December i, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST* 
aro 480 fr. per ton; tho moan average whol Bale 
prion of the latter is 1,200 fr., and 112 lb. of brut 
give 65 of refined sugar. This Riigar was till recently 
largely employed in the silvering of glass and the 
making of artificial pearls. At present the apothe- 
caries are the best customers for milk sugar though 
higher priced than th it Iroiu cane and beet, it can 
be pulverised easily and resists humidity. It enters 
to the extent of 99 per cent in the manufacture of 
homeopathic pills and globules. What quantities 
of the latter can be prepared with the Swiss out- 
put of 114 tons of milk sugar annually. 
Switzerland has 000,000 milch cows, all of native 
breed, and divided iuto two sharply defined races — 
the brown and the spotted. The former color varies 
from deep-faun to mouse-grey, this latter shade 
being held in most esteem. The brown race is short 
horned and considered as the original type. It 
corresponds to the remains found on the sites of 
the Roman cities of ihe third century of our era. 
The skulls of this race furthermore are identical 
with those found in the Swiss lake-dwellings. The 
spotted race peculiar to Bern and Fribourg is believed 
to be of Scandinavian origin. From the milking point 
of view, there is not very much difference between 
either race. The average daily yield is about two 
gallons or 12 gallons per 112 lb. of live weight. The 
percentage of butter to the milk varies from 2| to 4j 
per oeut. 
In Germany, much attention is given to stolen or 
intercalary crops; these succeed rye and barley, gener- 
ally sickled in the middle of July when maize is sown 
to be either soiled or siloed. White mustard, however, 
is becoming more the favourite and yields good cut- 
tings during October and November. But with 
this green forage it is best to give a cow of 10 cwt. 
84 lb. of the soiling with 8 lb. of straw and 2 lb. of 
orushed oats daily. White mustard is most nutritive, 
a little before and pouding the flowering; mown 
later it becomes fibrous and difficult of digestion. It 
is bost to sow the mustard not at once, but at inter- 
vals of 8 or 12 days so as to have bauds maturing 
consecutively. 
Calabar beans Physostigma venexo.sum ore the fruit 
of a c'imbing plant of the order Legwninosa peculiar 
to West Africa uear th« sources of the Niger. A 
special alkaloid called Eserine or Physostigme is pre- 
pared from the ■ be ins and which is a violent poison. 
Professor Dieckerlioff of Berlin recommends it as remedy 
for colic in horses when such is due to excessive accu- 
mulation of foo 1 in tho stomaoh or of matters in the 
intestines. F allowing Professor Ziirn, it is employed 
only in tho form of sulphate of eserin in tho propor- 
tion of 010 grammes dissolved in distilled water 
and injeotod by means of an appropriate syringe under 
the skin into tho sub-outaneous cellular tissue either 
in the front of the horses' chest, or ou the left side 
of the neck. The remedy is cheap, easy to exocute 
and convenient. No secondary disagreeable aotion is 
to be feared. It is also rapid in its effeots and acts 
directly on the ganglions of the stimaohie and intos.iual 
nerves. The reraolv is not efficacious against colic 
produced by mechanical obstructions, as calcareous 
intestinal deposits or lesions in the coats of the 
stomaoh, intestiues, &o. 
In Switzerland farmers will not purchase seeds, 
unless tho merchants bind themselves to have the 
purity of their wares controlled and guaranteed by 
au agronomical station. No more purchasing with 
closed oyos, heuoo no room for adulterations. The 
agionomic station at Turioh issues for a m idosr sum, 
albums containing dried specimens of tho bad meadow 
grasses, also of the best one adopted either for tem- 
porary or permanent pastures. 
Anot her instructive plsn is exhibiting maps of 
nir. .lowland where only bad natural grusses oxisted, 
and the same soil after being duly prepared and judi- 
ciously sown. At nn altitude of 8 000 above this ievol 
of the sea, there are maps of grins hin I such as i' 
appear! in l.-w' 1 , next bo s'erile, mid maps of that 
sani'< laud in 1S87 producing the remarkable total 
yljld of over four tons of hay per aero. 
