Miscellaneous, 



362 



[April, 1909 



pouring from one bucket to another. 

 Water should then be added in the 

 proportion of six gallons to every gallon 

 of mixture. This emulsion should be 

 sprayed on when the grasshoppers are in 

 the young stage, and preferably when 

 closely massed together. If they reach 

 the flying stage little can be done with 

 the pest. 



S. C— With persistency you will find 

 that you can cultivate vegetables very 

 successfully in the driest districts. 

 Here is a case in point. Mr. Kotalawala, 

 Superintendent of Mudaliyar Jaya- 

 wickrema's Ranakeliya Estate, Tissa- 

 maharama, started vegetable culture 

 last July (one of the hottest and driest 

 months) to the amusement of his 

 neighbours. He now reports that he 

 has been amply rewarded for his care 

 and attention. He got a cluster of eight 

 fruits on one tomato plant. From the 

 same plant fifty fruits have already been 



Kicked, and there are still about one 

 undred young fruits on it. Two 

 creepers of snake gourd gave 144 fruits 

 of good size and are still bearing. Cattle 

 manure, bonedust and ashes were used 

 as fertilizers. 



F.— Liquid manures may be used for to- 

 matoes with good effect. For instance, 

 two parts nitrate of soda, one part dried 

 blood, four parts superphosphate of 

 lime, and three parts kainit ; or half 

 part nitrate of soda, one part guano, 

 and one part superphosphate. Sulphate 

 of ammonia may be substituted lor 

 nitrate of soda and dried blood in the 

 first mixture. Apply one ounce to a 

 gallon of water once a week as soon as 

 the first fruits have set and begun to 

 swell. 



M. D.— The remedy for malaria, in- 

 fluenza, &c. advertised by the Colombo 

 Apothecaries Co. (Andrographis pani- 

 culata) is the Sinhalese hin-binkohomba, 

 a well-known native drug. According 

 to Watt, the roots and leaves act as a 

 febrifuge, stomachic, tonic, alterative 

 and anthelmintic, and are useful in 

 general deblity, dysentery and certain 

 forms of dyspepsia. 



Limb. — Here is what Primrose Mc- 

 Connel has to say on the subject :— 

 "There are several forms of lime before 

 farmers nowadays, and as the result of 

 many experiments and tests we know a 

 good deal more about the relative values 

 and advantages of their use than did 

 our fathers. Jn the olden time it was 

 quite customary to give such an 

 enormous dose of ' lime-shells ' to the 

 land as actually to posion it, and over- 



liming was so common that the text- 

 books of a former generation take up 

 this point and discuss it. Five tons per 

 acre in Scotland at the beginning of a 

 nineteen-year lease was often the rule, 

 and the 'improvement' was expected 

 to last out the lease." We now know 

 that half a ton per acre, at a time, of 

 lime, ground up so as to be dis- 

 tributable in the finest powder, and 

 applied at short intervals, will give 

 better results, aud most lime-works 

 now supply this material ready made. 

 The chemistry of lime, however, always 

 shows that lime in the rock state 

 existed as a carbonate, on burning it 

 became an oxide, while after slaking 

 and mixing with the soil it returned to 

 the carbonate state again, and it 

 occurred to various experimenters that 

 it ought to do as much good without 

 burning if it were reduced to a fine 

 powder. A trial has proved that this 

 is so, and indeed that, if value for value 

 is compared, the best crops are grown by 

 the raw limestone rock powder. The 

 grinding is of course more expensive, 

 and it cannot be ground too fine, but 

 otherwise it is comfortable to handle as 

 compared with burnt lime. 



PLANTERS AND DEPARTMENTS 

 OF AGRICULTURE. 



The value of the work of a Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture depends largely on 

 the intimacy of the lelations between 

 the planters and the scientific officers 

 of the Department. This implies that 

 while officers of the Department must be 

 interested in the work of the planters, 

 the planters in turn must also be in- 

 terested in the work of the Department. 



This latter duty is sometimes im- 

 perfectly recognized, and the feeling 

 may arise that the interests of the 

 planters, so far as the Department is 

 concerned, will be safeguarded with- 

 out much effort on their own part. 



The interest required is not merely 

 that which consists in reading and 

 possibly applying, the suggestions, and 

 the information contained in the 

 reports, etc., which emanate from the 

 Department, but involves also the effort 

 to keep the Departmental observers 

 informed of the various points in the 

 daily round of planting work, so that 

 points of success, as well as points of 

 difficulty, may be correctly appreciated 

 by both sides. 



The ideal condition would probably 

 be reached if the results of reaping 

 each crop were submitted by the 

 planters to the Agricultural Officers 



