ftB, 1, 1886.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 



577 



DESTRUCTION OF RATS [AND GRUBS] WITHOUT 

 INJURING TREES. 



TO THE EDITOE OF TIUE " INDIAN AGBtCULTUHIST." 



Sir, — In a recent issue of the Indian Daily News, 

 " A Florist" asks to know " how to get rid of rats 

 without injuring the tree." 



In reply, I wouKl inform him, through the medium 

 of your journal, of the method which my late father, 

 Baboo Poran Chuiidra Dutta, the then principal 

 flower merchant in British India, adopted successfully. 

 He found in his Ooltadaugha and Soorali plantations 

 in 1870 that rats did considerable damage to the 

 young Australian and country seedlings ; hut he suc- 

 ceeded in keeping them off from plants by simply 

 putting round the root one or two pods of the cow- 

 hage {Mucvnti pn'riens.) The cowhage is a i)od covered 

 with stiff bristles, which, should they touch the hand 

 or skin, cau.^e violent itching. The pod is generally 

 known to Europeans in this country by the name 

 of coic-itcli, which is, I believe, a corruption of its 

 proper name. 



For worms, &c., my father found the following a 

 very effectual remedy : — He took equal parts of fine, 

 well ground chunam and salt, and mixing them 

 well together, used to sprinkle the mixture on the i 

 groimd round the roots of the plants. Having done 

 this, he used to water the plants immediately, which [ 

 caused the powder to sink into the ground, and killed 

 the worms. This was done in all his Belgachia plant- 

 ations, where he kept country seedlings. The worms 

 used to eat the roots, but this remedy stopped their 

 ravages at once. This may also prove effectual in 

 the ca«e of white-ants. 



If " A Florist" wishes to kuow more about manur- j 

 ing, I shall be glad to furnish him with further i 

 imformation. — Hem Ohundra Dctta, Rughoo Nath 

 Ghatterjee'B Street, Malakar's Cottage. 



PBEPAEING INSECTICIDES. 



■\Ve take the following brief directions for mixing 

 various insecticides from a recent pamphlet of the 

 U. S. Bureau of Entomology : 



London Purple. — To 20 lb. flour from i to J lb. 

 is added and well mixed. This is applied by a sifter 

 or blower. With 40 gals, water J to J lb. is mixed 

 for spraying. 



Paris Green.— With 20 lb. flour from J to 1 lb. 

 is mixed and applied by sifting or by a blower. The 

 same amount of the insecticide to 40 gals, water is 

 used as a spray. 



Bisri.l'HiDE OF Carbon. — For use in the ground 

 a quantity is poured or injected among roots that 

 are being injured. Against insects damaging stored 

 grain or museum material a small quantity is used 

 in an air-tight vessel. 



Carbolic Acid.— A solution of one part in 100 of 

 water is used against parasites on domestic animals 

 and in their barns and sheds ; also on the surfaces 

 of plants and among roots in the ground. 



Hklleboue. — The powder is sifted on alone or 

 mixed 1 part to 20 of flour. With 1 gal. of wat^r J 

 lb. id mixed for spraying. 



Kebosenk.— -l/iV/i- EmuUioii: To 1 part milk add 

 2 part.>! kero,«ene, and churn by force pump or other 

 agitator. The butter-like emulsion is diluted ad Uhitum 

 with water. [An easier method is to simply mix I 

 part kerosene with S of milk. — TS,v]—fioap Emdsivn-: 

 III 1 gal. hot water i lb. whale oil soap is dis- 

 solved. This instead of milk is mixed to an emulsion 

 with kerosene in the same manner and proportions 

 as above. 



Pyrethklm; Persian Insect Powder.— Is blown 

 or sifted on dry ; a!so applied in water, 1 gal. to 

 a tablespoonfnl of the powder, wcU stirred and then 

 sprayed. 



Tobacco Decoction. — This is made as strong as 

 possible as a wash or spray to kill insect pests on 

 auiuials and plapts. —Xoilh- H'eftcrn Fanner and 

 Dairyman. 



