article goes on to say that the cost of 

 manufacture of copra is very small and many of the 

 plant' is are against the use of costly machinery in 

 place of the simple and economical process now obtain- 

 ingin Ceylon. Experience in Ceylon is against the 

 use ot elaborate machinery. As regards desiccated 

 nut, it is of interest to point out that Ceylon 

 "•ally monopolizes the world supply of this food 

 product. 



Finally in regard to fibre and yarn it is 

 pointed out that hitherto much of this has been sent 

 to Germanj and that the Secretary of State for the 

 Colonies has suggested the advisability of selling up 

 brush manufactories in Ceylon with a view to supplj 

 ing the British market, which has hitherto been 

 ■Hi, ie,| for b\ the German manufacturer. 



of synthetic dye BIui rge is an almosi indispensable 

 material, and the besl quality has always been that 

 which has been dyed with the natural rather than the 

 s\ nthet ic colour. 1 1 is appan m that in pi 

 ostances indigo planters in India and Ceylon 

 a good opportunity for coming again to the front 

 especially since an effort is being made to get the 

 British Government t< mpulsory the emploj 



men! of the natural product in bhi manufacture o 



serge for the Royal Navy, \ g 1 deal ha- ■: 



appeared in the press concerning natural dye culti 

 vation in England, ami a gleaning dealing with this 

 will be found in this issue. The fact remains tha 

 a sufficiently large supply to have any material influence 



in the present crisis cannot lie forthc ing Iran 



England itself, owing bo the almost complete ah 

 of organization. In the tropics, on the other hand 

 considerable orders lor some kinds of dyes can and 

 have been placed, and one of these might certainly be 

 natural indigo. According to Tropical Life, to repeat 

 what has already been said, blue serge must pass away 

 unless a greater quantity of natural blue dye is to be 

 quickly forthcoming. 



The Dyeing Industry and the Tropics. 



What should he an encouragement to indigo 

 growers is the statement made in the current issue of 

 Tropical Life that the production of blue serge cloth 

 is likely to lie seriously restricted through the scarcity 



Prussic Acid Content of Sorghum. 



The influence of the sod on the prussic acid 

 content of plants is a subject ot' much interest in the 

 West Indies m connexion with cassava. 1'haseolus 

 lunatus (coloured Lima beans) and other plants. The 

 following results i especially par. 1.) are in accordance 

 with those obtained i>\ Brunnich ami Treub. On the 

 other hand, Scurti and Tommasi in Italy found that 

 the addition of nitrates, in the case of beans, reduced 

 the prussic acid content: 



'(I) When sorghum is grown on poor, infertile 

 soil, added nitrogen may slightly increase the amount 

 of hydrocyanic acid in the plant. With a fertile soil 

 and abundant nitrogen this effect may nol be 

 produced. 



(2) During the first three or four weeks of the 

 plant's life the prussic acid is concentrated in the- 

 stalks. Then it rapidly decreases and disappears there, 

 hut apparently persists in the leaves in decreasing 

 percentages until maturity. 



(3) Climate and variety may he more impor- 

 tant factors than soil nitrogen in determining 

 amount of the acid in the plant. 



(4) Complete hydrolysis of the glucosid is 

 obtained by digesting the macerated tissue for two 



hours at 40 to 45 < V 



The paper on which these conclusions are based 

 will be found in the Journal of A gricultura " ■ h 

 for May L915. 



h may he mentioned that an article is appeariug 

 In the forthcoming of the West Indian Hull. 



which deals with the question of prussic acid Po 

 in different strains ofbeans; and ii is shown 



presence of the poison depends on thi I her 



than on the soil. 