AMONG THE GUMS AND TURPENTINES. 
During a recent oxoursion of one of our artists 
along that portion of the Northern railway route 
lying between Gosford and Lake Maoquaric, New 
South Wales, ho was astonished at the wealth of 
timber that will become marketable when the rail- 
way is open. At Gillahy Gillaby, forests of gum 
trees or eucalypti may be seen towering as high as 
200 feet, and of as much as 15 feet diameter, with- 
out a branch for 5C or 60 feet. The turpentine 
trees are equally remarkable in appearance, as it 
would bo difficult to find a crooked trunk within 
hundreds of yards of any point. The latter trees 
have not yet been sufficiently appreciated, though 
several years ago the late Captain Shoobert announced 
the fact that it is the only indigenous timber New 
South Wales has possessing the merit of being im- 
pervious lo the attacks of the Teredo navalis. This he 
proved most conclusively, and latterly almost every 
new wharf constructed in and about Sydney stands 
upon turpentiue piles. 
When meatas of transportation by rail become avail- 
able, those who are fortunate euough to have laud 
timbered with this invaluable tree will have reason to 
congratulate themselves ou their good fortune. The 
white gum, found growing in the southeast part of 
this province, also ut Echunga in the Valley of the 
Onkaparinga, and in other parts of the colony, is 
probably the tallest tree we possess. Its height varies 
from 70 to 110 feet. In West Australia the Jarrah 
reaches 200 feot in height— Pictorial Australian. 
♦ 
NAGPTJR EXPERIMENTAL FARM. 
The official review of the report ou the operation" 
of the Nagpur Experimental farm during the year 
ending March 31st, 1886, states that 
''So far as tho Khariff crops were coucerued, the 
season was a favourable one, especially in the case of 
the cotton aud til crops which yielded a larger out- 
turn than has been obtained during the late years. The 
prospects of the rabi crops were somewhat damaged 
by the failure of rain in September, but this was 
to a great extent compensated for by a fall in Octo- 
ber, and the crops in the early part of the season pro- 
mised woll. But the contiuuance of cloudy weather 
during December aud January induced an attack of 
rust of exceptional severity, which very greatly re- 
duced the out-turn of the wheat and totally destroyed 
a large portion of the linseed. That the decrease in 
out-turn has resulted from tho seasous and not from 
any loss in fertility on the p»rt of the Farm land is 
established by the fact that tho out-'. urns follow toler- 
ably closely the ' anna ' out-turn estimates which 
have been framed each year for tho Nagpur district. 
The rust attacked with most severity the orops which 
were on the richest soils, and hence the results which 
have been obtained in comparative experiments 
with manures aro nearly valueless. The out-turn of 
straw was but little affected by the rust, and 
hence there is the anomalous result that in tho 
season uuder roport tho weight of straw is a better 
indication than the weight of grain of the effect of 
oach manure. The most practical of all the inanura 
experiments is that conducted by ploughing hemp in 
green — a process which has yielded excellout results 
on tho Cawnpore Farm. But this experiment suffered 
this year a special disadvantage. Owing to the 
failure of the September rain, the hemp did not de- 
compose as it should before the sowing season, 
whilst the deep ploughing which was nocessary in 
order to turn it iuto the soil occasioned a lo»s of 
moisture which aould not bo spared. The results 
of tho past soa* i throw but little li*ht on the 
real utility of this procoss. Tbe Upland Georgian 
variety of ootton has now proved its value The nut- 
turn W'S not very lari;e in quantity, as the crop was 
grown on c impsr itively pnor land, but it was quite as 
large as would hnv« been gathered from rotton of 
the ordinary Kmi kind on this land. The quality of 
the pro luce was very favourably reported on by 
the Manager of »h» Hin<»ughat Villi. Au «n Issvsnr 
