418 



Live Stocki 



(3) In more recent classifications the ' eri moth ' has been relegated to 

 the genus Attacus, which, with its allies the 'Atlas moth' (A. atlas) and the 

 'Tussarsilk Mo^h' (Antherae paphia) is placed in the family Satumiidae (distinct 

 from the family Bombycidae). 



(4) Only moths from large well-developed cocoons should be selected 

 for breeding. 



(5) I have never found Eri moths to lay eggs in regular order. It appears 

 to be their nature to lay them in irregular clumps which project- like small 

 brackets— from the support. 



E. ERNEST GREEN, 



Government EntomAoyist. 



Peradeniya, 20th March, 190(5. 



Pasture Lands in Trincomaiie District. 



By M. M. Subramaniam. 



Mr. Nevill, the late Assistant Government Agent of Trincomaiie, repeatedly 

 urged on the Government the necessity for increased pasturage and for improvement 

 of cattle in general. In the year 1890 in his Administration Report he referred to 

 this subject in the following terms :— " The food of the Tamils of the Trincomaiie 

 district consists largely of milk. The pasture available, however, becomes yearly 

 more and more inadequate, and some means should be adopted to increase the supply 

 of milk and curds." Nearly 1(5 years have rolled by and nothing has been done to 

 supply this want. It will strike even a casual observer that cattle in Trincomaiie 

 have degenerated and one of the chief causes I believe to be the insufficient supply of 

 food. In the town of Trincomaiie I may safely say that there are no pasture lands 

 worth mentioning, though the Local Board of Health and Improvement, Trincomaiie, 

 have year after year sold the right of pasturage in the Garrison and Rifle esplan- 

 ades, and realise sums varying between Rs. 1,000 and Rs. 1,500 per year. A tax of 75 

 cents per head of cattle is levied per quarter, and this can only be viewed as a fiue 

 imposed on cattle owners for allowing their cattle to trespass on Crown lands for, 

 during the greater portion of the year these two maidans remain completely 

 parched, without even a blade of green grass to satisfy the craving appetite of the 

 half-starved cattle. Mr. Nevill proposed to restore the tank at "Tattakai" in the 

 year 1892 with the double object of irrigating the fields in its vicinity and for opening 

 a large pasture land. He was however removed from the station shortly after this, 

 and nothing further was done in this matter. The land between the tank and that 

 road which was euphemistically termed by the late Mr. Birch as "Lovelane" could 

 easily be converted into a large pasture laud. This place is about a mile from the 

 town, and I believe sufficiently moist to make it a successful pasturage. 



Another place, perhaps equally suited as the one above mentioned, is that long 

 tract of low land contiguous to " Nicholson's Cave." The only drawback with regard 

 to this land is its being- military property. Now that the military has almost 

 evacuated Trincomaiie, there should be no difficulty in acquiring that land. 



These are mere suggestions submitted for your consideration, and I doubt 

 not when once it is decided to give us a pasture land, your Committee composed as 

 it is of men of knowledge and experience in these matters, would find no difficulty 

 in hitting upon suitable land and arranging other details connected with the 

 pasturage. 



There is one other matter connected with the town pasturage I wish to draw 

 your attention to, and that is the possibility of opening fine grass plots by private 

 owners of lands in the vicinity of the little tanks in the town. In days of yore there 