78 



PREPABATION .OF FIBRE. 



It is interesting to know that the subject of our 

 fibre industries is making considerable progress, and 

 that the machinery now available is likely to work 

 a revolution in this sphere of enterprise before long. 

 Two chief obstacles seemed to stand in tho way of 

 any extp:T:ive utilisation of the Indian fibrous materials, 

 namely: — (1) the want of a proper knowledge of the 

 materials and of the means of their extraction : (2) 

 the high rate of railway freight for the materials. 

 Suice the date of the Calcutta trials Mr. Death (the 

 representative of the London Fibre Company, who 

 hr^ve an interest in the machine) has been successful 

 i 1 bringing the matter under the notice of various 

 firms and land-owners throughout India. To show 

 what is ' ' i^' done, it may be mentioned that in 

 one jute outre in Bengal twenty acres of land under 

 jute will be set aside this year by some of the jute 

 agents who aro stationed there, for the purpose of 

 a grand experiment. Half the produce of this land 

 is to be tested by one of Death & Ellwood's 

 machines, and the other half, by way of comparison, 

 is to be extracted by the common native system of 

 steeping. It the results obtained by the use of the 

 machine are profitable, the following year will probably 

 bring about an important change in the juto industry. 

 Again, the machine was also tried with pine apple 

 fibre and produced very good results. In a certain 

 district in Bengal where the pine apple grows luxuri- 

 antly producing leaves from five to six feet long, 

 the jute agent have made a plantation of 2,000 plants, 

 and are about to try the machine commercially. 



As to the second obstacle to the development of 

 the fibre industries— the high railway freight for 

 fibrous materials destined for paper-makers. The 

 reduction in the railway freight was scarcely effected 

 when the Lucknow and the Owalior mills began to 

 use this grass, as well as munj, which was also brought 

 into commercial use by the change of rates. The 

 Baley Mills used in 1883 (the first year of the 

 reduction of the railway freight) 2,500 maunds of 

 hahui. That was a considerable quantity for the first 

 year, and in the following year, 1884-85, the quautity 

 used rose to 16,500 maunds. But there can be no 

 doubt that Imbui will yet be used to a vastly greater 

 extent than at present; indeed, the use of the grass 

 may be said to have only been begun. As there 

 seems to be some confusion on the subject, it may 

 be well to state that the correct botanical name of 

 this highly important grass is Polleuia criopoda. It 

 grows over largt. tracts of country, and its ixtended 

 use as a paper fibre ought to be a pon-erful stimulus 

 to our paper-making industry. In Euroi)"! this branch 

 of industry is threatened with serious loss, owingto 

 the exhaustion of the supplies of esparto, an'l a'ready 

 the English paper-makers are beginning to turn ,o 

 India in search of a substitute, but if the m»"nfiicture 

 from the new fibres takes root on the spot, as iliere 

 is every reason to expect, we may yet see p. consider- 

 able portion of the trade transferred to this country. — 

 Enylishman. 



ARBOBICULTURAL EXPERIMENTS: 



CASUAaiNA, DIVI-DITI, and EITCALYPTUS. 



In the latest published report of the Agricultural 

 Department a few interesting particulars are given 

 of tho experimental cultivation of casuarina, divi-.livi, 

 eucalyptus, and other productive trees. Although 

 casuarina is known to be a hardy tree and grows on 

 steirile soil, experiments continue to be made at (hi; 

 Sydapet farm, and the worst portions of it have U-in 

 planted out with good results. Between eleven and 

 twelve seres have been uthsod and with little out- 

 lay, a hardy and valuable fuel producing plant is 

 grown. In the newly formed plantations at Sydapet, 

 guinea grass was succesfully grown under shade, ami 

 it has been asrertained that the presence of gnss 

 is not only a<lvantageons to the trees, but that it 

 helps to improve the laud and places a large supjily 

 of fodder at the disposal of the cultivator. On a plot 



