Dec. I, 1885.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



409 



TO EICE FABJIElis. 

 \\ L' are iiulcbtetl to tlic Covenmieut ^Igent for 

 the followiiij;: — 



KKROSINR OtL AS A MEANS OF KKF.riNG OTT 

 n.lKS FUO.M I'ADDY CROPS. 



Kcport by HiiUiijallo Jtatemaliatmnya to the Goveru- 

 iiicut A^'cut, Xortiieru-AVestcrii Province. 

 No. 151.^ 130. UiiluiMlla, 27th Sept. 188.3. 



Sir, — I beg to report th;it korosiue oil is evidently 

 a preventive to keep off flies from paddy crops. 

 Numerous tracts iiave suffered seriously during the 

 current Ya!:i, and otlicrs have been totally abaudoued 

 iji cons<'.|uv*uee of these flies, notwithstanding every 

 conceivable precaution the people appear to have 

 adopted to protect their crops, until I thought of 

 trying the effect of kerosine oil in a tract I have 

 cultivated. Just as the crops began earing, swarms 

 of these flies set in, and knowing that nothing effective 

 had as yet been discovcired, I devised a very simple 

 plan for the application of kerosine oil. Taking a 

 thin rope to the length of the paddy beds, I soaked 

 this iu oil, and getting two men to stand at the 

 two ends of one side of the bed, holding the rope 

 over the crop, I had them to drag it (piickly on 

 over to t!ic other end ; and continued this application 

 that day only iu a few beds, where I noticed the 

 cro[) had fiist commenced earing, and the flies were 

 conseiiuently plentiful, and for fear, moreover, that 

 the oil might perhaps damage the ears. The day 

 following and the ue.xt the flies hatl all disappeared 

 to that part of the tract where I had not tried 

 the expi-rimt'nt, and, so far as I could have judged, 

 be^'oned reach of the sniell cf the oil. 



I subsequently discovered the oil to be perfectly 

 harmless, so far as the tender ears were coucerued, 

 in the manner I had apprehended, and, not being 

 too lato, I repeated the appliacatiou in the remain- 

 ng part tif tlur tract where the crop had now begun 

 earing too. The tract has since been quite free 

 from tlie.s, and the crop, I am glad to report, is 

 doing as well as I could have possibly expected, 



I cumnniuicateil the success I have exj)erienced to 

 many, but I regret to state that this has been rather 

 late, the time for earing having already elapsed, .and 

 the destruction occasioned by flies being now irremedi- 

 able. 



I think this experiment might bo tried in the other 

 districts, also with advantage, where flics are equally 

 destructive; and I have no doubt the people will 

 readily adopt it when they come to be satisfied of 

 the re.''ult I have experienced. — I am &c., 0. G. J. 

 Hui.utiALl..^, KatemaXtatmaya of Wanni Hatpattu. 



O11LOEU.E AS Plant Food. — A German exchange says 

 that chlorine is a very important nutrient for plants. 

 To all appearance the chloride of potassium exceeds 

 the nitrate in nutritive value as long as the quant- 

 ity does not exceed a definite limit. When there 

 is too much of tile chloride, the quantity of chlor- 

 ophyl dicreasesj the plants ripen sooner, but the 

 oxalic acid increases in ciuautity. In fact, it acts just 

 like hydrochljric acid would. — Irulian Merciiiy. 



Dem News. (Traiuilatcd for the Straits Times.)— "Shu 

 approaclrng tobacco crop does not look so well as the 

 preceding one. Such is our answer to inquiries on the 

 subject made by a dealer ui Kurope. The long con- 

 tinued drought at the bcgiuuing of the year, wliereby 

 putting young plants out was prevented and the Uii- 

 ceasing rains iu July and August, have, in a great 

 measure, taken away every bojie of securing a crop as 

 heavy as that of last yc ir. Ou the up country estates 

 in p.irticuhu-, the yield is Dcitber so largo nor of such 

 good quality as was the casein 1S8-1. The plantations 

 opened out in lower lying land have had less to suffer 

 but tlie complaint is gem ral that never before have 

 there been so many worm eal<;D leaves. It is dismal 

 to SCO bow tearful li;ive l)e<?n the ravages of wormson 

 some estate.s. Wh.it these charming creatures have 

 spared iia.s been destroyid by heavy rains anil high 

 winds, lliough it is liacd to make an estimate, it is the 

 general bclii f that the crop will be 20 to 25 jiet cent, 

 eborter tUetu tliat of tbe yvar beloic, 

 52 



THE TAPAW. 



