Supplement to the "Tropical Agriculturist." [March 1, 1895. 
' Anbury " in turnips. The latter makes the o] 
lowing interesting statement:—" On visiting the 
fields where the turnips were affected (by the 
above-named disease) by wart-like excrescence-, 
and forked and twisted into the most fantastical 
forms, I noticed a spot on w hich the roots were 
nearly all sound. On stooping down and exami- 
ning the soil, I picked up some bits of a whitish- 
looking substance which appeared to me like dried 
gas-lime, and I learned afterwards that on this 
very spot a cart of gas-lime had been unloaded the 
year before. The chemical examination of the soil 
on this field showed merely traces of lime ; and, at 
my recommendation, the occupier applied a heavy 
dose of gas-lime, which completely cured the evil."' 
Considering the above, we can come to no other 
conclusion than that gas-lime is of value to those 
who can easily obtain it. — N. B. Agriculturist. 
FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE. 
The Colonial Veterinary Surgeon of the Cape 
recommends the following treatment for foot and 
mouth disease in the last number of Agricultural 
Journal of Cape Colony: — "The principal consider- 
ation is to keep the feet clean and dry, to prevent 
matter and inttnetable sores from forming. 
" The following lotion will answer as a wash for 
the mouth and a dressing for the feet : — ■ 
Powdered; Sulphate of Copper .. 6 ounces. 
Carbolic Acid or Jeyes' Fluid . . 3 do. 
Water . . . . . . 1 gallon. 
"Mix thoroughly and apply :6<i» the eruption. The 
mouth will get well with one or two dressings, 
but the feet should be thoroughly cleaned, dressed 
and carefully attended to. Any astringent healing 
antiseptic lotion will answer, if well applied. A 
dressing of tar answers very well where cattle can- 
not be regularly attended to. 
"Considering that the large majority of the 
cattle in this country are not sufficiently tamo to 
admit of being caught daily to have their feet 
dressed properly, I would recommend, as a sub- 
stitute for daily dressing by the hand, that a large 
shallow bath be constructed m a suitable situation, 
either of wood or cut out of the soil and cemented, 
or if the soil is capable of retaining water, a good 
bath may be made, by simply cutting out a level 
channel about 12 feet wide and 18 feet long, cap- 
able of holding a fluid mixture about 9 inches deep, 
the edges sufficiently high to prevent waste by 
splashing over. It would be necessary to have a 
strong close fence on each side of the bath to keep 
them in it when being driven through, with a gate 
at each end to prevent any animals from getting 
to the bath to drink. The affected cattle could be 
driven through this bath daily, and as a preventive, 
I would recommend that the non-affected stock 
should be driven through daily also, while the 
disease continues in the neighbourhood. If the 
herds and flocks are small, a bath half the size of 
the above may be sufficient." 
o 
SOME ASPECTS OP NATIVE AGRICULTURE. 
The native cultivator (or goyiya) is an individual 
about whose character there is much diversity 
of opinion. He is considered lazy and apathetic 
by some, while others looks upon him as a helpless 
€reature, a child of circumstances who is deserv- 
ing of our sincerest commiseration. Some assert 
that lie is ignorant of the very rudiments of 
agriculture, ami some again maintain that when 
it comes to paddy and other indigenous crops, 
so far from requiring to be taught he cm MMh 
others. I have late y hud an opportunity of 
seeing native cultivation carried on under condi- 
tions which may be said to be peculiar to the 
districts in which they were met with, and this 
experience for one tiling has brought new light 
to bear upon our idea of the character of the native 
cultivator. 
In the remote villages visited by me the art 
of agriculture has reached such a state of neelect 
as the ancient cultivators of Ceylon would hardly 
have believed it could reach. True, there are 
some grave difficulties in the way of the agri- 
culturist in many parts of the Island, and among 
them may be mentioned the great lack of cheap 
conveyance, the absence of murkets, and the 
difficulty of getting about. To these drawbacks 
we may attribute the fact that the villagers 
in many parts never go in for vegetable-fruit 
garden culture, as the produce is of a comparatively 
perishable nature and will not keep for any length 
of time ; and that produce should keep is, of course, 
a necessary condition in these remote places. I 
have seen excellent English and native vegetables 
grown experimentally in places where there was 
no market to speak of for the produce. Many 
of our largest provincial towns contain but a 
handful of probable consumers of fruits and 
vegetables of superior quality ; but even granted 
a sufficient number of consumers, in the absence 
of cheap means of transport, it will not pay the 
cul'ivator to convey his produce from the remoter 
villages to the markets of the larger towns. So 
that as far as vegetable gardening is concerned, 
these villages may justly be acquitted of blame. 
Indeed, there are parts of provinces that have 
yet to be opened up a great deal before fruit 
and vegetable gardens can be successfully es- 
tablished. Milch of them is still covered with 
forest growth, and till villages and towns and 
markets appear in those places, it can hardly 
be expected that the villager will expend the 
care and trouble necessary for vegetable culture 
— which requires clean cultivation, manuring and 
watering — with the poorest possibility there is 
at present for marketing his produce. But what 
surprised me was the careless manner in which 
paddy and the fine grains (kurakkan, amu, tana, 
&c.,) are cultivated. The yield of paddy is miser-* 
ably low, and no wonder, whet, the land is 
continually under cultivation without fallowing 
and without manuring. So little importance is 
attached to the preparation of the land in many 
places, that even the use of the native plough 
has been discarded and the only operation pre- 
paratory to sowing is the iuverison of the sods 
by means of the mamotie. The crop receives 
little or no after treatment, and is generally left 
to struggle against weeds. 
In the chinas the hue grains may be seen 
growing together with hill paddy, Indian corn 
and other plants, the seeds of all having been 
sown together. The result as may be expected, 
is that there is a struggle among the various 
crops and that they all suffer. 
There is little excuse for the carelessness of 
the cultivators in the matter of paddy and dry 
grain cultivation, when it would be to thei| 
