m 
Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist." [June 1, 1894. 
singular property of congealii^ by h«at and 
becoming fluid again on exposure to cold. Mu- 
darine is obtained from the tincture of Mudar, 
the powdered root being macerated and steeped 
in cold rectified spirit. After recovering the 
spirit by distillation the solution is allowed 
to cool. A granular resin is then deposited, 
which is allowed to dry in order that it may 
concrete. If water be then applied the colour- 
ed solution from which the resin was de- 
posited dissolves, and tiie resin remains. This 
solution is called Mudarine. In taste it is 
very bitter, solube in alcohol and cold water, 
but insoluble in sulphuric tether or olive oil. 
By experiments made by Dr. G. Playfair the 
milky juice was found to be a very efficacious 
medicine in leprosy, dropsy, rheumatism, and 
in hectic and intermittent fevers. By the Hin- 
doos it is employed in typhus fever and syphi- 
litic complaints with such success as to have 
earned the title of vegetable mercury. Dr. 
Duncan held that it agreed in everj' respect 
with Ipecacuanha, and that from the facility of 
procuring it, it might eventually supersede the 
latter medicine. The pulverised root made into 
an ointment is a very efficacious remedy for 
old ulcers. The milky juice mixed with com- 
mon salt is administered in cases of toothache, 
and the juice of the young buds in ear-ache. 
The leavas beaten up with pepper are given 
internally in cases of snake-bites, and boiled 
in oil they are rubbed over the body in scabies. 
Besides its medicinal uses the plant and its 
productions are utilised ii various other ways. 
The root is used in the manufacture of gun- 
powder charcoal. In a powdered form it is 
used to adulterate safflower. The silky floss 
which surrounds the seeds has been woven 
into shawls and handkerchiefs, and even made 
into paper. 
But the chief value of this plant consists in 
the tine, strong fibres in which it abounds. 
To procure them the straightest branches are 
cut aud exposed to the air for at least twenty- 
four hours ; on the second and third day they 
are slightly beaten ; the skin is then peeled, and 
the stringy substance between the bark and 
the wood taken out. The fibre is then dried 
in the -sun. This slow process is necessarily 
expensive, but if the bark is steeped in water, 
it discolours the fibre. This fibre is, however, 
strong and possesses many of the properties 
of Europe flax. It can be spun into thcifinest 
thread for sewing or weaving cloth. It resists 
moisture for a long time. From experiments 
made its tenacity as compared with other In- 
dian fibres is as follows: — 
Breaking iveights. 
Gigantic Swallow-wort {Calotropis lbs. 
gigantea) . . . . . . 552 
Sunn {Orotolaria juncea) . . . . 407 
American Aloes {Agave Americana) . . 360 
Cotton (Gossypium herbaceum) . . 346 
Bowhtring hemp (Sanseviera zeylanica) 316 
Deccanee Hemp (Hibiscus cannabinus) 290 
Coir {Cocos nuci/era) . . . . 224 
The fibre of the gigantic swallow-wort is 
thus very strong. But it is too valuable foe 
ordinary cordage. It is said by good judges 
to be better suited for the manufacture of 
jlotU thau for cordage purposes. It is much 
used in India for bow-»tring8, ropes, bird-uets, 
aud tiger-traps. The fibre has never, however, 
been cultivated as a cordage plant. It was 
once described as much resembling Belgian flax, 
well suited for prime warp yarns aud worth 
£100 per ton. Royle says that it yields a 
kind of manna called Mudar Sugar. The vis- 
cid juice of the plant has been successfully 
converted into rubber in Madras. To prepare 
it the juice is evaporated in a shallow dish, 
either in the sun or in the shade. When drj', 
it is worked up in hot water with a wooden 
kueader. It is soluble in oil of turpentine, 
takes impressions, and should prove a valuable 
product, either alone or mixed with other 
substances. It is strange that this liandy 
plant with its various uses is not more widely 
cultivated. 
Among the Sinhalese Calatropis Gigantea is 
known as wara, and the plant is found grow- 
ing wild in waste places, but has never be<Mi 
cultivated either for the sake of its bark fibre 
or the silky ftoss in its pods. 
THE INFLUKNCE OF SOIL ON THE PERIOD 
OF FLOWERING. 
{To the Editor of the Magazine of the School 
of Agriculture, Colombo.) 
Sib, — It might appear rather strange that 
the jute plants grown at the Colombo School 
of Agriculture liave run to flower and seed 
much earlier than expected. In India the jute 
is harvested, if I am not mistaken, about three 
and a half months after sowing, that is, when 
the plants begin to flower, of course. But the 
jute grown here began to flower and came 
into season in about six or seven weeks, 
that 13 to say, it had to be harvested nearly 
two months before the expected time. 
It will, I trust, be interesting to your read- 
ers if an explanation can be offered to this 
curious fact. 1 remember a similar instance 
which occurred in dhall culture when I was 
Agricultural Instructor at Mullaittivu. A plot 
of clay laud was first sown with dhall, and 
nearly three mouths after a plot of satidj- 
soil half a mile away from the previous one 
wa.« also sown with dhall. To my surprise, 
however, in little more then three months after 
the second sowing both came into bearing 
the same time, the dhall in the clay soil be- 
ing fully six months old at the time. 
It will thus be seen that the dhall sown 
on the sandy soil was quicker in coming to 
bearing by about three months. There was, 
however, another striking difference between 
the plants on the two plots. The plants on 
the sandy soil were rather stunted in growth, 
while on the clay land grew up into big high 
buslies with .-tout sterms and thick luxuriant 
foliage. A comparison of the dhall planted in 
both the places led me to the inference that 
a clay soil helps the full development of stem 
aud leaf, but a sandy one makes the plants 
run too readily to seed. 
Such difference in development according as 
the soil is sandy or clayey is not confined to 
leguminous crops such as dhall, but has been 
noticed in cereals such as paddy, although the 
