Jan.. I, 1887.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURltST. 



439 



.ABYSSINIAN ECONOMIC PLANTS. 



Amoug the vegetable articles of diet of the Abys- 

 sinians, the first place is taken by tcff {Foa abysHiinca), 

 A herbaceous plant, whose grains are as small as a 

 pin's head; the meal from this forms the bread in 

 general use. A much inferior black bread used by 

 the poor is made from a kind of millet called toca so 

 (Ehusine Tocusso), frequenting the low grounds. In 

 addition the roasted seed of the flax plant {Linum 

 uifitatissimiim) is somtimes eaten, as it was by the 

 ancient Romans and Greeks. Another admired vege- 

 table is the flower stalk of the local plantain, called 

 enstte (Musa Ensete), the fruit of which is dry and 

 unfit for eating. The stem is cooked with milk and 

 butter. It is cut ■ off just above the rootlets, and 

 about two feet high ; if old, the green outer coat 

 is peeled off till the white interior shows. It is as 

 tender as a well cooked turnip, with a fljvour like 

 the best new bread somewhat underdone. It is an 

 exctUeut dish, nourishing, wholesome, and digestible. 

 From meal cakes a fermented drink called housa is 

 made. 



The coffee grown in Abyssinia is principally sent to 

 Djedda and Upper Egypt; though not of first rate 

 quality, it possesses a special aroma, and is sold at 

 the rate of 16 dollars per canturo of 113 rottoli (say 

 37s per cwt.) 



The women of Gurage make mats of the leaves of 

 the eiisete. The ecca of the Abyssinians, a species 

 of asclepiad, produces a tough fibre, used in making 

 cordage and tissues on the Red Sea littoral. The 

 bark of Calotiopin glgaiifea afford excellent fibre used 

 for various purposes. The tender leaves newly pulled 

 from the stipa of the doum palm are woven into all 

 kinds of matting and basket ware. The powdered 

 seed of a large tiee called berebera {MUettia feiru(/inea) 

 is thrown into the water to stupefy fish and facilitate 

 their capture. The native dress consists of a large 

 folding mantle and close-fitting drawers. The houses 

 are rude conical structures covered with thatch. 



Among the local products figuring in the exports 

 are: — Calves' hides, .salted and sun diied; beeswax, 

 chiefly from Gedaref ; ivory, tamarinds, ostrich 

 feathers, gutta-percha, from Kassala ; gum arable, 

 mother-of-pearl, leopard skins, about 1,000 annually 

 to India ; musk, contained iu bulls' horns, to the 

 number of 200 to 300 a year ; honey, and tobacco, 

 chiefly from Sanaaid. — Journal of the Society of Arts. 



CINNAMON AND PADDY (RICE.) 



Cinnamon peeling is now in full swing, and will bo 

 carried on, w( ather permitting, into the New Year. 

 All planters are now paying special attention to the 

 make of their Cinnamon, which, in spite of improved 

 make, seems to be still leceding iu price. Quarterly 

 sales, which conservative old-stagers authoritatively 

 declared would arrest the downward course of prices, 

 have been resumed ouly to find prices still going 

 down, "With the present prices Cinnamon yields but 

 a narrow margin of profit, and if things do not look up, 

 all excepting those who prepare quills of very fine 

 quality will have to throw up the sponge, or ce.iise 

 manufacturing the coarse qualities of Ciuuaniou like 

 Mr, De yoysa. 



