224 
f HE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [October i, 1887 
Disease in Caladiums.— A fungus closely allied 
to the one that causes so much trouble to the 
potato, has attacked the Oaladium. It is very bad 
on the C. esculentum which is much used for food 
in the West Indies and elsewhere. — Journal of 
Horticulture. 
Mosquitoes. — It is said that nitre paper burned in 
a room will drive out mosquitoes. We have not tried 
this, but a mixture of equal parts of essential oils of 
eucalyptus and lavender applied freely to the skin will 
repel their attacks. And we can assert from ex- 
perience that essential oil of lavender applied to a 
bite without delay will at once relieve all irritation 
and prevent swelling. — Chemist and Druggist. 
Rice Blanc Mange. — One cupful raw rice (washed), 
three pints water (cold), one cupful sugar, one lemon 
(erated rind only), a little salt, a little cinnamon, 
half a cupful cream, half a cupful preserve- juice or 
jelly (may be omitted). Boil the rice in the water 
till every grain is dissolved and the water dis- 
placed by a thick paste of rice. Stir into it the 
sugar and lemon rind, salt and cinnamon. Beat the 
cream to a stiff froth and stir into the rice. Then mix 
in the preserve-juice or jelly, which should be of a 
bright color. Pack the blauc mange in wet moulds. 
When stiff, turn out and serve with custard or cream. — 
How to Cook Well. 
Sugar Sale Extbaoedinary.— We have had sent to 
us the patriculars of an Account Sales of a shipment of 
sugar from the West Indies to this country, which we 
should hope is without a parallel. The shipment was 
made in the autumn of 1883, when the price of fair to 
good refining was 20s., it was held in the hope of obtain- 
ing a better price, and after keeping it a year and 
quarter it was sold, in December last, at 10s., or rather 
this was the figure at which the sale was reported. The 
expenses were just over £6 the ton, that is for com- 
mission, discount, loss in weight, freight and sundries ; 
leaving for the unfortunate planter not quite £4 per 
ton. The charge made for freight was 2s. 6d. per cwt. 
— Sugar Cane. 
Wateeing Fine Sheds:— Mr. J. T. Saltau, Little 
Efford, Plymouth, has forwarded us an ingenious, 
inexpensive, and useful contrivauce which he employs 
for lessening the stream of water flowing from a 
watering-pot, as is often necessary when watering 
small plants, cuttings, &c. The usual way of secur- 
ing the end in view is by partly blocking the orifice 
by the finger. Mr. Saltau procures a cork, and 
burns a hole through its centre by means of a 
hot iron, and then inserts a portion of a goose-quill 
which is slightly longer than the cork itself. The 
cork tapers, so that it will suit almost any can. 
We think our readers may find the contrivance of 
use, and one that anybody can easily manufacture 
for himself. — Gardeners' Chronicle. 
Killing by Mulching. — Where there is a small 
patch of thistles they may be destroyed most effect- 
ually by mulching. Do not cut off the tops, but 
bury them under the straw, pressing it down so 
that they cannot rise up. If new sprouts rise 
through the mulch, bend them down under the straw 
or add more. This mulching process should not be 
tried under trees that it is desired to save. It 
will destroy them as well as the weeds. Wherever 
dirt from excavations is piled around trees in Sum- 
mer while in full leaf it is pretty sure to kill them. 
The leaves turn yellow bescause the extra covering 
over the roots excludes the air. In Fall or AVinter 
there is less liability to injury, as the soil is loosened 
by freeziug and the tree will start new roots higher 
up if not covered too deeply. If a straw stack is 
built around a large tree it is almost sure to kill it. 
— A nuerico/n Cultivator. 
Tiik Fali.ing-oi-f in the consumption of coffee in this 
country is attracting some attention. In I860 the consump- 
tion, with a population of '20,000,000 was 35,674,3811b., 
or I '23 lb. per head. In 1884, with a population 
of 30,000,000, the consumption was only 33,016,256 lb., 
or 0 p 91 lb. per head, or a diminution of 25 per cent. 
