August i, 1882.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



165 



To Kemote Worms from Lawns and Pots. — Place a 

 peck of quickliiiie iu thirty gallons of water* stir well up, 

 ard allo\7 it to stand for a few days until it is qnite clear; 

 then water tlie lawn thorouj^hl with the clear lime water. 

 The worms will coaie to the surface wheu they may be 

 swept up and cleared a^^av. Tins is an o'd and useful mode 

 of eradication. — Indian A(/ricidti(rist, [It might be etiicacioug 

 in bringing grub>tothe surface on coftee estates? — Ed, 



Ti Waterproof O.auco. — A cheap and easy laode of 

 rendering calico w,iteiproa^ so as to make it applicable as 

 a temporary substitute for glass as a. covering to frame.s, 

 is by the following process: — Take pale linseed oil 3 pints, 

 sugar of lead 1 oz., and white rosin 4oz.; grind the sugar 

 of lead with a little of the oil, then add the rest and the 

 rosin. Stir the whole well together iu a large iron pot over 

 a gentle fire. Tack the calico loosely on the frame, and 

 apply the mixture while hot with a large brash. — Gardener's 

 Chronicle. 



Liquid Grafting Wax. — This is a very useful ap- 

 plication, and is, perhaps, the most convenient for the 

 purpose of all the mastics used for covering wounds and 

 grafting. It is of the consistency of varnish, and is 

 applied very thiuly with a brush. Care must h" taken 

 got to lay it on thickly, tor the surface hardens so 

 napidly that the alcohol is prevented from evaporating. 

 VII. — Eosin lib., beef tallow loz,, spirits of turpent- 

 ine 1 tablespoonful, alcohol (95 per cent.) Goz. Melt 

 the rosin over a slow fire; when melted, take it off and 

 add the beef tallow, stirring it constantly ; let it cool 

 down somewhat, nii.x the spirits of turpentine little by 

 little with it, and at last the alcohol in the same way. 

 Should the alcohol be added while the mass is too hot, 

 much will be lost by rapid evaporation ; if, on the 

 contrary, it is too cool, it will form a viscid lump, and 

 must be slightly heated again. Stirring briskly is 

 indispensable to mix the ingredients thoroughly. In 

 well-corked bottles it keeps for years. If course of 

 time it becomes too thick, the addition of eonie alcohol 

 will make it liquid again. For this purpose it must 

 always be warmed. It is a good plan to put the 

 bottle containing it in boiling or hot water to accomplish 

 this. — Ibid, 



Tf.a. — The p.eport of the Doom Dooma Tea Com- 

 pany for 18S1 must be a comforting document to the 

 sharehoVlers. It shews a dividend earned and de- 

 clared of \0\ per cent. To those who purchased 

 their shares at par, this is a snug income, and even 

 to those who buy at the present enhanced rate of 

 the shares (13C), it represents a return at the rat's 

 of 7^ per cenl. Tlie report gives evidence of good 

 management in the factory as well as careful control 

 in the office, and given these desiderata, it were 

 strange this Company's career should not be a pro- 

 eperous one. The outturn was 622,665 lb„ being at 

 the rate of 425 1b. per acre of plants in full bear- 

 ing. The cost of this tea iu London, including all 

 Calcutta and London sale charges, and allowing for 

 exchange, was one ebilling and one-eighth of a penny 

 p6r lb., equal to 8 as. 1 pie. This must be consid- 

 ered paiticularly good. The estimate for the piesent 

 year provides tor 676.000 lb., at a cost on the fact- 

 ory of 4'4 aunas per lb. Allowing for exchange, last 

 year's cost 6 aunas per lb., so that the present year 

 promises well. A heavy item, apparently, is the 

 sum of £581-13 9 for directors' fets, but, as this is 

 made up of five per cent, on the sum available for 

 dividend, it is clearly well spent. The system of 

 payiug such fees by a fixed payment per meeting 

 is wrong in principle, while tiiat adopted by this 

 Company is financially found. Perhaps the most, satis- 

 factory item in tlie accounts is that of £870, 

 commission to European ei'taldishment. This item 

 incr- ases the salaries of these gintlemen by no less 

 than 29 6S per cent. This is the true way to make 

 people take an interest in their work, by making in- 

 tereat and duty run on p.vrillel lines. — Indiijo Planters' 

 Gatetie, 



GtcJajttic Bamboo. — Messrs. Skeen & ('o. remind 

 us that the photograph from which an engiavuig 

 was made for the Gardener h Chromrh of the gigantic 

 bamboo at Peradeniya Gardens, was taken by them and 

 was accompanied by Dr. Trimen's graphic description. 