I read with great interest the correspoudeuce relating 

 to the alleged remedy for flies in paddy fields. Hulu- 

 gala llatcmahatuieya too proclaimed liis Kerosiue oil 

 remedy with the .same confidence. It was tried and 

 found wanting. Though I u.'-t'd Kerosine oil, both 

 morning and evening everyday, and failed to stay the 

 plague of flies, yet I was not so unfortunate in its 

 Use as Mr. AVickremesiughe, who asserts that the 

 blade and ear that came in contact with the oil 

 blackened and died. I have not much faith in the 

 Kerosine-aslies cure, especially in the proportion cf the 

 materials and the intervals between application. Kero- 

 fiine oil does not retain its disagreeable smell in 

 situations exposed to wind and rain for so cosider- 

 able a perio 1 as two day^. I will be inclined to 

 have faid) in the efKcacy of the Kerosino-ashes mix- 

 ture, if applied twice a day during the week or 



ttsa da^B that the ^wis arts liardwiiJg. Tlie flies 



continue their ravages from the time the ears are 

 forming till the husks of the paddy are too matured 

 to allow of tlieir being punctured — a period of about 

 ten days. If remedies be applied towards the latter 

 period, when the flies have ceased to be able to do 

 damage, their di.sappea ranee is too readily attributed 

 to the remedies used. Last season, after all remedies 

 had failed and I Ijad resorted to the old practice 

 of catching them by passing a fan-like contrivance 

 smeared with a prepared sticky substance over the 

 ears, it occured to me that by substituting tar for 

 the prepared sticky stuff, I might so taint the ears 

 as to be avoided by flies. The results exceeded my 

 expectations ; but I was not quite certain that the 

 disappearance of flies was due to the tar or to the 

 maturing of the ears, or I might have posed before 

 the public with my "perfect remedy." Through the 

 courtesy of Messrs, Brown & Co. of Celombo, I was 

 favoured with .some carbolic powder for experiment- 

 ing, but it unfortunately reached me after I had 

 established a scare with tar. I shall, however, 

 during next .season give both the carbolic and 

 Kerosine powders a trial and report results. With 

 reference to Mr. Jayawardeue's letter to the Ohstwir 

 anent the attack of caterpillars on the fields under 

 his charge, there is no cause for alarm iu their 

 attacks, I too. at one time had my field attacked 

 by a green caterpilhr on the leaves, and an orange 

 coloured maggot at the heart of the plant. A free 

 application of fresh ashes, or perhaps the " efflusion 

 of time," caused them to cease their ravages, 1 used 

 the ashes of coconut husks, which are particularly 

 rich in potash. I attributed the attack of worms 

 to the stagnant water iu the field, as the attack was 

 during a period of drought when I was chary of 

 letting out the wa*;er in the fields as I had not 

 suthcient to replace it, and it stagnated. — Local" Ex- 

 aminer." 



THE GROUND NUT TRADE OF 

 PONDICHERRY, 

 'J'he export of ground nuts from Pondicherry for 

 the season of 188(5, has nearly come to a close. A 

 steamer is now loading in the roads, and the last for 

 the current year is expected to arrive in a few day.". 

 The shipments up to date amount to 873,302 bags, 

 and the two cargoes yet to be cleared will add about 

 50,000 more to the total, making in all 923,302 bags. 

 At the beginning of the sc^ason we estimated the 

 crop available for export from the districts SPrved by 

 the port of Pondicherry at upwards of a million of 

 bags, and if to the above quantity is added the ship- 

 ments of three cargoes from Cuddaloro, say 85,000 

 bag.", the total number of bags exported will be 1,008,302. 

 A still further addition to this total should also be 

 made for the export in ground nut oil, which, for 

 the nine months ending September 30th, amounted to 

 15,589 ca,sks, and for the whole year will probably 

 reach 17,500 casks, representing in raw material, 

 about 170,000 bags of nuts, Total export crop there- 

 fore may be taken, approximately, at 1,180,000 bags, 

 as compared with 720,000 bags during the correspond- 

 ing period of the previous year, and 850,000 bags iu 

 1884; the increase being equal to 64 and 39 per 

 cent respectively. Twelve years ago, ground nuts, as 

 an article of foreign export, were comparatively ua« 

 known, the small crops produced being eagerly bought 

 up for local consumption. The present trade seems 

 to date from about the year 1875, when 211,170 bag^ 

 were exported ; but the season was quite exceptional ; 

 the crops being unusually heavy, and the home rates 

 very high, and, in the following year, 187b', only 

 72,700 bags were shipped on foreign account. In the 

 next two seasons, 1877 and 1878, succeeding the famine 

 years 187(3 and 1877, the traflHc entirely ceased, the 

 aggregate exports for the two years amounting to 

 ouly 609 bags. But, by this time, the value of the 

 nut had become known, not only in France but also 

 in Italy, Gerniaiiy, and Belgium, and during the two 

 years which followed, large profits were made by all 

 concerned in the trade, owing to the great demand 



iu the coutiueutal iflftvkets, The foUoTYJng atateraeot 



