Miscellaneous. 



466 



[May 1908. 



The kind of milk I found to be replac- 

 ing this milk on the market is known as 

 "sterilised milk," and is put up in tins 

 in a similar manner to condensed milk. 

 The " Ideal " is perhaps the most popular, 

 and next to it a brand known as 

 " Dahl's ; the former is a Swiss, and 

 the latter a Norwegian, production, 

 Stone and Sons ' Diamond Reef Brand 

 (also Norwegian) is being largely used in 

 Ceylon. This milk requires no mix- 

 ing, and on merely piercing the tin 

 can be poured out and used as it is. It 

 has no peculiar flavour, and is with diffi- 

 culty distinguished from fresh cow's 

 milk. The price is about the same as 

 for condensed milk, viz., 5d. to 7d- per tin, 

 retail, according to locality. 1 obtained 

 samples of "Ideal "and "Diamond Reef" 

 brands, sold respectively at 6?d. and 

 7jd. per tin in Ceylon, and which I 

 submit for the information of the Depart- 

 ment, thinking that if not already known 

 (I have never seen or heard of it here) 

 these samples may be of interest and 

 use, in view of the stimulus that is being 

 given to the manufacture of tinned milk 

 in Queensland. 



I also saw and made inquiries concern- 

 ing various economic plants and trees 

 that would be of value to this country, 

 among them the coconut palm that 

 comes into bearing in three years from 

 seed. This is to be found in cultivation 

 by the Maharajah Bobille, of Vizaga- 

 patam, but I regret I had neither time 

 nor opportunity to obtain plants or 

 seed.— Queensland Agricultural Journal, 

 Vol. XX., Part 4. April, 1908. 



PRESERVATION OP GREEN COLOUR 

 IS PARTS OF PLANTS EXPOSED 

 TO LIGHT. 



In a paper in the Kew Bulletin, 1908, 

 p. 49, Prof. J. W. H. Trail describes the 

 treatment of parts of plants that are to 

 be exhibited in Museums with acetate of 

 copper. This forms with the green col- 

 ouring matter of the plant a green com- 

 pound which does not fade in light. The 

 method is :— Saturate the volume (say 

 one gallon) of commercial strong acetic 

 acid with acetate of copper, shaking 

 the bottle occasionally until no more 

 will dissolve, some acetic being left at 

 the bottom of the bottle. Pour off the 

 clear solution, and add an equal volume 

 of distilled or very soft water. Of this 

 fluid enough is poured into an open 

 enamelled or earthenware dish to allow 

 the specimens for treatment to be sub- 

 merged in it while it is being boiled over 

 a suitable gas-burner. The specimens 

 may be put at once into the boiling fluid, 



and should be kept sunk in it for periods 

 as stated above, varying with their 

 texture from two minutes to about twen- 

 ty minutes. The fumes of boiling acetic 

 acid are apt to be irritant to the eyes, 

 nose, and throat, and also injure certain 

 metals ; hence it is well, if possible, to 

 boil the specimens in a fume chamber, 

 or in a place where the vapour can 

 readily escape. The specimens should 

 be lifted out with wooden forceps, and 

 if they appear to have been boiled long 

 enough they should be washed for a few 

 minutes in water, and if necessary brush- 

 ed or rubbed to remove deposits on their 

 surfaces. They may then in most cases 

 be prepared at once for permanent pre- 

 servation, either in any of the usual pre- 

 servative fluids, or dried. 



PLANT BREEDING AND TROPICAL 

 AGRICULTURE. 



(Paper read by Mr. R. H. Lock, As- 

 sistant Director, Royal Botanic Gardens, 

 at the Meeting of the Board of Agricul- 

 ture on May 4.) 



It will scarcely be denied that the 

 cultivate! products of temperate cli- 

 mates represent an enormous advance 

 upon the original wild species from 

 which they were derived. In quite a 

 considerable number of cases the change 

 has been so great that we can now no 

 longer recognize for certain the ancestral 

 type from which the improved variety 

 has arisen. The change which these 

 cultivated varieties have undergone has 

 not been fortuitous. It has taken place 

 in every case in a more or less definite 

 direction- the direction, namely, of in- 

 creased utility to the human species. 

 The result has often been a product 

 which may fairly be termed " unna- 

 tural." If we consider, for example, the 

 forms exhibited by some of the culti- 

 vated types of the cabbage species, such 

 as the cauliflower, or swede, we see at 

 once that such a monstrosity could 

 never have arisen under natural condi- 

 tions without man's intervention. The 

 experiment has been tried of leaving a 

 field of wheat to take care of itself. In 

 the second year a fair amount of the 

 crop came up self-sown, but in the third 

 the weeds gained the upper hand, and I 

 believe I am right in saying that in the 

 fourth year not a single plant of wheat 

 survived. The wheat plant is quite 

 unable to hold its own in anything like 

 natural conditions. The crops of tem- 

 perate cultivation, then, are essentially 

 artificial products, and their value to 

 mankind is in direct proportion to the 

 trouble which has been expended in 

 rendering them unnatural. 



