Supplement to the "Topical Agriculturist." [November t, 1889. 
5. Flacourtia Sapida, Roxb., — the Uguressa of the 
Sinhalese, — is common in the hot drier parts. The 
trunk and branches of this plant are covered thickly 
with spines, which are in most cases branched. It 
bears a round pulpy fruit which is of a dark red 
colour when ripe. This fruit is also of a sweetish 
sour taste, and is eaten when quite ripe. In an un- 
ripe state it is very astringent. The roots and bark 
form an astringent tonic and are used in cases of 
dysentery and fever to check purging and to relieve 
nausea. 
OCCASIONAL NOTES. 
Report on the Cawnpore Experimental Station. 
The Cawnpore Farm which is under the superin- 
tendence of Mr. Meer Mohammed Hussain, m.e.a.C, 
who holds the post of Assistant Director of the 
Department of Land-Records and Agriculture of the 
North-Western provinces and Oude, was started in 
1874. The account of experiments carried out on the 
Farm are of a diversified nature, and are relative to 
ploughing, irrigation, sowing, manuring and trials of 
different varieties of crops and seeds. The chief points 
aimed at by the experiments now conducted, was 
according to the report : — 
(1) To estimate the value and utility of improved 
methods of farming compared with indigenous methods. 
(2) To form an idea, by weighment of crops, of the 
character of the season in point of , outturn, and 
thereby obtain independent data for checking the 
agricultural forecasts of harvest yield obtained from 
the several districts of the province. (3) To produce 
pedigree seed for distribution in the country. The 
rainy season of 1888 was unfortunately most unfavour- 
able to the carrying out of experiments, many of which 
resulted in total failure owing to successive wet ; much 
of the seed having failed to germinate, and where it 
did germinate, the want of sun and heat injured the 
vitality of the plants. A great many of the crops experi- 
mented with are such as are not cultivated by our 
local agriculturists, and an account of the experiments 
with these would command no interest in our readers. 
In an experiment with regard to the comparative yield 
of different varieties of cotton the results were very 
disappointing ; nearly the whole experiment being 
spoilt by the weather. Two points, however, seem 
to have been demonstrated: (1) that acclimatised is 
better than fresh imported seed, and (2) that a variety 
known as "Garo Hills" cotton resists wet seasons, 
giving the largest yield of all the varieties. The experi- 
ment in the comparative value of late and early sowings 
of cotton seed turned out a failure. 
The superior value of gypsum or sulphate of lime 
as a manure for indigo seems to have been conclusively 
demonstrated. 
The growth of indigo and hemp were found to pre- 
pare the land for cereals. 
In the experiment to determine the effect of shallow 
and deep ploughing, or rather the effect of ploughing 
with the country and improved plough, the result was 
as on previous occasions in favour of deep ploughing. 
The superior value of dead cotton seed as a manure 
was also clearly proved ; and gypsum proved a valuable 
addition to dung as a manure for gram, peas and other 
leguminosre. 
The results of the irrigation experiments are unfor- 
tunately not noted : and as a whole the experiments 
seem to lac 1 ? denniteness, but we have to take into 
account the difficulties under which Mr. Hussain was 
labouring, and must hope that his future experiments 
will not be interfered with by unlooked-for extraneous 
circumstances. X!. D. 
A Worm Removed from the Eye of a Horse. 
In the year 1880 when I was attending an infirmary 
for cavalry horses in Madras as a pupil of Veterinary 
Burgeon Western of the Madras army, I had the good 
fortune to witness the successful removal by that 
gentleman of a living worm from the eye of a horse. 
The animal was a dark bay Indian about 14 hands high, 
owned by Dr. Oppcrt of the Presidency College, and 
the parasite scientifically known as jilaria oculi equini, 
1 be lieve, was observed in the aqeuous humour of the 
animal's left eye in a stato of constant motion. The 
poor animal seemed to be suffering from much nervous 
excitement and was visibly losing flesh, 
Mr. Western began his operation by casting the horse 
on the right side and securely binding it so that it 
could not move. An ordinary lancet was taken, and 
some cotton twist wound round it exposing only a very 
little of the point, so that an incision into the coats of 
the eyeball may be made without the instrument 
penetrating too far. As the worm was in a constant 
state of motion, a point in the lower part of the eye 
where the cornea meets the sclerotic coat away from 
the direct line of vision was carefully watched and 
the guarded lancet thrust in when the worm reached 
this point. When the instrument was withdrawn the 
aqueous humour was squirted out aDd the parasite with 
it. The worm was about two inches long and looked 
very much like a bit of grey thread. It was very lively 
and lived till it was put in glycerine for preserving a 
few minutes after the operation. 
As to how the worm got into the eye the Surgeon 
explained, if I remember right, that the ovum of the 
parasite was taken into the horse's system in the water 
which the animal drank. 
After the operation the eye was wet bandaged 
to prevent inflammation, and the animal put into a 
dark stable. Colchicum was administered in half 
drachm doses. In about a fortnight's time the animal 
was sent away, the eye being perfectly cured with 
regard to appearance and strength of sight. 
Since my return to Ceylon I had very little to do 
with horses, and I am not aware whether " worm 
in the eye " is recognised as a disease in horses 
here. I have come across a single instance only in 
which a thread-like worm was formed in the eye of 
an ox, but unlike the case of the horse the parasite was 
found outside the eyeball instead of in the aqueous 
humour. 
" Worms in the eye " is a common thing in fowls. 
In an affected bird the eyes are swollen and a 
purulent discharge appears. Temporary blindness is 
brought on by the eyelids being held together by the 
sticky discharge. The fowl seems to suffer from great 
pain and refuses food. The most effectual remedy 
is lime juice. The eyes are forced open and a drop 
put in when about half a dozen or more thread-like 
worms fall off and the bird rapidly recovers. Aba. 
The prize of K200 for the best essay on the cotton 
cultivation, offered by the Cei/lon Independent, has been 
awarded to Mr. W. A. De Silva. The Judges were the 
Hon. J. J. Grinlinton, W. P. Holmes, Esq., and R. L. 
M. Brown, Esq. Mr. De Silva who quite lately pub- 
lished a pamphlet on cotton cultivation, passed out of 
the School of Agriculture in 1886. He was agricultural 
instructor at Minuwangoda, Andiambalam and Bandara- 
g'ama, and was a few months ago appointed second 
assistant at the School of Agriculture. Mr. De Silva 
is also the author of a pamphlet, on " Coconut Culti- 
vation " in Sinhalese. 
Cattle Disease and Remedies. 
Mr. H. W. Green truly says in his Agricultural 
Primer that " Natives when using medicines are too 
apt to trust to mere physicking, and so forget to feed 
the animal." In cases which I had an oppor. 
tunity of watching lately, I found this to be the 
practice. The cattle were invariably given the ordinary 
food which they had no inclination to eat, and the 
owners simply allowed them to starve till they were 
told to administer rice gruel. Very often this starva- 
tion allows the animal to get into a state of weakness 
to which it succumbs. Not only is the feeding neglected, 
but no change is made in the housing of the sick 
animal, and no amount of advice can make cattle-men 
see the necessity of good shelter. 
The animal should be kept warm and free from 
draughts, the roof should keep off the rain, while at 
the same time there must be ventilation. It is almost 
impossible to secure these conditions in the miserable 
sheds in which cattle are generally tethered. 
With regard to medicines, Mr. Green gives the 
following prescription sent bim by Mr. Saunders, which 
