September i, 1882.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



231 



in all the old districts and several of the new. Very 

 easily collected nnd makes an excellent covering. 



Pteris biaurita : tl]is is the most abundant fern in 

 Ceylon, and is found from the sea coast to the highest 

 mountain top. Those having nurseries should know this 

 fern well and the great value it is for shading young 

 plants. To the planter it is of great value in many 

 a way. 



Pteris quadriaurita : this variety ia generally found 

 growing with the former. 



il/ossc'.?.— Hypnum : there are a great many varieties 

 of this moas to be found in the jungles, and all are 

 useful for covering, and often used. 



Spliagnuni : varieties of this moss are found in 

 marshy places and often two feet long. It is much 

 used in England for decorating and packing 



Lycopodum ceruuum, stagshorn moss, badal wanassa 

 of the Sinhalese : this moss is well known for 

 its great beauty and value for decorating churches and 

 ballrooms. 



Lycopodium clavatum, common club moss, badge j 

 of the Siuclairs : common at high elevations, much 

 used in Scotland for decorating. The seed spores are 

 of a strong repulsive power and also highly inflammable. 

 CcrLsics.— Paspalum serobiculatum, ammu, Sinh. : 

 common grass all over the island and eaten by cattle. 

 Fauieum sanguinale : very abundant and one of 

 our common pasture grasses. Cattle are very fond of 

 it. 



Panicum repeus, attora, Sinh : very common, much 

 valued by the Sinhalese as cattle fodder, but trouble 

 some weed on some cofiee estates. This is one of the 

 common grasses sold in C'olomljo. 



Panicum jumeutorum, guinea grass : this grass is 

 well known and when dry makes an excellent cover- 

 ing- 



Panicum barbiuode, Mauritius grass : even this grass 

 in a dried state will be found useful for a covering. 

 Garuotia stricta : good thatching grass, resembl- 

 ing iluk, and found at high eUvations. 



Spodiopogon obliquivalvis, rat-tana, Sinh : common 

 all over the island and extensively sold in Colombo 

 as fodder for horses. 



Autbisteria ciliata, kangaroo grass : this is one of 

 the most abundant and most valuable of our pataua 

 grasses, and when cut and dried is splendid fodder 

 for cattle. Abundant in the patanas of Uva, Dimbula 

 and Kotmale. It is extensively need for covering 

 cinchona trees on the Uva side, and I have seen it 

 used in Dimbula. The worthy Laird of Mattakelle 

 used to cut this grass for cattle fodder some years 

 ago, and his fine hay-ricks have been commended by 



• many. . 



Androjiogon Martini, mana grass ■. this grass is 

 well known and requires few remarks on its use. 



Andropogon venustus : resembling mana grass and 

 fouud at high elevations. 



Andropogon pertusus : abundant in the warmer 

 parts of the island and valuable fodder grass in green 

 or dry state. 



PoUiuia tristacbya : found growing in wet peaty 

 parts on the patanas at high elevations. 



Inipirata arundiuacea, iluk, Sinh. : excellent thatch 

 grass and fouud all over tbe island, generally in stiff 

 ground. Troublesome weed on some coffee estates 

 aid difficult to root out. 



Oryza sativa, rice plant : the indigenous variety. 

 Of varieties in cultivation over India and Ceylon, there 

 are about 200. Paddy straw is well known, and its 

 great value as fodder. In some of of the old distracts 

 it can be got very cheap and is one of the best covering 

 for cinchona trees. 



Musa sapientum, plantain ; the dried leaves and 

 stems of tins phmt are of great value for tying material, 

 and also suit^iblu for covering purposes. 



Cocos uucifera, cQcouut palin : the most valu- 



able commercial tree in the world. The plaited leaves 

 known as cadjans are valuable as a roof coveriuc for 

 houses &c. In covering cinchona trees the work can 

 be done very neatly and last for a long time. I con- 

 sider grass material by far the best cuveriug that can 

 be used : it is certainly superior to sacking or any 

 other manufactured article. 



Its open nature enables the air to pass through 

 freely, thereby creating a more active life in removing 

 the bark. 



No species of tree requires a thick cohesive covering. 

 All we want is a simple shade from the direct rays 

 of the sun. 



In districts where troubled with " white ants," to 

 prevent them from ascending the trees, do not remove 

 he bark within a foot from the ground. — Yours 



OLD BOTANIC BOY. 



CINCHONA BARK ANALYSES. 



July 19th, 1882. 



Dear Sir, — I should have written ere this to 

 acknowledge and thank you for the full and complete 

 informal ion afforded in your issue of llth inst., upon 

 the question of the analysis of cinchona bark, in 

 answer, I presume, to a letter of mine of a former 

 date. Needless to say the question was suggested by 

 a note of your own as to the desirability of district 

 medical officers taking up the work of assayiiio cin- 

 chona bark, but a reference to the process as shewn 

 in the article alluded to would show how extremely 

 diflicult it would be to carry out the details, in ad- 

 dition to one's own proper work in the district. In 

 the works previouijy alluded to by you there are 

 simpler, but perhaps not so accurate, methods alluded 

 to — one of which I have tried — but you have also 

 shown how extremely difficult it is to get reliable 

 analyses, and I question very much whether one from 

 upcountry would, even in time, be relied upon ; and 

 until we know what is to be our position under the 

 proposed alterations as to medical aid in coffee dis- 

 tricts, one would be rash to incur much expenditure 

 upon the matter. — Yours faithfully, ENQUIRER. 



[We learn tliat there is a good deal of difference 

 berweeu a buyer's analysis for manufacturing purpose 

 and an aua'ysis for scientific purposes. The latte 

 shews the contents with almost mathematical accuracy : 

 the former is a much more rough-and-ready process. 

 There can be no great difficulty to overcome, seeing 

 how quickly the art has already been picked up by 

 Ceylon men. — Ed.] 



ON BEES IN THE PLANTING DISTRICTS. 

 [VERY INTERESTING.— Ed.] 



Sir:,— Some one was writing a few months back that 

 all bees had deserted the Dimbula district, but it has 

 been quite the other way within Uva, swarms of 

 bambara having been passing continually seemingly 

 from east to west. 



The reason of there being so many this year is that 

 the nilu, a nice smelling blue flower* thatcoutiiins much 

 honey, has been out in full bloom. The Sinhalese say 

 it only comes out once in six yeiirs; however that may 

 be the bees always seem to turn up with it, tliis be- 

 ing their favourite fond, a proof of which is that the 

 taste of the honey and scent of the nilu is much the 

 same. Seeing so many swarms about I thought to 

 secure some, so had a frame hive made aftir the En^dish 

 p.attern with sliding frames, glass top &c,, and liuding 

 a large swarm in the cofiee under a low rock I 

 took my appu willi me at night and secured the lot 

 in a pair of pyjamas in this way : — First tie up the 

 legs of this article of apparel, then gently put the 

 top part over the bees cl ose up again st the rock, then 



« Strobilanthus. — Eo. 



