September i, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
" it has acquired a proper consistence, it is to be made 
" into cakes or balls ; after which it is so to be thoroughly 
" dried till hard, when it is in a fit state to be sent 
" to market." 
To this Dr. Blacfadyen adds some general remarks 
as regards Annatto and its local uses in the West 
Indies, which, as they occur in a book now comparatively 
scarce, may be usefully included in these notes: — 
" Annatto is of a resiuous nature, and dissolves 
" more completely in alcohol than in water. "When 
" prepared for market it is moderately hard, of a 
" brown colour externally, and dull red within. It is 
" occasionally imported in cakes of two or three pounds 
«' weight, of the consistence of paste, wrapped up in 
«' large flag [banana] leaves, and packed in casks. 
The roll Annatto is much harder, and of a very 
'' superior quality, containing a larger proportion of 
>' the colouring matter. It was formerly employed in 
" dyeing silk, to produce the colour called Aurora. 
" As the addition of an alkali increases its solubility, 
« it is the practice, when used in dyeing, to mix it 
" with at least its own weight of potash. It is now, 
" however, but seldom employed as a dye in Great 
" Britain. The Indians mix it with oil, or with lime- 
" juice and a gum, to make the crimson paint with 
" which they anoint their bodies, not so much for 
" the purpose of ornament as to protect them from 
" the attacks of insects. It is said to be esteemed 
" by painters as a colour. In Gloucestershire it is 
employed under the name of cheese colouring, to 
give a yellowish-orange tint to cheese, and in Holland 
" to butter. It has never had any great character 
" as a medicine. It is a gentle purgative, and a light 
•' stomachic ; it has been employed in dysentery, and 
" as an antidote for the bitter Cassada. The Spaniards 
" use it in their chocolate and soups to heighten the 
" flavour and to give a rich agreeable colour. In 
" Jamaica, a liquid preparation is usually kept for 
" culinary purposes, made by boiling the pulp, diffused 
" in water, with sugar and salt to the consistence of 
" cream, which, if put into well-corked bottles, will 
" keep for several years." 
A method recommended by the Director of the 
Botanic Gardens at Oeylon for preparing Annatto, 
and which, no doubt, has been followed in the manu- 
facture of some fine samples of Annatto lately exported 
from that island, is as follows: — "The best method 
of preparation appears to be (there are some 
"discrepancies in different accounts) the following: — 
" The seeds, with their pulpy envelopes, are pounded 
" in a wooden mortar, and, after adding hot water, 
" the mixture is left in the mortar for several days, 
after which it is passed through a sieve. The liquid 
«' is then left to ferment for eight days, when the 
' water is decanted off, and the deposited pulp left 
" to become concentrated by evaporation in the shade. 
When it has acquired the consistency of firm putty, 
" it is made up into cakes of lj-2 kilos weight. 
" These are packed with plantain leaves, and have a 
" lively orange-yellow colour ; the value is about 4 fr. 
" the kilo. In Cayenne it would appear that the 
" pulp is sometimes boiled for four or five hours, 
" and afterwards put under weights to squeeze out 
11 the water. It is also sometimes made into rolls 
" instead of cakes, in which state it appears to fetch 
" an inferior price." 
# # * # * 
" The trade in Annatto is a limited one. It is used 
" as a dye occasionally, but its principal employment 
" is for colouring cheese and butter." 
♦ 
POULTRY NOTES. 
Now is the time to apply plenty of whitewash, as 
the warm weather is here and the chances for being 
overrun with vermin are incroased. 
Thorn is nothing connected with poultry raising, 
either for exhibition or for market, which an averago 
woman cannot do hotter than the average man. 
The drwppings of the hens should ho occasionally 
removed ; they should not be allowed to accumulate. 
Tlui Honrs should be covered with loam or Band, 
Poultry require salt as well as other animals. A 
w pinches of salt in tho soft food will make tho 
food more relished, as well as assisting digestion, and 
keeping the hens in condition. 
