404 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [December ij 1887. 
is being made to induce a large number of cult- 
ivators in the Wardha district to ^row this cotton 
during the coming season. An experiment of some 
praotical importance is that which is being tried to 
determine the utility of embanking land as opposed to 
open field cultivation. Black soil is extensively em- 
banked in the neighbouring district of Balaghat, and 
over a tract of country stretching northward from 
Balaghat which inclu les a large portion of the Seoui, 
Mandla, Jabalpur, D-traoh, and Saugor districts. The 
field banks in these districts represent a very large 
outlay of capital. In the black soil of Nagpur, 
Wardha, and the Narbada Valley the open field cultiv- 
ation is the rule, and it would be interesting to dis- 
cover by experiment whether this is the result of cir- 
cumstances which render field embanking less profit- 
able than in the eastern districts. The experiments 
of the past season go to show that embankments 
would yield a fair profit on the farm land. But 
the experiments were only initiated during the year 
under report and their results must be checked by 
those of two or three seasons. 
An ensilage experiment with Guinea grass succeeded 
very well, and the experience of the year under report 
bears out that of previous years in showing that green 
fodder may be successfully stored in pits against the 
hot weather. I may mention here that during the 
year under report grass was very successfully ensil- 
aged by the Superintendent of the Maharaj Bagh 
in the same manner as that adopted on the Farm. 
The trial was an interesting one, as the grass was 
out -while in flower before the end of the mon- 
soon, when it was at its prime for cattle feeding 
purposes, instead of waiting till the rains were over. 
The quantity stored was 70 maunds, and the expend- 
iture was as follows : -—Digging pit Rl-3-2 ; cutting, 
filling, and ramming B3-14-10. Total R5-2-0. 
About one-fifth of the grass was spoilt by mildew 
and, making a deduction on this account, the cost 
per maund (of 80 lb.) was RO-1-6. The cost of cut- 
ting grass when dry, at the close of the rains, and 
stacking it is about RO-1-4 per maund. Deducting 
for the weight of the excess moisture in silage, its 
cost compared with that of dry grass is about BO-3-0 
per maund. Very careful experiments would be re- 
quired to show precisely the fodder value of silage as 
compared with dry grass. But it seems hardly pos- 
sible that to obtain green fodder in the hot weather 
would not be worth an extra outlay of BO-1-8 per 
maund . Nothing new was done in the way of ex- 
perimenting with improved implements. The imple- 
ments which were recommended in last year's report 
(viz. the Swedish plough, the Bihia Sugar Mill, the 
Cook's Evaporator, and the Winnower) continued to 
give satibfactory results, and what now is wanted 
is not so much an extension of experiment as 'Some 
practical measure to bring about the sale of these 
implements. The only one of them which has as yet 
obtained a market is the Bihia Sugar Mill, 96 of which 
have been sold in the Betul district, owing to their 
having been pushed by private agency. It is only by 
(saluting private enterprize that the Government can 
expect to gaia a sale in this country for implements 
which are new to the people, and endeavours are now 
being made to induce private agency to take up the 
sale of such implements as have been proved beyond 
doubt to be useful. The Farm Superintendent, Mr. 
JCr<8.in i Iyer, has, on the whole, done very well. He 
takes great interest in his work, and has shown con- 
siderable energy in carrying it out." — Madras Mail. 
» 
DESIRABLE FOREST PRODUCTS TO 
INTRODUCE INTO SOUTH INDIA. 