The accounts given by travellers and collectors of 

 the uses and marvellous properties of tlic papaw tree 

 (Carica I'ap.iya) are as well-kuown to students of 

 plant history as is that of the u|ias tree. We have 

 most ;' us read how the application of the juice of 

 the Carica fruit to a piece of tough meat wouKI 

 cause di.sintegr.: i m of the fibres and conscc|ueut 

 tenderness. In his "Natural History of .Tamai.'a," 

 Browne says that meat quickly becomes tender if it 

 is washed in water to which some p:ipaw juice has 

 been added, and if left iu such water for ten niiiiutes 

 it will droj) from the spit while roastiuff, or se|).iraie. 

 into shreds while boiling. It is also said that in 

 Barbados, as well as in other West Indian Islands, 

 it was once the custom to feed pigs on the gri;en 

 fruit; but it was found that if the animals consumed 

 any very large quantity without sulVioient proportion 

 of other food, they not only suffered in health, but 

 death actually followed in some cases from the intensity 

 of the chemical action. 



The Papaw tree is a native of the tropical iiarts 

 of South Ameri"?, but it has become common in 

 many parts of the world. It usually attains to tlic 

 height of about 20 ft., with a stem averaging 12 in. in 

 diameter tapering towards the summit. The leaves 

 are sharply pointed and deeply cut iuto seven large 

 lobes. The margins arc irregularly wavetl or gashed. 

 They often measure as much .as 2 ft. iu diameter, and- 

 are borne on long foot stalks. The fiower.s, which are 

 small, arc borne in racemes which start from the 

 bases of the leaf stalks. Ihe sexes are on different 

 trees. The fruits vary in sliape and size, but are 

 more or less ovoid, sometimes ribbed or lobeil and 

 from G iu. to 10 in. in diameter. They are orange-yellow 

 in colour when ripe, and consist of a thick lleshv 

 mass, with numerous black seeds in the centre. 



The Pap.aw tree is often seen in cultivation in this 

 country, and some good-sized plants are iu the 

 national collection at Kew. Owing, however, to Wny 

 interest that has of late sprung up. not only with 

 us but also on the Oontineut, regarding its clieniical 

 action, a great demand has arisen for t he plants. In 

 Brazil the tree is scarcely cultivated, or with but 

 very little care, its continued planting being .self- 

 effected, not by shoots, but by seeds falling to the 

 ground and germinating. Seeds often get sown by 

 the use of the fruit as manure, or by the agency of 

 birds, and trees thus rise up. The tender young 

 pl.ants brave all weathers, and are very tenacious of 

 hfe, are not eaten by animals, and, after growing to 

 a height of about ten inches, few vicissitudes afl^cct 

 their qiuck growth, which is even more rapid than 

 that of the banana. One writer says : — 



The improved variety called " Mamao melao," which 

 yields a fruit as large as a pumpkin, is treated with 

 somewhaf more care, and its management may even 

 be called cultivation. The seeds are i)lantcd together 

 with the flesh of the fruit, in a light .soil, not too 

 moist, an<l containing abuudnncc of organic matter. 

 If they be planted without the flesh of the fruit, 

 only trees that yield the original fruit of the uncultiv- 

 ated kind are obtained. I had <loubts respecting 

 this, but have satisfied mysinf of its correctness by 

 numerous cxjieriments. 'When the plants arc about 

 three or four inches high, they are transplanted, and 

 for this a lighter soil is selected, which is not too 

 shady, and too nmch watering nmst be avoided ; this • 

 is usually left to the weather. After fourteen or 

 eighteen mon*,hs the tree-like plants bear fruit throush 

 the entire year without cessation. After four or live 

 years of this fruit-bearing existence the top commences 

 to decay, and it ilics from above downwards, Ihe 

 stem being eventually conqiletely destroyed by the 

 wind, if not in-eviuu.sly ninovid by man. 



This fruit, like the luiiiana, is culleclcd in the full- 

 grown, but still green, condition, .';o .ns l.o ripen 

 in the house. If perfc^ctly rim: wlu-n taken from 

 the trci^, the flesh, especially in Ihe neighbourho.. I 

 of the skin, is bitter; nrorcover the ripe fruit is 

 ditliiadt to secure against destruction by birds. — I .V. I , 



