October, 1911.] 



353 



Miscellaneous. 



surface lightly marked by vertical 

 furrows, pulp pale yellow, juice very 

 sweet. 



Seed Distribution. 



The second distribution of vegetable 

 seeds for the year among members of 

 the Society takes place almost imme- 

 diately. Fifteen hundredweights of 

 Tephrosia purpurea seed for growing as 

 green manure, and one ton of soy bean 

 seed (received through the Buitenzorg 

 Gardens) were indented for to meet 

 special applications. 



The Hickory King maize seed last 

 distributed has given good results. Agri- 

 cultural Instructor Chelliah reports that 

 it is worth seven or eight times the value 

 of an equal area of Setaria Italica in the 

 North. The teacher of Alawatugoda 

 School has forwarded some fine speci- 

 mens of cobs, and the Korala of Balan- 

 goda has also a satisfactory report to 

 give. 



Investigations. 

 The Director of the Imperial Institute 

 has made the following reports on 

 samples of Mee-seed and oil :— 



Remarks. — "The kernels of Bassia 

 latifolia and B- longifolia are already 

 exported from India as "Mowra ker- 

 nels," and their commercial value is well 

 known and need not be discussed here. 

 It may, however, be pointed out that in 

 recent years there has been a great 

 increase in the prices of almost all oil 

 seeds, and that consequently the present 

 time is opportune for developing the 

 trade in these seeds, especially those 

 yielding solid or semi-solid fats which, 

 like Bassia fats, are suitable for the 

 manufacture of soap or candles, as well 

 as of edible fats, for which there is an 

 increasing demand. 



" At present Bassia kernels are more 

 popular with oil crushers in Germany 

 and Prance than in the United Kingdom. 

 One reason for this appears to be that 

 the cake left after expressing the fat is 

 considered poisonous to cattle, owing to 

 the saponin it contains, and consequent- 

 ly only fetches low prices, being used as 

 a manure instead of as a feeding stuff. 

 Investigations recently carried out at 

 Liverpool have shown that oil-cake made 

 from the kernels of Bassia longifolia 

 contains a saponin-like glucoside, which 

 has a marked physiological action when 

 injected sub-eutaneously, but does not 

 appear to be very active when fed to 

 animals. Careful feeding trials on a con- 

 siderable scale with oil-cakes made from 

 Bassia kernels would, however, have to 

 be made before it would be safe to say 

 whether or not such materials could be 

 used as feeding stuffs for cattle, and 



45 



even if they proved harmless, it is prob- 

 able that their intensely bitter taste 

 would preclude their use in this way. 



"Seed. — The consignment was in 

 poor condition, the kernels being moist 

 and mostly mouldy. The seed consisted 

 of 30 per cent, shell and 70 per cent, 

 kernel. Yield of oil was about 39 per 

 cent, from the moist kernels which con- 

 tained about 24 per cent, of moisture. 

 After exposure to the air for about a 

 day the kernels contained only 6 to 7 

 per cent, of moisture and 47 to 48 per 

 cent, of oil, which is a lower percentage 

 than that found for Bassia longifolia 

 kernels from India. Picked kernels in 

 good condition gave 54 per cent. oil. 

 The oil is a soild yellowish fat having 

 the usual appearance and properties of 

 the fat derived from Bassia longifolia 

 kernels. The poor condition in which 

 the seeds arrived rendered them unsuit- 

 able for technical trials. It should be 

 borne in mind that there is no sale in 

 the United Kingdom for unshelled 

 Bassia seeds, and a consignment of at 

 least 2 cwt. of kernels (shelled seeds) 

 should therefore be forwarded to the 

 Imperial Institute in order that trials 

 may be carried out. The kernels should 

 be carefully dried in the sun before 

 shipment. If delivered in sound condi- 

 tion the kernels would realise about 

 £1 to £2 in advance of the market price 

 of Mowra seed kernels, which were 

 quoted at about £11 per ton in the 

 United Kingdom in May, 1911. 



" Oil.— The sample of 2£ lbs. sent by 

 the Ratemahatmaya of Uda Dumbara, 

 Urugala, proved on examination to be a 

 clear granular fat of pale greenish 

 yellow colour. Pat of this quality 

 would probably be w^th about £32 per 

 ton in the United Kingdom under 

 present conditions, but it is impossible 

 to say whether this price would be 

 realised for all consignments sent from 

 Ceylon, for the reason that native- 

 prepared fats of this description fre- 

 quently vary very much in quality." 



O. DRIEBERG, 

 Secretary, C,A.S. 

 Colombo, 16th October, 1911, 



COMPARATIVE FACTS AND 

 FIGURES : 

 The Boon op Reciprocity— Market 

 Conditions, etc. 



Address op W. S. Macleod. 



(Prom the Manila Bulletin.) 



Among the addresses delivered at the 

 Merchants' Association annual banquet 

 was one by Mr. William S. Macleod, 



