June 1907.] 416 Correspondence. 



durability of that wood. White ants and other insects have done their utmost to 

 destroy the wood, but with very little success. I think I may well ask, what other, 

 wood in the world would stand the test of centuries and the ravages of white ants ? 

 I enclose Mr. Still's note as to where he discovered it. 



Yours faithfully, 



G. D. TEMPLER. 



"Part of the lintel of a doorframe found in a cave on Rajagirigala near 

 Mihintale in the N. C. P. The brickwork in which it was embedded was of the old 

 type of construction used prior to the Polonnaruwan period. I should estimate the 

 age of the wood at not less than 1,000 years and quite possibly several centuries 

 more."— J. Still. 



A SUGGESTION. 



Sir,— I should be obliged if you could see your way to a slight topographical 

 alteration which will make your monthly table of Contents more readily accessible 

 (as to the matter concerned) to the Reader. 



I enclose a page from your number of February, 1907, to show how much more 

 easily index or page figures are read from the accurately columned left than from 

 the skirmishing right. 



Original Intermittently dotted space 4f inches. Page. 



paging. Camphor ... ... ... ... ... ... 62 



Proposed 



paging. 



62 Camphor oil. 



104 Importation of Beneficial Insects from one Country to Another 104 



I am, Sir, yours, 



CAREFUL READER. 



Upcountry. 



[I fail to see any special gain by doing this.— Ed. " T. A."] 



AN ESSAY ON THE BETEL VINE. 



ITS CULTIVATION AND DISEASE. 



Mr. M. H. Mirando, Hon. Secretary of the Negombo Branch Agricultural 

 Society, and Muhandiram of Alut Kuru Korale North, has offered a gold medal 

 through the Parent Society for the best essay in English, Sinhalese or Tamil, 

 dealing with the cultivation of the betel vine— soil, planting, manuring pests and 

 diseases— their prevention and cure — with a view to obtaining the experience of 

 cultivators and others conversant with the subject. The Secretary, Ceylon Agricul- 

 tural Society, is prepared to receive essays till the end of June. It is expected 

 that the Government Mycologist will shortly issue a leaflet dealing with the subject 

 of betel disease, and the exhaustive information which it is hoped to get together 

 through this competition will probably prove of value in the preparation of the 

 leaflet. 



In view of the great risks to which so remunerative an industry as betel 

 cultivation is exposed, and the heavy loss occasioned by the disease or diseases 

 affecting the vine, the offer made by Mr. Mirando is one which the Society is only 

 too glad to accept in the interests of the numerous small cultivators who make a 

 living out of betel growing, and it is to be hoped that with the assistance of the 

 liberal donor of the prize and the technical advice of the Government expert in 

 plant diseases, it will be found possible to carry on the cultivation with less 

 uncertain prospects than at present 



