Miscellaneous. 



60 



[January, 1910- 



pure well dried papaine at Rs. 5 per 

 pound, if up to their analysis. 



The Government Agricultural Chemist 

 reports as follows on a sample of Su- 

 matra tobacco grown in Jaffna by Mr. 

 V. M. Muttukumaru : — " The leaves have 

 ^ good sweet and mild aroma, and are 

 of a good size and fairly uniform colour. 

 The texture, however, is far too brittle, 

 breaking at the slightest touch, which 

 renders them unfit for wrappers. Some 

 also have several holes in them, ap- 

 parently the result of insect attack, 

 and this again renders them useless for 

 the above purpose. These defects, and 

 the coarseness of the midrib, could no 

 doubt be remedied by cultivation and 

 better methods of drying and fermen- 

 tation ; but in its present form the 

 tobacco cannot compare with the wrap- 

 per leaf of Sumatra, except perhaps as 

 to the aroma." 



Samples of soil taken in the Batti- 

 caloa District have been forwarded to 

 the Government Agricultural Chemist, 

 at his request, and his report is awaited. 



Mr. E. E. Green, Government Entomo- 

 logist, reporting on specimens of root- 

 galls on a Cucurbit, says: — "I have 

 examined the specimens of nodular roots 

 of the Cucurbit, and find that they are 

 the result of infection by the ' root-gall 

 woi'm' (Heterodera radicicola). It will 

 be advisable to give this land a heavy 

 dressing of lime and leave it fallow for 

 several months, or to plant it with 

 some product that does not attract the 

 nematode. An application of vaporite 

 would probably act more quickly than 

 the lime and permit of recultivation 

 after a shorter interval. In any case, 

 a rotation of crops would be advisable 

 before replanting with any cucurbit." 

 In this connection it may be mentioned 

 that Mr. Green's recommendation of 

 vaporite for termites has proved useful 

 in the Balangoda district, whence the 

 following report comes : " The vaporite 

 has done much good in the way of 

 ridding us of the white ant in our vege- 

 table beds, and a further supply of it 

 would be most welcome." 



With reference to the query raised 

 as to the value of iron sulphate as a 

 weed eradicator in paddy cultivation, 

 the Government Agricultural Chemist 

 writes : — " Spraying with sulphate of 

 iron has long been known as a good 

 means of destroying weeds, especially 

 charlock in grain crops. The reason 

 given for its non-injury to the groov- 

 ing corn is no doubt correct, and if 

 the paddy has the same waxy covering, 

 experiments might well be tried with 

 air prospect of success, as the cost of 



sulphate of iron is small. A 20 per 

 cent, solution at 100 or 120 gallons per 

 acre is the quantity recommended. The 

 following precautions are necessary : — 

 (1) To spray in fair weather, when the 

 water is off the fields ; (2) to cover 

 the leaves of the weeds as completely 

 as possible. 



" One of the main reasons why broad- 

 cast paddy yields less per acre than 

 transplanted paddy is that the weeds 

 have a greater start over the paddy, 

 and the irregularity of the latter makes 

 weeding more difficult, if not impossible. 

 Spraying would therefore be of con- 

 siderable advantage, but would not tend 

 to encourage transplanting, which is 

 evidently the best method of cultivating 

 paddy. There should be no difficulty as 

 regards water, but only hand machines 

 could be employed," 



In August Mr. R. Paramananda report- 

 ed that he sustains considerable loss 

 through a disease called " Karuthandu," 

 which attacks tobacco in the Trincomalee 

 District, He states that the disease 

 begins in the nursery and shows itself 

 in different ways when transplanted. In 

 some cases blisters first appear on the 

 leaves, and later on the stems, after 

 which the tree begins to decay. In othei 

 cases the disease seems to start from 

 the roots. The following; is the Govern- 

 ment Entomologist's opinion and recom- 

 mendation on this report: — "Prom the 

 symptoms described in the letter of your 

 correspondent, it is evident that more 

 than one disease has been confused under 

 the name of ' Karuthandu.' Specimens 

 should be submitted for determination. 

 To expel subterraneous insects and 

 worms mix vaporite with the soil before 

 making up the nursery beds or putting 

 out the plants. It should be applied at 

 the rate of l£oz. per square yard, and 

 well mixed with the soil some three 

 or four days before planting. The most 

 serious disease of tobacco in Ceylon is 

 the stem-borer (described and figured 

 in the Tropical Agriculturist for March, 

 1909, p. 177). The only treatment for 

 this is to pull up and burn all the 

 affected plants." 



TheSecetary, Wellaboda Pattu Branch, 

 forwarded a specimen of diseased ban- 

 dakka (Hibiscus esculentus), upon which 

 the Government Entomologist reported 

 as follows: — The plant, as received, was 

 very much withered. The ends of the 

 branches appeared to be dead, and some 

 of them had died back to the main stem. 

 On splitting open the dead branches, a 

 small irregular tunnel was found run- 

 ning down the pith. In one such tun- 

 nel the living larva of a moth (probably 

 a pyralid) was found, This boring 



