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laid. A sheet of iron about a foot square and J inch thick is 

 heated to a good heat, it is then well cleaned with a brush, and 

 the pulp is spread upon it. After four or five minutes the cake 

 is turned and when sufficiently cooked is finally removed. In 

 Mauritius this is called " Manioc Grallette," and is eaten by 

 children in the morning with milk or coffee. The cake is made 

 as follows : — The pulp is prepared as for the " Gralette " and 

 mixed with a little sugar and butter to taste, placed in moulds 

 of three inches square, and one inch thick, and then baked till 

 brown in an oven. There is a factory at Mahebourg, expressly 

 to make Manioc biscuits, and to extract the starch, and I can 

 say that it is in a very prosperous condition ; there is a very 

 large demand for its biscuits. Every sugar estate cultivates 

 large quantities of Manioc for its oxen ; the variety cultivated 

 for this purpose is a very large one, the roots weighing some- 

 times as much as 12 to 151bs. The horses and ponies are also 

 fed with it on many estates. 



Zeea Mays. — I received from Mr. Thos. Christy, of London, 

 five seeds of a mealie which is said to reach over 12 feet in 

 height, and to bear cobs 22 inches in length. These seeds 

 were planted on the 22nd of November, and at the close of the 

 year were 6 feet in height, and looking exceedingly well; every 

 care will be taken of them, and if found to be really an acquisi- 

 tion, seeds will be distributed to applicants when ready. 



Widdringtonia Whytei. — This is the large " Cedar " from 

 Nyassaland, of which we obtained a few seeds some years ago, 

 and subsequently on Mr. Whyte's visit to Natal he kindly gave 

 us a larger quantity. A number of plants have been reared 

 and sent to different parts of the Colony for trial, and in the 

 midlands at any rate, some of the plants have done very well, 

 but with us, though they grow very well in pots or tins, are 

 taken by white ants soon after being put out, and we have lost 

 in this way every one that has been planted. In this connec- 

 tion I give below a recipe for protecting trees from these pests. 

 We have not tried it yet, as I am at a loss to know what to 

 substitute for the " dekamali " gum, an ingredient about which 

 I have at present no information whatever. 



PAINT USED AGAINST WHITE ANTS. 



During a brief visit to the Native State of Grondal, the writer 

 gave this subject considerable attention. There seemed to be 

 no doubt that His Higness the Thakore Sahib, by his enlight- 

 ened action in this matter, had effected a radical improvement. 

 Tlie trees throughout his State were all painted as described, 

 and not a single tree could be found .showing the mud encase- 



