Miscellaneous, 



458 



Kapok.— A leaflet on the subject is 

 just about to be issued. In it you will 

 find all the information you want. Do 

 not confuse this with the ordinary spin- 

 ning cottons which are all species of 

 Gossypium, some of which are, owing to 

 their size, called " Tree Cottons." Kapok 

 is botanically Eriodendron anfrac- 

 tuosuni, and has long been grown as a 

 fence plant. The name Kapok is said to 

 be a Malay word, probably introduced 

 by the Dutch. 



A. (J.— Tinospora cordijolia is the 

 Sinhalese Rasa-kinda (Tamil Seenthil). 

 Yes, it is used to some extent iu Euro- 

 pean practice, and applications have 

 been received by me for the leaves for pre- 

 paring the drug. In native medicine it 

 is much used in cases of diabetes. 



B. I J . — The word " pea " is very loosely 

 used. The true pea is Pisum sativum ; 

 but we have "chick-pea" (Cicer 

 arietinum) another name for common or 

 Bengal gram, "pigeon pea" (Cajanus 

 indicus) better known as dball, and so 

 on. The term "beau" is even more 

 incorrectly employed, as in cocoa bean, 

 coffee bean, &c. 



B. — The king orange is not often seen 

 in our local markets, and the pity is 

 that it is not more cultivated to the 

 exclusion of inferior kinds. It has been 

 introduced into the United States where 

 it is very highly thought of. The 

 Americans are getting the best things of 

 the East in Agriculture and Horticulture 

 through their " explorers." 



Breeder,— You are confusing rinder- 

 pest and foot-and-mouth disease. It is 

 better to avoid the term " cattle-plague " 

 which is too general. Comparatively 

 speaking, foot-and-mouth disease is a 

 mild disease compared to rinderpest, 

 which practically does not admit of 

 treatment once an animal is affected, 

 and must be dealt with by preventive 

 measures, chief among which is the 

 process of serum-inoculation. 



S. C— With reference to your enquiry 

 whether there are any wax-excreting 

 palms in Ceylon, and wJiether the 

 Carnauba wax palm of Brazil and that 

 of Colombia could be grown here, Dr. 

 Willis, Director, Royal Botanic Gardens, 

 Peradeniya, reports :— " There are none 

 in Ceylon. The Brazil species inhabit 

 the mountains, and have never so far 

 succeeded iu Ceylon." 



Mrs. H.— The number of hens you ought 

 to allow for each cock-bird to ensure 

 fertilizing of eggs is, according to the 



[May, 1909. 



Government Veterinary Surgeon, six, 

 i.e., with a non-sitting breed such as 

 Minorcas. He also states that a cock- 

 erel may be used foi two years, 



W, D. C. — In reply to your enquiry 

 whether rubber plants should be topped 

 at a certain period, and if so at what age, 

 what height, and what season, the 

 Government Agricultural Chemist kindly 

 furnishes the following reply :—" It is 

 better not to top the trees at all as the 

 heavy heads induced are liable to be 

 broken off by any severe wind." 



D. J. — With reference to your query 

 about a plough suitable for " mud land," 

 with a soft layer about a foot in thick- 

 ness, Messrs. Walker, Sons & Co. report 

 that they have two ploughs that they 

 think might suit, Howard's Cingalese 

 Plough (Pis. 22 50) and Massey's pipe 

 plough (Rs. 17-50). These are intended 

 for furrows 6" to 8" deep, but with some 

 adjustment might suit the purpose. 



S. R. B, — The hairy beans you send 

 are Mucuna prurieas. The seeds need 

 very careful cooking. It is necessary to 

 first boil them two or three times, throw- 

 ing away the water after each boiling. 

 If this is not done they are apt to act as 

 an irritant poison. 



W. D.— In reply to your enquiry 

 whether it is true that several varieties 

 of Durians are found in the Malay 

 Peninsula, some of which are superior 

 to the locally-grown variety, the Curator 

 of the Royal Botanic Gardens, states 

 that the Durian trees at Peradeniya are 

 very variable in their f i uits, varying in 

 size, shape, flavour and quality of pulp. 

 Two trees in the Gardens yield distinctly 

 better fruits than the others, but even 

 these are distinct from each other. The 

 trees also vary in productiveness, some 

 being almost barren, while others are 

 extra prolific. Selection and high culti- 

 vation are carried on to some extent in 

 the Straits, Burma, &c, so that it is 

 quite possible they have better varieties 

 than those in Ceylon. 



P. M. C— The following, as I under- 

 stand, are the questions raised by you : — 

 (1) Is there any relation between the 

 time taken by paddy to come to maturity 

 and the return it gives ? (2) Are there 

 any statistics giving average yield of 

 paddies of different ages ? (3) Is there 

 any relation between " age " and qual- 

 ity ? I would reply to these as follows : 

 (1) There is, as a rule, a definite relation 

 between length of growth and yield, e.g., 

 a 5 or 6 months' variety yields more than 

 a 60 day or 3 month paddy. (2) There 

 are no statistics available, but, accord- 