On the other hand, the consumption of cocoa during 
the same period has increased from 012 lb. per head 
to 0 38 lb. per head. The increase in the consump- 
tion of tea shows an important increase. In 1860, 
2 66 lb. per head were consumed, in 1884 it was 
4 82 lb. per head. This decrease in the consumption 
of coffee is the more remarkable, since during the 
past few years a very large number of coffee houses 
have been established throughout Great Britain and 
Ireland. In some papers we see that the figures 
given are 69,000 tons in 1861, against 41,000 in 1884, 
a diminution of 28,000 tons since 1861, which is 
evidently an error. — Sugar Cane. 
Corners in Food. — High prices invariably bring out 
hidden supplies. Speculators, or those who engineer 
corners in food, are unmindful of this fact, and they 
also forget that extreme figures for any commodity 
places a premium upon the use of substitutes. The 
Chicago wheat clique underestimated the quantity of 
wheat in farmers' hands, and failed because of the 
enormous lots of cash wheat which came pouring 
into market from all directions to get the advantage 
of the clique's artificial prices. Several years ago a 
speculation in sugar failed, because high prices drew 
supplies from countries that previously had neglected 
the United States as a market. The coffee speculation 
which culminated in ^1880 failed, because the high 
prices maintained by the clique for years so stimul- 
ated production that finally supplies swamped the lead- 
ing operators. During the recently-exploded coffee 
speculation there was a difference of nearly 1J @ 1J 
cents per pound between spot coffee and that sold 
for delivery in November and later months, specul- 
ators being shy of the real bean. It is for the reasons 
named above that most all attempts to corner sup- 
plies of food have failed, and probably will always 
fail. — American Grocer. 
Kooechi ob Koobchee. — Manufacturing pharma- 
cists whose trade extends to India often meet with 
unusual names for drugs in the orders received, 
a tincture, extract, or other preparation being re- 
quired. Amongst the number the above i3 occa- 
sionally quoted, and hence reference to books has 
to be made. Our English authors of works on 
materia medica do not indulge too freely, if at all, 
in vernacular names of foreign drugs, so that it is 
of little use to seek for this kind of information 
from them. The Indian Pharmacopoeia does not 
allude to this drug-name under the account of this 
particular remedy which is contained therein. The 
omission, perhaps, can be explained if we conclude 
that koorchi is a new name, because the Indian 
Pharmacopoeia is now somewhat antiquated. The 
bark of wrightia or holarrhena anti-dysenterica 
{Nerium anti-dnjsentericum) is known as koorchi, koor- 
chee, or indrajab. The plant yielding it is a email 
shrub belonging to the natural order Apocynace;e 
(Dogbane order), and grows wild in the hilly dis- 
tricts of the Ooncan, Ghauts, and other parts of 
India. This bark, which is the Oonessi or Teli- 
cherry bark of materia medica, is also called 
codaga pala, or corte de pala, and is of a spongy 
texture, a dull rusty-brown colour, and possesses a 
bitter taste and has astringent properties. It is 
much used in India as a febrifuge and tonic bitter, 
and in case of dysentery and other troubles of 
the bowels, whether chronic or acute, it is much 
prized by the native doctors ; hence also the 
specific name of the plant. Dr. Stenhouse 
examined the seeds of this pi ant, and found that 
they contained a bitter alkaloid which received the 
name of nereine or wrighidne, and more recently 
conessine. Its formula is stated to be OllHisN. 
The reputation of koorchee has on several occasions 
suffered because of the use of an allied bark, viz., 
that of Wrightia iinctoria, which if it is not ab- 
solutely inert, certainly does not yield the good 
results expected from the administration of the 
preparations of the genuine bark.— F. H. Alcock. 
—Chemist and Druggist. 
