Miscellaneous. 



472 



May, 1909. 



village. In the village unlimited liabil- 

 ity is necessary because it is the only 

 pledge upon which capital can be raised. 

 In a town where people draw regular 

 monthly salaries, however, it is pos- 

 sible to raise a share capital, provided 

 the shares can be paid in instalments 

 which do not press heavily on the 

 members. In all other essentials, how- 

 ever, the management of those town 

 societies is the same as that of the 

 village societies. 



A few years ago Sir Daniel Hamilton 

 commenced an experiment amongst the 

 employees of Messrs. Mackinnon Mac- 

 kenzie & Co., and the British India 

 Steam Navigation Company, Ltd., in 

 Calcutta, and I think Sir Daniel will 

 bear me out when I say the Society 

 since its foundation has progressed most 

 satisfactorily. The employees have been 

 able to obtain loans at a reasonable rate 

 of interest, and at the same time substan- 

 tial dividends have been paid to the 

 shareholders. If the success of this 

 society were only better known I am 

 certain that similar societies would be 

 founded in all the larger mercantile 

 offices. 



A Successful Society, 

 "The 'Premier' society (as it is 

 called) was founded on the 1st May, 1905, 

 with a capital of 500 shares of Rs. 100 

 which were taken up by 402 members. 

 The society after crediting 25 per cent, 

 of its profits to a reserve fund, paid a 

 dividend of 5 per cent, in the first 

 year, of 7i per cent, in the second 

 year, and of 10 per cent, in the third 

 year. The desposits amount to nearly 

 Rs. 6,000, on which interest at the rate 

 of 6 per cent, per annum is paid, and 

 loans aggregating Rs, 29,000 were grant- 

 ed to members at the rate of 8 per 

 cent, per annum. Loans are given for 

 the liquidation of old debts at higher 

 rates of interest, for marriage and 

 other l'eligious ceremonies, for house 

 repairs, and many other purposes. 



"There is one important point upon 

 which I have not touched so far. The 

 Societies, as I have described them to 

 you, are small, and in many cases weak, 

 but as the members have become strong 

 by combining, so the societies in Europe 

 have become strong by associating them- 

 selves together for purposes of finance 

 and control. It now remains in India 

 to organize the individual societies into 

 union such as exist in Germany and 

 Austria. This great work is occupying 

 the attention of those interested in the 

 movement at present, and as success has 

 been attained in Europe, so we confi- 

 dently look for success in India- When 

 the societies are thus united, they will 



be in a position to offer security for one 

 auotuer, and so to increase the security 

 of the individual society in tlie eyes of 

 the public, and, consequently, to obtain 

 their capital at a lower rate." — Indian 

 Agriculturist, Vol. XXXIII., No. 12, 

 December, 1908. 



A WEED EATING TROPICAL 

 CREEPER. 



It appears that at last an antidote has 

 bee j found to the noxious weeds which 

 are so frequently the death of certain 

 forms of plant and vegetable life in the 

 East. Specimens of this " wonderful 

 find" have been forwarded to the 

 authorities at Kew Gardens. This plant 

 is a blue flowering creeper botanically 

 known as the Commelina nudiflora 

 tinned, but called " rumput gremah" 

 by the natives of Malayasia and " ge- 

 war-en" by the Javanese. Although the 

 report made at Kew goes to show that 

 this creeper is common throughout the 

 Middle East, it would seem that the 

 managers of estates and plantations 

 have not known of its peculiarly wel- 

 come properties until very recently and 

 accidentally. 



The prolific weed known as "lalang" 

 is the great enemy to rubber growth. 

 It was the accident of observing that 

 where the blue flowered creeper came in 

 contact with the lalang, the latter 

 became much less injurious that induced 

 a planter to send specimens to Kew. 

 It seems that at first one begins to notice 

 that the weeds are becoming less prolific 

 where the creeper is growing among 

 them. This improvement steadily in- 

 creases as time goes on, and it has been 

 found that under the influence of this 

 antidote lalang, which was formerly five 

 or six feet in height, has been reduced to 

 only one or two feet when it starts to 

 flower. 



But the joyful discovery having been 

 made that here was an undoubted set- 

 back to the weedy growth that chokes 

 young rubber and is the bane of the 

 planter's life, the questi ~>n arose : would 

 the antidote itself exercise a prejudicial 

 effect on the rubber? Therefore, the 

 specimens were duly submitted to Kew, 

 and, as stated to our representative, the 

 new creeper is " unlikely to have any 

 harmful effect on young rubber trees." 

 Planters all over the East may therefore 

 take heart of grace and also take this 

 new " medicine." 



In appearance the blue flowered 

 Commelina nudiflora is rather pretty, 

 and, like the weeds which it first checks 

 and then kills, i( grows with astonishing 