In the case of eggs while waiting for the hatching, 
a place is preferred that is neither hot nor cold, damp, 
nor dry. If the eggs are to be kept but a little while, 
turning them every day will answer, a box or basket 
being sufficient. 
The hen-house and other outbuildings, if nnpainted, 
will be all the better for a coat of whitewash. Avery 
little glue dissolved in hot water before the lime is put 
in will make the lime adhere. This whitewash combined 
with glue should never be used on fruit trees. It 
is often so applied, but does more harm than good. 
Small chickens should never be kept or fed with 
old ones. They are apt to be injured. Have two or 
three yards, and separate them according to size and 
strength. 
When a hen becomes broody and you do not want 
her to sit, the sooner she is broken up the betier, as 
the longer she sits the longer it will take her to recu- 
perate and commence laying again. To do this, shut 
her up twenty-four hours without fooo, then let her 
hunt her own feed. If she takes to the nest, try it 
again ; the third time seldom fails with the most 
persistent old hens. — Rural Callfornian. 
CEMENTS FOR SPECIAL PURPOSES. 
The value of a cement is, first, that it should 
become a strongly cohering medium between the 6ub- 
stances joined; and, second, that it should withstand 
the action of heat, or any solvent action of water or 
acids. Cement often fails in regard to the last con- 
sideration. For waterproof uses several mixtures are 
recommended, and the following may be mentioned : — 
One is, to mix white lead, red lead, and boiled oil, 
together with good size, to the consistency of putty. 
Another is, powdered resin, 1 oz., dissolved in 10 oz. 
of strong ammonia ; gelatine, 5 parts ; solution of acid 
chromate of lime, 1 part. Exposing the article to 
sunlight is useful for some purposes. A waterproof 
paste cement is said to be made by adding to hot 
starch paste half its weight of turpentine and a small 
piece of alum. As a cement lining for cisterns, 
powdered brick 2, quicklime 2, wood ashes 2, made 
into a paste, with boiled oil, is recommended. 
The following arc cements for steam and water 
joints: — Grouud litharge, 10 pounds ; plaster of Paris, 
4 pounds; yellow ochre, one-half pound; red lead, 2 
pounds; hemp, cut into one-half inch leugths, one- 
half ounce; mixed with boiled linseed oil to the 
consistency of putty. White lead, 10 parts ; black 
oxide of manganese, 3; litharge, 1 ; mixed with boiled 
linseed oil. 
A cement for joints to resist great heat is made 
thus: — Asbestos powder, made into a thick paste, 
with liquid silicate of soda. 
For coating acid troughs, a mixture of 1 part pitch 
1 part resin, and 1 part plaster of Paris is melted 
and is said to be a good cement coating, 
Correspondents frequently ask for a good cement 
for fixing iron bars into stone in lieu of lead, and 
nothing better is known than a compound of equal 
parts of sulphur and pitch. A good cement for stoves 
and ranges is made of fireclay with a solution of silicate 
of soda. A glue to resist damp can be prepared 
with boiled linseed oil and ordinary glue or by 
melting 1 pound of glue in 2 quarts of skimmed 
milk ; shellac, 4 ouuceB ; borax, 1 ounce, boiled iu a 
little water and concentrated by heat to paste. A 
cemont to resist white heat may be usefully mentioned 
here : Pulverised clay, 4 parts ; plumbago, 2 ; irou 
filings, free from oxide, 2; peroxide of manganc 
1; borax, one-half; sea salt, one-half; mix with water 
to thick paste, use immediately, and heat gradually 
to a nearly white heat. 
Many of the cements used which are exposed to 
great heat fail from tho expansion of one o. more 
ingredients in them, and an equal stress is produced ; 
or tho two substances uuited havo unequal rates of 
expansibility or contractility ; the chemical or galvanic 
action is important. Tho whole subject of counnU 
has not received the attention it deserves from 
