October i, 1885,3 THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



247 



[A geologist answers the above euquiry as follows : | 

 — "Iron pyrites ( Fe S.;) 13 a sulpliuret or sulijhiile 

 of iron, consisting of one equivalent of iron and 

 two of sulphur. The metal is oxidised and dissolved 

 by boiling with concentrated nitric acid, the sul- 

 phur separating and rising to the surface of the 

 solution in grey flakes and eventually fusing into 

 yellow globules. A portion of the sulphur thus , 

 separated becomes oxidised and forms sulphuric acid. ; 

 In making the sulphuric acid of commerce, there 

 may be some simpler method of reducing and utiliz- ( 

 ing the pyrites. Mr. Cochran would no doubt be 

 able to give you reliable information on the sub- 

 ject, being a practical chemist." The position of a | 

 country in the ranks of civilization being fixed by its j 

 consumption of sulphuric aoid, according to a well- 

 known saying, a simple method of manufacturing ' 

 the article in Ceylon would indeed be advantageous ; 

 but we fear this is out of the question aud that 

 the process is complicated and expensive. — Kd.] 



KOSE CULTIVATION IN CEYLON. 



Down South, 17th August 1885. 



Dear Sir,— I read with cousiderabli; interest Mr. 

 Whyte's letters which appeared in your issues regarding 

 the cultivation and growth of roses in this island, and I 

 am sure that your readers will agree with me, that, he 

 deserves our thanks for the valuable information con- 

 tained in them. 



If you will oblige me by referring to your vol. I of 

 the Tropical Agriculturist you will find that I started the 

 inquiry on this iuteresting branch of tloral-culture and 

 sought in vain for some time for reliahle information. 

 Having been obliged, since then, to work " on my own 

 bottom" so to speak, I have myself acquired experience 

 on the subject and can now with better confidence 

 proceed with the cultivation and growth of roses. 



Your readers will observe, that Mr. Whyte's letters are 

 however silent regarding the preliminary steps to be 

 taken in the cultivation of the '' Queen of Flowers." In 

 the first place I should like to know, whether it is 

 possible to propagate rose plants from its seed ? Second- 

 ly in the use of slips (which we have now recourse to) 

 for planting, what is the nature of the slip and the 

 mirsery soil required to receive it, to make it grow? I 

 quite agree with Mr. Whyte that cabook soil with an 

 admixture of old farmyard manure is the best suited 

 to make roses grow ; but we cannot dispense with the 

 preliminaries if we wish to ensure success, I believe 

 it is well-known that a layer of bits of charcoal spread 

 over the surface soil of the tree, considerably improves 

 the colour and the fragrance of the flower.— Y'ours 

 faithfully, TEA-KOSE. 



The Nelli Frvit, — A correspondent of the "Jaffna 

 P,itrict " writes : — 



"Nelukay. — Thin fruit is so delicious when properly pre- 

 served in syrup is the largest of the species to be found In 

 Oeylon and also numerous in the Provmce. A frioud has 

 •ent me a bottle of these very nicely prepared and candied, 

 Do pleaee ask the Committee to send a few jars of these 

 to the exhibit. And if there be not a large demand for 

 the fruit English taste must be very hard to please." 

 The nelli of the Sinhalese (ndlikay is, of course, 

 Tamil) is one of the two trees most common on 

 our patauas, the kahataijiiha being the otliPr, The 

 foliage is somewhat like that of the tamarind. 

 It is Phi/llanthun pmhlica of the botauists, aud 

 children are very fund of the neUi-rinli a fruit 

 like a groin plum, sub-acid. Wood duralde under 

 water and used for well work ; also for agricultural 

 implements, building and furnitnre. Bark used 

 for tanning and in medicine ; chips of wood said 

 to clear muddy water. Fruit is the F,mblio Myro- 

 balan and is used as medicine and for dyeing, 

 tanning and food and preserves. The Nelli is often 

 cultivated for its fruit. 



