176 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [September i, 188 
appears at first sight to have been mutually bene- 
ficial to both parties, and when both parties loyally 
fulfil their respective contracts there is no doubt 
that it is so. But that is seldom the case on 
either side. In the first plaoe the squatter is not 
bound as to the quantity of produce he shall raise. 
He may be, and often is, an arrant vagabond who 
has no desire to be kept close at work at fixed 
wages. His primary object is to obtain a fixed 
domicile and an ostensible occupation. He is then 
out of reaoh of the police. He works by fits and 
starts, does a little in the way of petty larceny, 
and otherwise amuses himself. The consequence 
is that the produoe of the soil that falls to the 
share of the landlord is not very mucb. He may 
rub on, however, if he can get a dozen of these 
gentry upon his property, especially if he has a 
few score coconut trees as a stand-by. 
But it may be easily inferred that the evil is 
only yet in the bud. It will next blossom. Then 
follows the ripe fruit. They are now gather- 
ing the fruit at Seychelles, just as we are gather- 
ing the same product in Mauritius. The ripen- 
ing process may not have been the same in both 
places, but the result is the same always. We 
have seen how the Seychelles squatter obtained 
his domicile. It is admitted that, occasionally, 
he may have been honest and industrious, but 
as a rule, he was neither one nor the other 
— at least, not in an eminent degree. Hav- 
ing land and a hut, he was free to " engage," as 
his labourers, other people to help him. 
The landlord would make no objection to 
"numbers," if the amount of "produce" was in- 
creased ; so the one hut become two, three, or 
four, upon each " allotment." These " labourers" 
may, or may not, have been bona fide workers. 
As a rule, they were bona fide idlers by day, occa- 
sionally displaying a little more activity at night. 
And so the thing went on until the evil of vaga- 
bondism assumed its present ugly proportions. 
The " Moitie-Moitie-system," as it is termed, has 
oalled into existence numerous centres in which 
idleness revels unchecked, in which vagabondage 
and vagrancy find homes, and in which crime too 
often lies securely hidden. — Commercial Gazette. 
Beliuedi ok Baei. Fruit. — In your paper of the 
5tb August the following para is quoted — " According 
to a London market report in the Chemist and T> rugyist 
this fruit was without demand. At auction 450 whole 
fruits, with soft pale pulp, were offered and bought 
in at 'id each." The equivalent of 3d English money 
in Oeylon currency, I believe, is 16 cents. Accord- 
ing to my experimce of the price fetched for a 
beli-fruit at the market is one cent, and it struck 
me forcibly that 16 cents for it was more than 
could be desired, — a price that no Sinhalese would 
in his wildest dream have expected. Is the bael-fruit 
imported to England from Oeylon, and is it also the 
fruit that is commonly oalled slime-apple? If it is so, 
it is largely used by the natives in cases of chronic 
diarrhoea and dysentery. The infusion of the fruit thinly 
sliced, or the whole fruit boiled, or roasted under 
hot ashes, is prescribed generally in such cases. "Will 
you enlighten me on the subject ? —Cor. 
The quantity of tea that arrived at Kobe from 
the various tea districts, during last month, was 
3,094,825 lb.; of leaf sold to foreign firms, 3,789,450 lb., 
the quantity in stock being 841,148 lb. The average 
price was fl>29£ per picul for superior quanity, 
51!) 0-lOths for medium, and $12 8-10ths for inferior. 
~mjapan Weekly Mail, July 16th. 
ANew Insecticide. — The Horticultural aud Agricult- 
ural Oh mie*l Company, Tonbridge, Kent, of which 
Mr. G. Freeland is manager, were present with a 
new insecticide, which will be of inrerest to the owners 
of tea-plantations aud to fruit-growers abroad generally. 
The preparation is described as essentially a complete 
and permanent emulsion, in which has been incorp- 
orated a large quantity of oily liquids (including 
certain kinds of paraffin oil) as destroy the insect pests 
of plants. Hitherto the rough methods in use for 
preparing such emulsions have failed to effect the 
perfect distribution of the oily matter in the wash, 
and in consequence oily drops of sensible size have 
spotted and injured the leaves and tender shoots of 
the plant. By a long series of experiments, however, 
the inventor of the new insecticide has discovered a 
method of incorporating these materials in the pre- 
paration under notice, which has received the patronage 
of many leading growers of fruit aud flowers, and, 
among other authorities, of Professor A. H. Church. 
The preparation is sold in bottles of 8 and 20 oz. 
for gardeners use, and in casks aud drums for use 
on a larger scale. A single gallon is sufficient to 
make from 150 to 200 gallons of efficient wash. The 
invention is of great importance in its application to 
the tea-plant, which suffers from blight in the dry 
season; and it has been pointed out by Professor 
Ohurch that the paraffin in the insecticide would not 
affect the tea, as it has been used in greenhouse on 
scented plants; and, though the smell is perceptible 
for forty-eight hours, it was not permanent. Th« 
company introducing the new discovery should there- 
fore before long find the preparation in demand 
among tea-growers, to say itithing of the numerous 
cultivators of fruit at the Antipodes. — British Trades 
Journal. 
Hybrochlorate of Oocaine in Veterinary 
Practice. — The Inspector of Cattle Diseases, Madras 
Presidency, writes in his report for 1885-86 : — Having 
heard a great deal regarding the advantages of the 
use of Hydrochlorate of Cocaine in operations on the 
human eye, I decided, on the first opportunity, to 
give it a trial. Fortunately, a case of " worm in the 
eye" (Filaria oculi) was admitte I into the Veterinary 
Hospital on the 2nd of June 1885. The patient was 
a large waler mare, extremely troublesome and nervous ; 
in faot, it was with the utmost difficulty that anj thing 
like a good view of the eye could be obtained. I 
therefore cast her, when the parasite was clearly seen 
wriggling about in the aqueous humour. There was 
slight inflammation, with partial opacity in the lower 
portion of the cornea, involving nearly one-half of its 
surface, which was undoubtedly brought about by the 
case having been allowed to go too far before surgical 
aid was sought for, as the worm had been noticed in 
the eye fifteen days before the mare was brought to 
me. I procured a solution containing one grain of 
cocaine in twenty-five minims of water, of a strength 
of 4 per cent. ; the Membraoa Nictitans was held 
back and the solution painted over the surface of the 
cornea, conjunctiva and eyelids with a camel's hair- 
brush. In about ten minutes complete aiuesthesia 
had taken place, with considerable dilatation of the 
pupil. I then made a small puncture with the point 
of a Macuamara cataract knife, well guarded with lint 
at the upper portion of the cornea, through which 
the Filaria escaped. In a little less than tweuty 
minutes sensation returned to the eye. No inflamma- 
tion followed the operatiou, aud the case did well 
from the first. The opacity gradually disappeared 
and the patient was discharged cured in fourteen 
days. This new local anesthetic ca.nnot but prove 
of the utmost value in veterinary practice, more 
especially in operations on the eye. It has only 
one drawback, aud that is its high price. Previously, 
in operations of this kind, I always used to administer 
chloroform with the best results, but, of course, 
although I have never bad anyaccidents with chloroform 
on the horse, still the danger attending its use, 
compared with the use of cocaine, is great indeed. 
Therefore, the latter must, for the future, act as a 
valuable and safe substitute for chloroform, for tho 
production of local amethesia. 