We are not aware that the extraction of the black 
Burmeso varnish has ever been fully described, and 
as some planters on the Nilgiris intend introducing 
tho plant on their estates, and there is little doubt 
that in the near future it will bo as largely cultiv- 
>!<;! as Cinchona, it is of the first importance that 
all practical details relating to the industry should 
1,1; >![!•. niiy studied in order to carry theenterpri.se 
to a successful issue. Wo likewise invite the atten- 
tion of the planting community and Forest Depart- 
ment to equally valuable products which would un- 
doubtedly thrive in Southern India, particularly in 
the Nilgiri District. The varnish tree, Melanorrhoea 
usitata, belongs to the order of Anacardiacece, wuich 
comprises the Mango, the Piar or Ohirongi, (tiuchana- 
nia latifolia) the Bhilawa (Semecarpus Anacardiam) 
and the varnish tree of Japan (Rhusvernicifera). It 
is found almost everywhere in the Bug Forest of 
Pegu and Tenasserim; and in the Tharawaddi district: 
it is particularly common in the lower part of the 
Bng belt, where the soil is said to be better than 
further east near the foot of the Gomah. The tree 
does not attain the same size as the Eig, Engyin 
or Theya, and at this time of the year (August) it 
may be known at once by its darker foliage. The 
leaves resemble those of the Semecarpus {Chayben), 
they are ovate-lanceolate, painted at both ends, and 
covered with soft short pubescence; they are narrowed 
into a short petiole, while the leaves of Eng 
(Bipterocarpus tuberculatum) are glabrous, much larger, 
and have a broad cordate base. Those of Engyin 
(Pentacme Siamensis) which have about the same size, 
and of Theya (Storea obtusa) are also glabrous, of an 
oblong shape with rounded ends. While these trees 
are in leaf it is easy to distinguish them. A large 
proportion of the Thitsee trees — from which varnish 
is likewise extracted — is generally found with the 
varnish tree in Eng forest, and also a number of trees 
found in South India, though they are wanting in 
North and Central India. Of cultivated trees, the. 
Mango, Plantain, Custard-Apple, and Jack fruit are 
common. The trees which have been tapped are at 
once known by triangular scars about nine inches 
long and five inches broad, the apex pointing down- 
wards. On some trees from forty to fifty of these 
scars may be counted, and many incisions are made 
at a height of thirty feet. To work the higher scars 
a most ingenious ladder is used which is permanently 
attached to the tree. It consists of a long upright 
bamboo with holes cut through at intervals of from 
two to three feet. Through each hole are passed two 
flat bamboo sticks driven with their pointed ends into 
the bark. These form the spokes of the ladder and 
are about twelve iuches long. The scars or notches 
to extract the varnish are made with a peculiarly 
shaped chisel about fifteen inches long ; the handle 
is of iron, of one piece with the chisel and about 
nine inches long, the lower end thicker, hollow, and 
closed with a -bamboo pluug. The chisel is wedge- 
shaped, about six inches long (the edge half an inch 
broad) and forms an obtuse angle with the handle. 
With this instrument, two slanting slits, meeting at 
au acute angle, are made upwards through the bark, 
and the triangular piece of bark between the two 
slits is thus slightly lifted up, but not removed. A 
short bamboo tube, about six inches long, with a 
slanting mouth and a sharpened edge, is then hori- 
zontally driven into the bark below the point where 
the two slits meet, and the black varnish, which 
exudes from the inner bark near its contact with the 
wood, runs down iuto the bamboo tube, which is 
emptied at the end of ten days, when it ceases to flow. 
A second cut is then made so as to shorten the tri- 
angular piece of bark which had been separated from the 
wood when the first cuts were made. A shorter tri- 
angular piece of bark remains, ending in an angle less 
ftoute tba j before, and the appearance of the scar is then 
as below. The bamboo tube, which before was at a, is 
moved a little higher (to b) and the edges of the 
c d original cut (c b and d b) are cut afresh. 
\The varnish then runs out for another tea 
J\ days, after which the scar is abandoned. 
' / The trees vary in yield exceedingly. A 
| crooked treo with very scanty foliage, which 
/ Mr. Douglas examined, was said to yield a 
/ good outturn, while some of the largest trees 
/ were said to yield very little. Mr. Douglas 
< saw trees tapped which had a diameter 
b only nine inches. One man is employed to 
a cut two hundred aud look after one thou- 
sand two hundred scars per diem. Work is carried on 
only in those parts of the forest where the trees are 