Tea in Mauritius. — The Secretary of the 

 Mauritius Societc d' Acclimatation writes to us : — 

 " I am requested to tender to you the best thanks 

 of the Society for your valuable information respect- 

 ing the diflferent kind of tea-leaves, samples of which 

 were forwarded to you with the request to indicate 

 the species to which they belong." 



Tea Statistics. — We call attention to the letter 

 of our correspondent ' C. W. H." analysing the 

 returns of certain Indian Tea Companies. It is 

 especially instructive to note the cnuiparison between 

 two i-ets of three representative Companies : in the 

 one case an average yield of 452 lb. per acre is con- 

 trasted with an average sale price of Is 0'33d ; in 

 the other the average yield is down to 277 lb. and 

 the Bale price up to Is 4'21d. "C.W.H." like 

 most of us counting on a yieKl of 4U0 lb. per acre 

 from average Ceylon tea estates, does not see why 

 our tea should not be laid down in London at Sd 

 per lb. But, how about the low averages worked out 

 by Mr, Kutherford 'f we are inclined to ask " C, 

 W. H. " and others. 



Artesian Wells in Madras. — In December 1884 the 

 Madras Government made an engagement with M. Cornet 

 for the sinking of an artesian well in or uear Madras. 

 The depth of this well was estimated at 393 feet, aud 

 the cost at K 15,000. Upon the recommendation of Dr. 

 King, of the Geological Survey, who selected the People's 

 Park, as the be^t spot for an artesian well, borings were 

 commenced in March last, and after reaching a depth of 

 58 feet, granit rock was met which was found very hard 

 and difficult to bore through. In order to ascertain 

 whether this granite was merely a detached boulder or 

 part of the strata of the earth in the locality, trial 

 borings withiu a diameter of ,50 feet were made, but 

 they all showed that the same granite was to be met 

 with. The boring operations in the Park were accord- 

 ingly abandoned, aud the result of the search of the 

 country around indicated that a stratum of granite ex- 

 isted for two miles north of the Fort and some miles in 

 land. This being the case, the Government has stopped 

 the oi)erations for the present, pending a selection of 

 some other site by Dr. King. — Mailras Mail. 



So.'UE CuRiors Facts about Er:e are brought to 

 our notice by a Colombo merchant who has, in his 

 day, bought Chittagoug rice at Rl.] per bat; (equal to 

 40 cents per bushel of paddy). He knows of no 

 rfason why it should not be sold as cheaply now, 

 from Burmi and Bengal, considering the greater 

 facilities for transport to counterbalance the rise in 

 wages. How then has the price so greatly advanced ? 

 Simp'y through the influence of rxrha'iiijp.. A great 

 part of the Indian and Burma crops is shipped 

 to Europe and the competition for produce is keen. 

 Nevertheless, at this moment rice is rep rted to bo 

 4j per bushel in England while it is R3'50 iu Colom- 

 bo ! NiLepence a bushel used to be the price of 

 paddy in Saharagamuwa and other planting disti lets 

 at a time when the native crops were far less plenti. 

 ful thun at f resent and before Sir Wm. Gregory, ,Sir 

 Herculeo Robins n or even Sir Henry Ward had 

 begun to spend Urge sums on Irrigaiion V^'orks, 

 How different th' market price now, through the 

 increased dr 'and caused by tho planting enterprise 

 (lud the irflncnca of cheap silver, -and yet, not' 

 with.slanding all that hai been said, done and spent, 

 hov/ little impression h.TS the local productioli made 

 on the local market, The reply has often been, 

 that the apathy of the .Sinhalese in t Mending orcven 

 keeping U|i paddy cultivation is owing to ilio hmd- 

 tax or rent on paddy ; quite forgett iig that the 

 Customs levy on inipoi ted grain is even heavier in 

 )iroportion and is therefore prote.tive of the local 

 rice- L'i owe? s. Never in fact was an industry so 

 fostered, aided and encouraged b^' a Government as 

 the Ceylon paddy-growing enteiprise and yet s mie- 

 kow it does not result iu mucb progress looked 

 ot »s a tvboli). 



