86 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



taining mosquito larvae with a high-tension 

 current had little or no result, but, curiously 

 enough, the intr. cluotion of a low-tension cur- 

 rent had immediate and beneficial results. It 

 must not be assur raed that the work of the "Mos- 

 quito Brigades" t fat have been going up and 

 down the country pouring oil on larvae-troubled 

 waters, has been of no effect, but the good that 

 has resulted has not come from the oil, but 

 from the "water tidiness," to use the word 

 coined by the lecturer, that has ensued as a 

 result of their ministrations. Surgeon-Captain 

 McCabe does not suggest that he has found a 

 complete solution for the difficulty he set out to 

 solve, but he dons claim that with the means at 

 our command the war against the mosquito 

 cannot be betted carried out than on the lines 

 laid down in his paper, namely, (1) the insis- 

 tence upon "water tidiness" and trying to get 

 the Indian to develop this sense; (2) the use of 

 chloride of lime and kerosene, or electricity, in 

 all suitable places, and finally, the intelligent 

 use of allies, that is, the natural foes of the 

 larvae; and for this purpose it may be taken as 

 an axiom that in the world of waters everything 

 bigger eats everything smaller than itself. — 

 M. Matt, June 11, 



INDIGO PRODUCTION IN CEYLON. 



BARON SCEROTTKV'S EXPERIMENTS : 



PROVED SUCCESSFUL. 



Over 100 Per Cent Profit. 



The first manufacture of the Java-Natal 

 Indigo grown at Lagos Estate, Kalutara, be- 

 tween young rubber plants, is now over and the 

 return of dye has exceeded Baron Schrottky's 

 estimate of lb. of Standard Natural Indigo 

 paste per 100 lb. green plant. 



The cost of cutting, transport of the green 

 plant to the factory and of the manufacture 

 thereof, including the chemicals, has been J of 

 the value of the dye turned out, which is sold 

 at 50 cents per lb. Other costs incidental with 

 the marketing of the dye will bring the cost of 

 manufacture to two-fifths of the value of the dye. 



The rubber plants seem to have benefited from 

 the nitrogenous deposits of the inter-grown in- 

 digo, the rubber plants among the indigo stand- 

 ing better than where they are quite free. 



Baron Schrottky's estimate of an annual out- 

 turn of green plant of 32,000 lb. in four cuttings 

 is considered by competent authorities, who 

 have seen the growth at Lagos, not to be an ex- 



cessive one and Baron Schrottky may therefore 

 claim to have proved the statements made in his 

 paper read at the meeting of the Agricultural 

 Board on March 4th last. 



He leaves the island in a tow days. 



Fine Growth of the Indigo Plant. 



Baron Schrottky brought down from Lagos 

 estate a specimen of phenomenal growth of 

 Indigofera Arrecta, a stem 3f inches in 

 circumference, the plant being 9 feet high, after 

 having been cut down twice, sown on October 

 15th, 1911, and cut on June 15th, 1912. It sent 

 to the Ceylon Exhibition. 



A NITROGEN FERTILISER. 



For some time past our American cousins have 

 been making experiments with the object of con- 

 serving nitrogen in a form suitable for fertilis- 

 sing the soil. They claim now to have over- 

 come the difficulty, and some particulars appear 

 in the "Times" supplement of 11th June. 

 The nitrogen is collected from the air by means 

 of electricity, and some process has been found 

 for retaining it, presumably in a solid or liquid 

 state, available for the purpose desired. The 

 product is called Cyanamid, and a company of 

 that name at Montana, U, S. A., is advertised 

 as the manufacturers. For an agricultural 

 country like ours a nitrogen fertiliser would be 

 of immense importance as all plant growth is 

 largely dependent upon the supply of nitrogen 

 in the soil. 



RUBBER IN PORTUGUESE EAST 

 AFRICA. 



In hia report on Portuguese East Africa dur- 

 ing 1911, Mr. Consul Maugham says: u Various 

 indigenous rubber plants occur in certain parts 

 of the Mozambique Province, the collection be- 

 ing principally in the hands of Indians. One 

 British firm has obtained a concession over the 

 extensive forests south of A ngoche, but this is, 

 I believe, the only European undertaking of 

 the kind in active prosecution. The rubber is ex- 

 tracted from various Landolphia vines and is 

 of moderately low grade ; snipped largely to 

 Hamburg, it is worth, perhaps, not more than 

 3s. 6d. to 6s. per lb. Large quantities of Ceara 

 rubber have been planted in the Quilimane dis- 

 trict, and appear to be developing satisfactorily. 

 I rogard it as quite impossible for European as- 

 sociations and individuals to compete for the 

 purchase of indigenous rubber with the Indian 

 trader. Such attempts as have been made have 

 invariably resulted in failure. The collection of 

 the product is thus made by Asiatics, who either 

 dispose of it to European trading firms or ship 

 it direct to Europe on consignment.— H. & C, 

 Mail, June 14. 



