288 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [September i, 1881. 
The Sabeacenias or side-saddle flowers, better known 
as pitcher plants, and tbat havp long been grown in 
hot houses for the sake of their pitchers, are now found 
to be well worth cultivating on account of the size and 
beauty of their flowers, Messrs. Bull, Williams, 
Veitcb, and others have furnished the" Gardeners' Chron- 
icle with specimens of flowers, some of which have 
been figured and deecribed in that journal. They are 
said to be magnificent flowers, and. the use of this 
superlative is, no doubt, fully justified so far as size 
and singularity of form are concerned. The colours, 
however, appear to be dull. — Australasian. 
The "T. A." — We have received a copy of the Tropical 
Agriculturist, a monthly record of information for planters 
of coffee, tea, cocoa, sugar, palms and other products 
suited for cultivation in the tropics. The contents of 
the number before us, which is issued from the Ceylon 
Observer Press, show that great pains have been 
bestowed upon the compilation of the publication, and 
we have no doubt tbat it will secure a large consti- 
tuency not only in Ceylon but in the large planting 
districts of Coorg, Mysore, &c. Much of the informa- 
tion published in the Tropical Agriculturist appears in 
the daily issue of the Ceylon Observer. — Madras Standard. 
The "T. A." — A new monthly publication has been 
started in Ceylon, called The Tropical Agriculturist. It is 
published at the office of the Ceylon Observer and consists 
chiefly of extracts judiciously selected from that paper 
and from the Indian, Home, and Colonial, journals. The 
present preliminary issue, the conductors say, cannot 
be taken as a fair specimen of what will follow, and 
it will be their endeavour to find a place in the pages of 
The Tropical Agriculturist for everything beariug on 
the practical work of a tropical planter. We hope 
the present attempt to supply a want which has long 
been felt in Ceylon will meet with success. — Madras 
Athenaeum. 
Rapid Cure tjoe Poot-and-Mouth Disease in 
Cattle, — A very rapid cure of the foot-and-mouth 
disease in cattle is said to have been discovered by 
the Duke of Brunswick. He uses a solution of 
salicylic acid, prepared by pouring some hot water on 
about three tablespoonfuls of the acid in an earthen 
vessel, adding lukeworm water to make up a gallon. 
The mouth and feet of the diseased animal should 
be carefully washed three times a day with this liquid, 
and the tops of the hoofs well powdered with the 
dry acid after each washing, To the drinking-water 
should be added two tablespoonfuls of the acid dis- 
solved in hot water. —Family Herald. 
Hedge Plants. — One prominent name is that of 
E. Hornsby & Son (Limited) whose hedgecutting 
machine I saw at Kyneton trimming a furze fence 
beautifully. One horse pulled the machine on one 
side of the hedge, and by merely adjusting the guillotine- 
like shears both sides and the top were trimmed. The 
use of this machine removes the one objection to what 
in Scotland we call "whins." The plant, if left to 
itself, blossoms so as to compete with the most brilliant 
of tne Australian acacias, — indeed it is difficult at a 
short distance to distinguish the introduced gorse from 
the native "wattles." The seed is in proportion to 
the blossom. It is far more lasting as a hedge than 
the Kangaroo acacia, and its only rivals are the 
English "May" thorn, or hawthorn, and the Cape 
box thorn. The latter, with its formidable epdteB is 
ge bing into favour. If only the furze can be kept 
■well- rimmed, it makes a perfect hedge and a good 
Lre;ikwind, a fact which I recommend to the attention 
of planters in the neighbourhood of Nuwara Eliya, 
•wlivre ''whins" and "the lang yellow broom" flourish 
■ide by side with rich flowered fuschias and brilliant 
sca> W rhododendrons. The trimmings of afurze hedge 
thoroughly qruized, could be utilized as fodder for 
horses or cattle. 
Nilgteis. —Up to date it may be considered that 
the monsoon rains have disastrously failed throughout 
the plateau; the July rainfall has been exceedingly 
scanty compared with the fall of the same mouth in 
previous ordinary years. The scarcity of rain gives the 
country a parched appearance, and estate operations 
are retarded. Native cultivation in parts is considered 
even at present to be a failure past recovery, while in 
other parts rain within the next week may save some 
of the standing crops, and produce a scanty yield. 
Many of the coffee and tea estates have suffered from 
the season, and crops, which looked favorable a fort- 
night ago, are jeopardized, by the rain holding off. On 
tea estates the flush is not coming out with the 
desired rapidity. Appearances are in favor of a change 
for the better, and the knowing ones predict copious 
showers within a week. The South-West wind has 
almost cleared within the past week or ten days, and 
this augurs a fresh burst. — South of India Observer. 
Meecara, 23rd July. — For rice cultivation in 
Coorg this year has been very favourable, and 
the ryots have availed themselves of it to the 
utmost by ploughing up disused rice fields, and 
using them for the coming crop. With the im- 
mense natural reservoirs of water, always on hand, 
more land could be utilised for rice than is the case, 
for the fields in most cases are continuations of steps 
at the bottom of declivities, with ever flowing 6treams> 
from above, which could be turned on the land at 
will : there is rice growing here at an elevation of 
4, 100 feet. There is also a good prospect of a rich crop 
of cardamoms, there having been a very fair flowering, 
and a genial season afterwards ; the cardamom pods 
now half-grown and well forward. The prices still 
continue high, fetching five shillings and sixpence 
for some parcels shipped to England in March. 
A parcel of cinchona bark (succirubra) sent home 
a month previously, and stripped from trees thirteen 
years old, grown at 3, 700 feet elevation, only sold at 
the average price of one shilling and five pence half- 
penny : the highest fetching 2s. 2d. — the lowest rate 
9d. a pound. — Madras Standard. 
The "Teopical Ageicultueist." — The above is the 
title of a new monthly issued from the Observer office. 
It is edited by the enterprising Messrs. Ferguson, of 
the Ceylon Observer and the object of the pnblieation 
is to furnish planters, for easy reference with informa- 
tion of coffee, tea, cocoa, cinchona, sugar, palms and 
other products suited for cultivation in the tropics. 
The contents consist of editorial correspondence ex- 
tracts and miscellaneous notes. The articles are 
written in a clear business like style and contain very 
useful information. .Replete as they are with, figures, 
we have learnt many new things from them. The 
correspondence is very properly confined to matters of 
planting importance such as coffee leaf disease, tobacco 
cultivation, &c. The extracts comprise very useful 
selections from home, Indian and Ceylon papers, bear- 
ing ample evidence to the facts that the Editors 
know what planters of the tropics want. Every page 
affords pleasing proofs of the ability, and the exten- 
sive knowledge brought to beir upon the new venture. 
We have read it with great interest and have no 
hesitation in saying that every planter who monthly 
invests a rupee in it will ultimately find the money not 
mis-applied and that the publication itself is a mine 
of useful information evidently worth more than its 
present price. Satisfactory as is the Agriculturist, 
there is still a want, which we feel sure requires only 
to be pointed out to be remedied. Naiive agriculture 
does not seem to receive sufficient attention in its 
pages. That natives are more largely interested in 
planting than a quarter century ago is undeniable. 
The products cultivated by them are tobacco, coconut 
vanilla, pine-apple, grapes, mango, paddy cereals, &c. 
—Jaffna Patriot. 
