July 2, 1894.] Supplement to the " Tropical Agriculturist" 
71 
lb. linseed cake per diem. The treatment should 
be as liberal as to turn them out to the grass 
in good condition. In the following summer 
and autumn, they should be allowed to graze 
on good pasture, rich in phospates, so that their 
growth of bone and substance will not be 
checked in any way. In winter, they should 
again receive, in addition to turnips, hay and 
straw, a little extra concentrated food, such as 
linseed cake or cottou cake, at the rate of 2 
or 3 lb. per day. If, by the treatment they have 
received, they be large and strong, we may have 
them in milk between two and three years old. 
The following is from a leaflet issued by the 
Royal Agricultural Society of England : — 
From the evidence which has recently been 
brought lo the notice of the Society, it is con- 
sidered desirable to recommend to the special 
attention of stock-owners, in whose herds abor- 
tion has appeared, the system of preventive 
treatment which is described in the following 
quotation from the article on Abortion in the 
Society's Journal, Vol. II., Part IV., 1891, page 
738. The plan which Professor Nocard recom- 
mends to be used in cow-sheds and premises in 
which epizootic abortion occurs year by year 
is the following: — 1. Every week the places in 
which cows are kept must be well cleansed, and 
especially the part behind the cows, and then 
disinfected by a strong solution of sulphate of 
copper (blue vitriol ), or a solution of carbolic acid, 
one to fifty of water. 2. The under part of the 
tail, the anus, vulva, and parts below of all the 
cows must be sponged daily with the following 
lotion which, is a strong poison : — 
Rain water or distilled water . . 2 gallons 
Corrosive sublimate . . . . 2£ drachms 
Hydrochloric Acid . . . . 2^ ounces 
During the first season of this treatment only 
a moderate amount of improvement is to be ex- 
pected, but after the next season abortion will 
cease entirely. It appears that in some districts 
no precautions are taken to destroy the foetues 
after abortion. This should be done ivithout 
delay in every case by burning or burial in quick- 
lime. Lime should also be freely scattered 
over the ground contaminated with the discharge. 
EXPERIMENTS ON THE DURABILITY OF 
VARIOUS WOODS. 
In order to obtain some data on the durability 
of Indian woods, the Government of India in 
a Circular dated the 31st October, 1879, ordered 
these experiments to be started. Specimens of 
various species were prepared, the size and shape 
of a metre-guage sleeper being chosen as most 
suitable. These wei'e placed in the ground of 
the Imperial Forest School, one-half of each 
piece being left exposed, the other half under 
ground : in all 39 pieces were thus treated, 
most of them having been put down in 1881, 
and a few subsequently at different times. The 
soil in which the sleepers were buried was a 
rich sandy clay, giving, on a rough qualitative 
analysis made by Instructor Mr. A. F Gradon : — 
Sand . . . . . . 35 per cent. 
Clay .. .. ... 24 „ 
Organic matter . , . , 5 „ 
One by one, the weaker and softer kinds dis- 
appeared, under the effects of rot and the 
attacks of white ants : and in August 1892, 
just eleven years after the commencement of 
the experiment, the surviving pieces were dug 
up by the Deputy Director, Mr. Sniythies, in 
the presence cf his class of Forest Utilization, 
with the following results : — 
Three species had their wood still perfectly 
sound in every respect, both above and below 
ground. These were (1) the Himalayan Cypress, 
(Cupressus torulosa) 10 years buried; (2) Teak, 
9 years buried ; and (3) Anjan ( Hardivickai 
binata) 7 years buried. Both Deodar and Sissu 
after 11 years' burial had their heartwood quite 
sound, but the sapwood has been entirely eaten 
away by white-ants. Next to these came the 
two species of Eugenia, Piaman {Eugenia 
operculala) and Jam an {Eugenia Jarnbolana) 
which lasted well for 9 years but are now 
beginning to show signs of decay. Sandan 
(Ougeinia dalbergioides) was much the same, as 
were also Toon (Cedrela Toona) and Albizzia 
procera. The Toon was almost untouched above 
ground, but the buried parts were unmistak- 
ably traversed by the mycelia of fungi. Sain 
(Tcrminalia tomentosa) and Albizzia Lebbek lasted 
8 years ; Phyllanthns Emblica, Adina cordifolia, 
Cedrela serrata, Finns e.vcelsa and Abies Smithiana 
remained good for 7 years and then succumbed. 
Pinus longifolia and the three oaks (Quercus 
Semecarpifolia, incana and dilatata) lasted 6 years. 
Aegle Marmelos, Stejjhegyne parvifolia, Abies 
Webbiana and Schleichera trijuga remained good 
for 5 years. A Greivia lasted for four years, 
while Lager strdmia par viflora, Anogeissus latifolia, 
Acacia arabica, Butea frondosa, Aesculus indica 
and the Mango gave way in 3 years' time. 
It is as well to place on record that Dehra 
Dun is the broad valley at the base of the 
Himalaya, and between it and the Siwaliks, 
extending from the Jumna to the Ganges. The 
altitude of the locality is just about 2,100 feet, 
the climate is moderately cool and the average 
annual rainfall 73 inches. 
The most remarkable thing about these ex- 
periments is the durability of the Cypress, a 
fact which ought to be remembered in planting 
trees in the hills, for few trees are so easily grown, 
even down to the plains in the Dun and further 
still to Saharanpur. The wood is not unlike 
deodar, but with a quite different strong scent. 
The tree thrives best on limestone, but is not 
really very particular and it grows straight and 
well in close plantations. — Indian Forester. 
♦ 
ZOOLOGICAL NOTES FOR AGRICULTURAL 
STUDENTS. 
Next in order after the birds come the 
Mammals constituting the fifth and last class 
of vertebrate animals. The general character- 
istics of mammlia are that respiration is aerial : 
the lungs are not connected with air-sacs ; the 
heart is four-chambered ; the blood warm; t he 
integumentary covering is in the form of hairs, 
the young are nourished by milk secreted by 
special glands — the mammary glands : the skull 
has two condyles. 
