722 
Supplement to the "Tropical Agriculturist." [April i, 1890, 
curry. The salad of green leaves is said to promote 
appetite, and the curry and the salad are both con- 
sidered good eating. The fresh juice of the leaves 
is used by native medical practitioners in cases of 
bleeding piles. And the green leaf is also considered 
a good antidote for Datura poisoning. 
Aurantiacem. 
13. Feronia elephantum, Cor.— is a tree known in 
Sinhalese as Divul and in Tamil as Meladikurnndu. 
It attains large dimensions and is found growing abun- 
dantly in the hot, drier regions of the island. The 
stem is straight and large, the leaves are compound 
pinnate and dark green, and contain glandular patches 
in them. The leaflets are small and have a peculiar 
aroma. The trees fruit freely, and the fruits when 
fully mature are round and large. The fruit is whitish 
in appearance and is covered with a hard shell. When 
this shell which is about an eighth of an inch in 
diameter is removed a mass of pulp and seed is found 
iuBide, which when ripe is soft and farinaceous, and 
of a strong acid-sweet taste. This pulp may be 
eaten alone or with sugar or jaggery. It is also taken 
in a liquid form and is very palatable, mixed with 
sugar and coconut milk. It may bt used alone or 
with rice. A delicious and palatable jelly is made from 
his fruit, which when properly made is equal to any 
other fruit jelly. The colour of the jelly is of a 
blight ruby. The unripe fruit is rather astringent and 
very acid. Pickles and chutneys are made of it- 
The stem of this tree exudes a very clear gummy 
substance which is equal to the beBt gum Arabic- 
The timber is hardly of any use except for the pur- 
pose of fuel. 
The unripe fruit used in a decoction acts as an 
astringent, and the ripe fruit is antiscorbutic. The na- 
tive medical practitioners use the leaves as a successful 
remedy for headache in infants. The juice of the buds 
is used in injuries of the eye. The ripe fruit is believed 
t o drive away a hiccough, and cure sore throats, and 
also is reputed as a good remedy for checking excessive 
discharge of urine. 
COTTON. VI. 
BY Aba. 
After gathering the crop from those varieties cf 
cotton which are treated as annuals in cultivation' 
the plants should be pulled up and buried in the soil 
or burnt, and their aBhes distributed over the land. 
In the case of perennial cottons the plants should be 
pruued just after getting the produce and the land 
should bo hoed about three times a year. 
Other crops may be grown along with cotton. On the 
Saidapet Farm, Madras, cotton and Indian corn are 
grown in alternate rows. There is much advantage 
to be gained by this. The Indian corn to a great 
extent helps the cotton plants by shading the land and 
by keepiDg down the weeds. 
Plucking should bo done as sco.i as the pods (bolls) 
burst open and expose tho cotton. It is better to pick 
the cotton off leaving the coverings of the pods on 
the tree, as by this means a cleaner staple free from a 
good deal of refuse is obtained. 
The cotton after being gathered should be exposed 
to the sun and preserved in a dry place till it is 
ginned and prepared for the market. The ordinary 
Indian cotton gin or churca is composed of a frame 
of wood in which two rollers are made to turn by 
means of an endless screw. When the unseeded cotton 
is held close to the rollers the seeds are quickly got 
rid of, but the staple comes out matted or napped as 
it is called. There are improved gins made in 
America both for hand power and cattle, and I may 
specially mention the Eagle cotton gin which is being 
advertised for sale by a Colombo house.* 
The cotton or lint is the chief product of the cotton 
plant, but the seeds are also of value both as a cattle 
food and an effective fertilizer. Cotton seed intended for 
planting purposes, after being carefully selected, should 
be kept dry all throughout. The" seed must not be 
allowed to get wet 01 damp. To ascertain if the cotton 
seed is sound, a seed should be cut across with a sharp 
knife. If sound the kernel will be of a cream colour 
with dark spots, otherwise the seed is unsound and 
not fit for planting. 
♦ 
LIFE-HISTOKIES OF INSECTS INJURIOUS TO 
VEGETATION IN CETLON. V. 
By Aba. 
The Bean Beetle. Bruchus t 
1. The beetle magnified. 2. Infested bean split open 
showing cell. 
The Bean Beetle is another Coliopterous insect 
wbich, like tho rice weevil described in my last article, 
attacks stored gram. While the attacks of the weevil 
are confined to cereal grains, the bean beetle attacks 
bears and other legumes only. There is no distinctive 
name in Sinhalese for this insect, but it is known to 
the natives by the generic name of gulla. 
Beans, peas, gram, &c, infested by the beetle may 
be at once made out by certain white spots which 
appear on the grains. The maggots feed iD6ide the 
seed generally leaving the embryo or growing germ 
U ninjured. When full grown the larva turns to the 
* A good gin should neither cut nor nap the cotton 
but send out the staple straight and smooth, so that 
the lint may have the appearance of having been carded,- 
