Jan. 1907.] 



43 Miscellaneous. 

 Lessons in Elementary Botany. VIII. 



By J. C. Vvillis 



Animals in general mean insects, though there are flowers visited by bats, 

 snails etc, and the little sun-birds of Ceylon are very regular visitors to many 

 flowers. 



Insects have to be attracted to the flowers— by honey, scent, bright colour, 

 &c.,— if they are to be of any use as regular visitors, and anyone may see with a 

 little observation how many more insects go to the brightly coloured and scented 

 flowers than to the inconspicuous non-scented ones. 



The longer the tube leading down to the base of the flower, where as a rule 

 the honey, which forms a great attraction to insects, is secreted, the longer does the 

 tongue of the insect need to be. Flowers like buttercups that stand almost flat open, 

 are mainly visited by little flies that can simply lick off the exposed honey, while 

 flowers like shoe-flowers with long tubes are mainly visited by insects with long 

 tongues, like bees and butterflies. It is found, also, that such insects are cleverer 

 than those with short tongues. It was found, by observation in England, that 49 

 per cent of the short-tongued insects went to " flat-open" flowers, while 95 per 

 cent of the long tongued insects went to flowers with tubes. This shows how much 

 cleverer they are. 



AMBALANGODA AGRI-HORTICULTURAL SHOW, 



REPORT ON LIVE STOCK SECTION, 



Cattle. — Out of sixteen classes prizes were only awarded in six. The 

 Exhibits with the exception of one or two were poor. 



The Poultry were poor and not well shown- Exhibitors should learn to 

 wash and clean aud show their exhibits properly. There were a good many wild 

 animals looking very miserable in small cages. Show Committees should exclude 

 these classes from future catalogues. 



(Signed) G. W. STURGESS, 



Government Veterinary Surgeon. 



REPORT ON FLOWERS, FRUITS, AND FOOD PRODUCTS. 



I have the honour to report as follows on the sections which I have judged 

 at the Ambalangoda Agri-Horticultural Show held on 20th and 21st December 

 1906. Being the first show over held in the district the exhibits in general both in 

 number and quantity might perhaps be considered as fairly creditable. 



Section 1. Class A. (Cut flowers and Plants in Pots).— There was a compara- 

 tively large number of entries uudei this Class, but the exhibits were considerably 

 mixed up and the judges had to rely on the information of one of the officials as 

 to the proper places and owners of the different articles. The plants in pots, 

 though all small in size, were on the whole well grown. The cut flowers exhibits 

 would have been much more effective and instructive if each kind had been 

 separated, and labelled with the vernacular or English name, 



* Section 1 Class B (Fruits).— There were very good samples of oranges, 

 pineapples and rupee mangoes, also excellent jak fruits of the ' waraka ' and ' wela ' 

 varieties. No other fruits worth mentioning were represented. The scarcity and 

 indifferent quality of the plantains shown can hardly be accounted for by the. 

 «eason, for these are in fruit practically all the year round. 



