May, 1910,1 



452 



Miscellaneous 



greater part of a month to carry out a 

 programme of work for the cultivators 

 of that district. The Assistant Govern- 

 ment Agent was himself present at some 

 of the centres where demonstrations 

 were held, and as a result of the personal 

 interest he showed in the work, there 

 has been considerable activity and 

 enthusiasm in the localities visited by 

 the Instructor. 



Mr. Molegode held several ploughing 

 demonstrations in the Matale District, 

 but owing to the very dry season, coup- 

 led with the indifference of the headmen, 

 the results were not very satisfactory. 



A Sivagiri plough has been for warded 

 to Mr. Chelliah for use in the Northern 

 Province, and a duplicate set of the im- 

 plements received from the Koilpati 

 Farm will follow. Mr. Chelliah is about 

 to begin a series of ploughing demonstra- 

 tions in the Eastern Province with the 

 approval of the Government Agent, and 

 has also furnished himself with one of 

 Mr. Lefroy's bags for capturing paddy 

 flies, so that he may be in a position to 

 go to the assistance of cultivators 

 whose crops are being damaged by this 

 pest. Mr. Valoopillay, referring to Mr. 

 Chelliah's demonstration in the working 

 of the bag at Anuradhapura, writes : 

 " I am of opinion that this treatment 

 will be effective and shall give it a good 

 trial when the plague comes on again, 

 probably in March, and report results.'' 



The difficulty in threshing paddy 

 experienced after the recent outbreak 

 of rinderpest in the south and east of 

 the Island pointed to the necessity of 

 some suitable appliance for this purpose 

 being introduced to the notice of culti- 

 vators. A local firm has imported two 

 machines of moderate price, one for hand 

 work and the^other for bullock power, 

 which appear likely to suit local require- 

 ments. These have already had a private 

 trial, and it is intended to shortly give 

 members of the Society an opportunity of 

 seeing them worked. On its capacity 

 being tested the hand machine proved 

 that it could do more than twice as 

 much with the same number of hands 

 required to control seven animals. The 

 machine adapted for a pair of bullocks 

 or buffaloes promises still greater 

 possibilities. 



Orchella Weed (Rocella Montagnei). — 

 In November, 1908, attention was 

 directed to this lichen in a letter from 

 Professor Dunstan, Director of the 

 Imperial Institute, Loudon, to the Hon. 

 the Colonial Secretary, in which it was 

 stated that there was a considerable 

 shortage of the product in the English 

 market, and in consequence manu- 



facturers were unable to obtain supplies. 

 It was added that consignments of good 

 quality were likely to fetch £12 per ton 

 and over c.i.f. London, and the hope 

 expressed that it would be possibld to 

 revive the trade in the dye stuff, which 

 at one time was a large export from 

 Ceylon. A copy of this letter having 

 been transmitted to the Society by the 

 Secretary of the Ceylon Planters ' Asso- 

 ciation, inquiries were set on foot, and 

 after a good deal of correspondence, an 

 order for 5 tons at the pi ice quoted 

 above was placed by a London firm, 

 acting through the Imperial Institute, 

 with Mr. M. C. Abdul Cader of Jaffna. 

 A consignment consisting of 96 bags was 

 duly despatched through the Society at 

 the eud of last year. The actual weight 

 of the orchella weed was 87 cwt., the 

 shortage being due to a miscalculation 

 discovered at the last moment when 

 there was no time to make up the defi- 

 ciency. For the information of in- 

 terested parties the details of the trans- 

 action are given below : — 



Cwt. qr. lb. 



Ninety-six bags of orchella 



weed, gross weight ... 90 2 7 

 Less tare and draft ... 3 1 20 



87 15 



£ s.d. £ s. d. 

 At £12 per cwt. ... 52 5 7 

 Less discount ... 16 2 



50 19 5 



Rs, c. 



At Is. 4 3/16d. ... — 755 70 



Cost of boat hire 

 from Jaffna ... 72 



Freight to Lon- 

 don, Rs. 137-98 ; 

 shipping char- 

 ges Rs. 43-84 ... 181 82 



253 82 



501 88 



This amount (Rs. 501*88) was duly re- 

 mitted to Mr. Cader, who, however, 

 reports that he is not satisfied with the 

 results of the transaction. 



Sericulture. — A further communication 

 has come from Europe with reference to 

 Eri cocoons, embodying definite pro- 

 posals of a business-like nature. Any 

 member interested in this matter could 

 get information regarding the proposal 

 on applying to the Secretary. 



The Society has now secured a cocoon 

 cleaning and a spinning apparatus, and 

 is about to entrust them to the teacher 

 of Mediwake school, who has shown 

 special aptitude for working such 

 machines. 



