and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.— September, 1912. 248 



THE NEW EXPLOSIVE ERGITE. 



August 31st. 



Dear Sir,- Last month, a letter appeared in 

 your paper signed by " Agricola " re a new ex- 

 plosive " Ergite" to take the place of Dynamite. 



Would you please let me know when "Ergite" 

 will be available in Ceylon, and at what price? 

 -Yours faithfully, PLANTER. 



[On reference to "Agricola" we learn that the 

 new explosive "Ergite " is being patented in all 

 parts of the world, and it is probable that a 

 series of demonstrations will in due course be 

 made in Ceylon. No statement can, at present, 

 be made as to price, but the selling price will 

 compare favourably with that of dynamite and 

 the other high explosives.— A. M. & J. F.] 



"OXALIS VIOLACCA." 



Mr. Kelway Bamber's Report. 

 The Editor, "Ceylon Observer." 

 The Kachcheri, Nuwara E iya, Aug. 19th. 

 Dear Sib,— I am desnvd by the Plant Pests 

 Board, Nuwara Eliya, to forward the accom- 

 panying report, on " Oxalis Violacca " by Mr. 

 Kelway Bamber, for publication in your paper, 

 for the information of those interested in this 

 matter.— I am, &c, 



R. A. G. FESTISG, 

 Assistant Government Agent. 

 Mr. Kelway Bamber's Report. 



I am not aware how Oxalis Violacca origin- 

 ated or where, but it is very prevalent in several 

 C pcountry districts.particularly Elkadu wa.where 

 I have known it for ten years. It has been said 

 to have originated in Hakgala, but I have seen 

 no evidence as to this though it is prevalent in 

 the district. Spraying with Sodium Arsenite, 

 Muriatic acid, Salt solution, &c, have been tried 

 without success, and the employment of poisons 

 is too dangerous to coolies on estates where all 

 the drinking water is from open springs and 

 ravines. An experiment is being tried with fre- 

 quent applications of nitrolin, when the leaves 

 are wet, but no definite result has so iar been 

 obtained. Heavy mulching with grevillea leaves 

 &c„ is particularly successful, and similar thick 

 mulching of infested areas with tea prunings 

 and everything available should be tried. Where 

 only small areas are affected, covering with old 

 manure bags or jute hessian for a week or two, 

 would rot the leaves. A second and third growth 

 could then be allowed for a week or two replac- 

 ing the bags before the new leaves are fully 



developed, and so exhausting the old bulbs 

 and preventing the formation of new ones. 

 The question of including the plant in the 

 Plant Pests Ordinance was considered two or 

 three years ago and was thought inadvisable as 

 the cost of completely eradicating the pest 

 where it is well established would be almost pro- 

 hibitive. It would be difficult to apply for cer- 

 tain districts only. 



It is said by some to cause a heavy loss of crop 

 iu tea, but others again state there is little loss 

 and that only temporary. But while it no doubt 

 temporarily absorbs much of the manure applied 

 to the tea, this is given back again with added 

 humus when the leaves decay, while loss of 

 surface soil is also prevented in very dry dis- 

 tricts ; it dies back during the dry months, but 

 the bulbs are not destroyed. The plant requires 

 a fair amount of air and light and it is therefore 

 less liable to cause trouble on tea estates where 

 the bushes form a dense cover, assisted by green 

 manuring shade trees. As on most well culti - 

 vated estates the bushes are covering the soil 

 more effectually year by year, the risk of the 

 plant spreading is likely to be reduced. It seeds 

 freely, besides forming new bulbs, so it is im- 

 portant to pull tti9 flowers systematically before 

 the seeds can form and ripen. (Signed) M. 

 Kelway Bambeb, Government Chemist, July 

 •25th, J 912. 



ERADICATION OF LALANG. 



By Motor and Steam Ploughs, 

 In his report for 1911 on the British Settle- 

 ment of Malacca the Resident writes : — 



Few complaints of attacks of white ants or 

 the presence of fomes were heard in planting 

 circles. The eradication of lalang areas by 

 various methods, viz., disc harrowing, hoeing or 

 the steam plough is of special interest. As 

 between the disc-harrow and the hoe it is gene- 

 rally accepted that the latter method is the 

 better ; it is slower and more expensive, but the 

 growth of the trees is far more rapid. In some 

 cases both hoeing and harrowing have been 

 successfully employed. Motor-ploughs imported 

 for two estates proved expensive failures and 

 quite unsuited to Malacca conditions, but the 

 steam-ploughs introduced and used on Devon 

 estates have been a great success both on ac- 

 count of the rapidity of the work, and the ex- 

 cellent growth of the young plants. The com- 

 plete extinction of the lalang bugbear is a great 

 achievement and a credit to those who have 

 demonstrated it, 



