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THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, [September i, 1882. 



no reason why it should be condemned in the whole- 

 sale and sweeping manner it has been. In my belief, 

 officinalis has its proper zone in Ceylon in point of 

 climate and elevation, and when this is found it is a very 

 poor soil that will not grow it with greater or less 

 degree of success. — Yours faithfullj, HYBRID. 



[Not far from Loinoru, we learn, there is an aban- 

 doned plantation once covered with young officinalis 

 plants which failed to grow up : now here is the chance 

 for the wise men of Dikoya to examine and report on 

 the success aud failure : the wherefore and why. — Ed.] 



TuE Castor-oil Plant as a Fly-killer. — Observ- 

 ations made by M. Rafford, a member of the Soci6t6 

 d'Horticulture at Limoges, show that, a castor-oil plant 

 having been placed in a room infested with flies, they 

 disappeared as by enchantment. Wishing to find the 

 cause, he soon found under the castor-oil plant a 

 number of dead Hies, and a large number of bodies 

 had remained clinging to the under-surface of the 

 leaves. It would, therefore, appear that the leaves of 

 the castor-oil plant give out an essential oil, or some 

 toxic principle which possesses very strong insecticide 

 qualities. Castor-oil plants are in France very much 

 used as ornamental plants in rooms, and they resist 

 very well variations of atmosphere and temperature. 

 As the castor-oil plant is very much grown and cultiv- 

 ated in all gardens, the Journal d' Agriculture points 

 out that it would be worth while to dry decoctions of 

 the leaves to destroy the green flies and other insects 

 which in summer are so destructive to plants and fruit- 

 trees. Anyhow, M. Raflord's observations meant that 

 trial should be made of the propei'tiee of the oastor-oil 

 plant both for the destruction of flies in dwellings and 

 of other troublesome insects. — British Medical Journal, 

 [A correspondent, on p. 908 vol. I of the 2'. A., stated 

 that his experience was quite contrary to that given 

 above : he found the castor-oil plant peculiarly sub- 

 ject to the attacks of ins-cts. — Ed.] 



Irrigation Canals in India most people believe 

 th be unmitigated blessings. A writer in the new 

 and ably conducted Indigo Planters' Gazette, is of a 

 different opinion as witness the following extract; — 



"Where ignorance is bliss 'tis folly to be wise" is 

 evidently the motto adopted by the authorities in the 

 Nort-West Provinces and the Punjab, in the manage- 

 ment of their canals. Because canals have succeeded 

 with admirable results in Southern Europe, Egypt, 

 and parts of Madras, it has been argued by the 

 authorities in India that they must, as a natural con- 

 sequence, succeed in the arid plains of the North- 

 West Provinces and tlie Punjab. The west winds 

 howl ; the atmosphere is one of the driest in the 

 world ; the rainfall is partial and light, aud therefore 

 (argue our authorities) all that is wanted to turn the 

 Northern Indian plains from a desert to a garden is 

 a plentiful aujiply of canal water. No heed is taken 

 of the fact that the howling west winds, and the dry 

 atmosphere of these provinces constitute a "sucker" 

 of iresistible power, which, through time, will lay 

 waste the surface of the fields with salts raised by 

 excessive capillary action. The laws of nature are 

 ignored, and the Strachey and Hunterian school of 

 administrators, wiih all the influential newspapers of 

 India aud England at their back, having settled that 

 irrigation is the chief panacea for the evils arising 

 from excessive drought, have covered Northern India 

 with a network of high level canals, which, if they 

 continue to work as they are worked at present, will, 

 before many years are over convert a magnificent wheat- 

 producing country into a saline waste. 

 There can no doubt that the saline efflorescence, loc- 

 ally "reh," is promoted by irrigation aud is a ten-- 

 ible curse. But surely some chemical agent, cheap as 

 well as effective, can be found to counteract it, or 

 convert it into a valuable compound. 



Cinchona vs. Tea.— We wonder that planters in 

 the hill districts of India are not turning their at- 

 tention more than would seem to be the case to 

 cinchona cultivation. There is no reason why, in the 

 Darjeeling district, the present area could not be in- 

 creased a hundred fold, while many parts of the 

 Kangra Valley should be equally suitable in point of 

 climate. In Ceylon they are taking up cinchona in 

 earnest, and there is no reason why we shoxild not do 

 the same. In fact there is every reason why we should. 

 — Indian Tea Gazette. [The success of cinchona in the 

 sheltered valleys below Darjiling has been proved ; 

 but the Kangra Vallev ? We were under the impres- 

 sion that trials in the northern Himalayas bad resulted 

 in entire failure. Tea will stand snow and some frq^t ; 

 cinchona will not. — Ed.] 



TuE Nilgiri Potato Crop. — The coming potato crop 

 promises to be a comparatively good one. There has 

 been considerable extension in the growth of potatoes 

 in the district, but the disease has not yet disap- 

 peared. A disregard in the selection of seed is still 

 apparent, and the gratuitous distribution by Govern- 

 ment has had no preceptible influeuce on the crops ; 

 in fact, we have seen a good deal of diseased seed 

 sent out of the gardens. The market price of Nilgiri 

 potatoes is prohibitive. The finer sorts selling for 2 

 and 2J rupees a maund of twenty-five pounds, while 

 for ordinary kiuds IJ and 1^ rupee are the ruling rates. 

 This scarcity has induced the importation of Bangalore 

 potatoes, which are brovight and sold here for about 

 the same as inferior local sorts, while the quality 

 and flavour are much below. Many places on these 

 hills are admirably adapted for the growth of the 

 potato, which at present is left to a careless class of 

 growers, who do not care to improve the quality or 

 the cropping jjower of the tuber. The demand for 

 Niligiri potato, especially for the Kulhutty, which has 

 long since ceased to be the fine tuber it once was, is 

 great in the plains, and every market day sees return 

 bandies carrying away tons of this food which we can 

 ill spare. — Madras Mail. 



Giant Grass. — Last May, Messrs. Klunder and Co., 

 Soerabaya, wrote to the Madras Government to eay 

 that they had forwarded a copy of instructions for 

 cultivating "giant grass." This letter was communic- 

 ated to the Superintendent, Government Farnis, for 

 remarks. The instructions referred to were, however: 

 not received. The Superintendent reported that he 

 had no personal knowledge of the grass iu question: — 

 "It is not an Asiatic species, but is indigenous in 

 the region of country lying to the west of the Missouri 

 River, United States, %vhere it is found widely spread. 

 Referring to this grass, iu his report for the year 1S70, 

 the United States Commissioner of Agriculture wrote, 

 'The early pioneer, however, has already learned 

 how soon the good native grasses are destroyed by 

 the clipping and treading of domestic animals, and 

 he sees with regret their places immediately occupied. . . 

 Panicum cappiUars, Panicum sanrjuinale, &c., &c., 

 worthless weeds and grasses that occupy the soil to 

 the exculsion of every profitable production.' From 

 this quotation, it would ajjpear that the grass has 

 not a good reputation in the country where it ia 

 indigenous. Of course, it is possible the grass may 

 have since been improved by undergoing special cult- 

 ivation and treatment. I cannot, however, recommend 

 that Government should incur any expense in endea- 

 vouring to introduce the gi'ass. At the same time, 

 it may be worth while to get some seed aud try it 

 here. This I can readily arrange to carry out. I will 

 also write to the Director of Botanical Gardens and 

 plantations, Batavia, Java, with whom I am in corre- 

 spondence and who, I know, will gladly afford any 

 information in bis power about the grass." — Madras 

 Times, 