 Messrs. Skeen's indeed is a more complete picture 

 than Jlr. Scoweu's, taking in the whole grou'p and 

 displaying a wealth of \egetation and a glimpse of 

 river scenery seldom equalled even in tropical re- 

 presentations. 



Grafting Wax. — Grafting wax is very much used 

 on the Continent for protecting newly.made grafts 

 instead of the clay and horse droppings formed into a 

 plaster, such as is used in this country. It is also of 

 great service in covering fresh wounds in trees, made 

 either by accident or design, and is a much more 

 cleauly substance, as well as a more neat application, 

 than the ordinary grafting clay. 1 have here lurnislied 

 various formulfe for making the grafting wax or mastic 

 and, as I have used them all at various times, they 

 may ba relied upon to answer the purpose for which 

 they are intended. The first five require to be melted 

 iu an earthen pot over a fire, and to be applied warm 

 but not so hot a3 lo injure the tissue of the bark with 

 which it miy come into contact. I. — Rosin 1 part, 

 yellow wax 1 part. II. — Black pitch 5 parts, rosin 1 

 part, yellow wax, 2 parts. III.— Burgundy pitch lib, 

 black pitch 4ijz., yellow wax 2oz., rosin 2oz., mutton 

 suet 2 drams. IV. — Yellow wax 2 parts, suet 1 part. 

 V. — Black pitch 1 part, yellow wax 1 pait, suet 1 part 

 pounded brick 3 parts. The following has not the 

 inconvenience of requiring to be applied warm, and 

 may be prepared and used without being heated. VI. 

 — Yellow wax lib, turpentine lib. Burgundy pitch 8oz. 

 mutton suet, 4oz Melt all together and mix 

 thoroughly, and leave them to cool. Form the mass 

 into small balls, as it will not stick to the fingers, and 

 use them when opportunity offers. — Indian Ar/ricult- 

 urisL 



Tree.s. — The Cinciyumii Commercial Expains the in- 

 fluence of tree culture ou the atmosphere : 



' ' Forests influence the atmosphere, it says, more pow- 

 erfully by their effect on its general humidity thau in 

 any other way. An evaporation of moisture irom both 

 earth and trees takes place constantly. Theevapor. 

 ation is greater from open soil than from woodland, but 

 the difference is far more ihan made up by what is called 

 'transpiration' of leaves of the trees. This corre- 

 sponds in a degree to the insensible perspiration of 

 animals. Some conclusive experiments have been made 

 with growing pot plaits, going to show that leaves 

 do not absorb moisture, but that, on the contrary, they 

 give it out. Moisture is absorbed through the roots. 

 " The quantity of sensible vapour that is given otf 

 through leaves is iiumeure, amounting to one and a 

 quarter ounce to the squire foot of leaf surface. The 

 world-old metaphor of counting the leaves of the trees 

 has a new significance in the liijht of science. Pains- 

 taking exiieriment has enabled those studying the mat- 

 ter to make an approximate estimate of the com- 

 paiative amounts of vajiour given oft" by earth sur- 

 face and leaf surface. They have calculated thai a 

 square foot of soil sets free about six times as much 

 moisture as a square foot of leaf. The leaf surface is, 

 however, many times greater than the soil surface, so 

 that twice as much evaporation takes place from 

 forests OS from open land. When the wood of the 

 country is cut away, therefore, other things beinf 

 cqu il, two-thirds of the nioistnre-giving material of the 

 atmosphere is gone with it. Hence the long fearful 

 droughts ou luudc bare of trees. ' " — Lumberman's Gazette. 

 [This seems philosophical and we have n ver under- 

 vaiued the influence of trees in a naturally dry and 

 flat country. What we have always denied is that 

 rainfall is lessened by fore t denudation in a hill 

 country naturally moist. — Ed.] 



