Feb. 1907.] 



125 



ROZELLE. 



Sir,— Last year the Superintendent of the Stock Gardens kindly gave me a 

 few seeds of this. I have now grown a second crop out of seeds obtained from those- 

 It is a shrub not unlike the tea with plenty of stalks. The plants have not thrived 

 so luxuriantly nor have they borne so well as was the case with the imported seed 

 owing perhaps to deterioration. 



The seed has to be sown in a nursery, transplanted and watered in dry 

 weather, mulching once or twice. Stable manure answers well. The fruit or rather 

 the pod ripens in 6 months culminating in the plant itself dying out. Care should be 

 taken to gather before setting in of the rains, which spoil the fruit in no time. A 

 bed of a dozen plants gave me about H bushels of fruit. Some jelley was made out 

 of it, the only known use it may be put to — I mean of the bright red outer covering 

 of the beans. I would not recommend its cultivation but for the stalks which yield 

 a most valuable fibre. It is literally full of fibre. I send you a sample coarsely 

 prepared as it is, as also a piece of rope made out of it. 



Rozelle was long known to us as Rata Bella, the tender leaves being some 

 times used for curry. I understand it is largely cultivated in Southern India for its 

 fibre to make ropes with. Its Tamil name is Pulichchi Na.ru. 



GEO. WEERAKOON. 



Talangama, 6th Dec. 1906. 



Ceylon Board of Agriculture, 



The 28th Meeting of the Board of Agriculture was held at the Council 

 Chamber at 12 noon on Monday the 4th February, 1907. 

 His Excellency the Governor presided. 



The others present were :— The Hon. Messrs, H. C. Nicolle, J. Ferguson, c.m.g., 

 Francis Beven, S. C. Obeyesekere, Messrs. J. Harward, T. J. Campbell, H. T. S. Ward, 

 E. B. Denham, Drs. J. C. Willis, H. M. Fernando, Messrs. Solomon Dias Bandara. 



, G W. Sturgess, E. E. Green, Gerard Joseph, William Dunuwille 

 Dissava, C Drieberg, and T. A. Carey, Secretary to the Board. 



Business Done. 



1. The minutes of the meeting held on Janury 7th were read and confirmed. 



2. H. E. the Governor proposed, and the Hon. Mr. S. C. Obeyesekere 

 seconded :— " That Dr. Willis be appointed Organising Vice-President, with a salary 

 of R30C0lper annum ; and that Mr. C. Drieberg be appointed Secretary to the Board 

 with a salary of R3000." Carried. 



3. The report by the Second Assistant Superintendent of School Gardens on 

 the late Show held at Ambalangoda was tabled. 



4. The Progress Report (No. 27) was presented and taken as read. 



5. Mr. G. W. Sturgess, G.v.s., submitted his report on castration work 

 during 1906. 



6. Mr. E. B. Denham asked, " What steps have been taken by the Committee 

 appointed to enquire into the question of sterlization of milk ? " The Secretary 

 replied that;the Committee were taking the necessary steps for making trials with 

 apparatus shortly expected from England. 



7. Mr. C. Drieberg read extracts from his official report on his recent visit 

 to India dealir. g chiefly with the Calcutta Exhibition, Sericulture in India, and the 

 possibilities of a fruit trade with Ceylon. 



H. E. the President, Dr. Willis and Mr-. Ferguson offered remarks on the 

 paper read. 



The meeting terminated at 1-30 p.m. 

 17 



