772 
Supplement to the "Tropical Agriculturist? [May l, 1895. 
any contact with iron would make the leather 
prepared by the extract brittle and discoloured. 
Medicine. — Iteede states that the bark mixed 
■with dried ginger or long pepper and rose water is 
said to be a cure for diabetes. No other writer 
appears to have made this observation : indeed, 
0"Shanghnessy expressly ntates that none of the 
Mangroves are reported to have any medicinal 
virtues. 
Food. — The fruit is reported to be sweet and 
edible, and the juice to be made into a kind of 
light wine. Salt is extracted from the ieriul 
roots. 
Structure of the Wood. — Sapwood light red, 
heartwood dark red, extremely hard, but warps and 
splits in seasoning; ; it is very durable. Weight 
70"5 lbs. per cubic foot. 
Domestic Uses. — The wood, although good, is 
rarely used in India. Rumphius, speaking of the 
wood, stales that in Amboyna it was a much valued 
fuel, and that the Chinese employ it to muke 
charcoal for use in their workshops. He also adds 
that the larger aerial roots were used sis anchors 
for smull boats, and remarks that in the Moluccas 
a curious custom, and one al variance with 
European ideas, prevails, in that while the an- 
chors were made of wood, the boats are constructed 
of a light stone thrown up by \\w volcanoes of 
these islands. 
OCCASIONAL NOTES. 
We are glad to be able to announce that the ar- 
ticle on the "Laws of Ceylon relating to Agri- 
culture," which had been left unfinished in our 
issue for April, 189], will be continued in this 
ar,d future numbers. The accomplished lawyer 
who has kindly consented to complete the article, 
hopes to be able to find the time to write also on 
the Forest Laws of Ceylon. Now that the stu- 
dents of the School of Agriculture are getting some 
training in Forestry, the paper on the Forest 
Laws of Ceylon will be of special value. 
We offer a hearty welcome to Mr. (i. W. Stur- 
gess, the new Colonial Veterinary Surgeon for 
Ceylon. We trust he will have a useful and suc- 
cessful career in the island. 
Mr. W. A. de Silva, G.B.v.c., who has been act- 
ing as Colonial Veterinary Surgeon, has reverted 
to his substantive appointment as Headmaster 
of the School of Agriculture, where his varied 
qualifications make his services of the greatest 
value to the staff and students. 
The Hony. Secretary to the Agri-Horticultural 
Society of Madras has been good enough to 
give us some information regarding a variety 
ot paddy which is cultivated as a dry crop, i.e., 
not irrigated but dependent upon rainfall. This 
variety which is known as " Valai" is cultivated 
in a comparatively limited tract of country from 
40 to 50 miles north of Madras. The land is man- 
ured, and ploughed two or three times. It is 
then harrowed twice and the seeds are then put in 
with the native drill. The seed is sown in August 
r early in September, and the crop is harvested in 
December. The mean monthly rainfall at Madras 
which may be taken as the same as the tract in 
which "Yalai" is grown, is as follows : — August 
4'81 in., September 4 34 in., October 10 80 id., 
November Li'60 in., December 5*78 in. The mean 
annual rainfall is 50 inches. 
There would seem to be little chance of the 
Mar am grasB (Psamma arenaria) doing well with 
us, as the Superintendent of tlie Saharanpur 
Botanic Gardens, in writing to us, mentions that 
though it made a good growth during the cold sea- 
son, it completely died out during the first monsoon. 
We had hoped that this grass might have been use- 
ful on our sandy wastes, but it is suggested to us 
that the various species of Sporobolm grown on 
the mar lands in India, might suit our purpose 
better. 
Of the six varieties of cow-pea grown experi- 
mentally at the School of Agriculture, the variety 
known as "the wonderful" was the most satis- 
factory. The cow-pea in appearauce and growth 
much resembles the bean known in Sinhalese as 
ijax-ma, only that the latter is much the robuster 
oft lie two and yields heavy crops of fruit. We 
doubt not that this latter is in every way fitted to 
take the place of the cow-pea, and we commend it 
to the notice of those interested in the subject of 
leguminous green manures. 
A herd of some "2o Siud cows and bulls was 
lately imported from Karachi by that enterpris- 
ing gentleman, Mr. T. II. A. de Soysa, and 
realised good prices when exposed for sale. It 
will be remembered that the first occasion on 
which Siud cattle were imported into the island 
was in 1S93, when a number of cows were brought 
over for the Government Dairy. The dairy au- 
thorities may justly take credit for being the 
means of introducing one of the best Indian milk- 
ing breeds into Ceylon where the native milch 
cow is so unsatisfactory. 
The crop of sweet-potatoes raised at the School 
of Agriculture under favourable conditions wus 
at the rate of 60 tons per acre. 
We have received, through the kindness of the 
Superintendent of the Cossipore Practical Insti- 
tution of floriculture. Floriculture and Agricul- 
ture, three cases of Rhea plants for experimental 
cultivation at the School of Agriculture. The 
Cossipore Institution was founded in 1886 through 
the munificence of Babu Hem Chunder Mitter, 
who, quite unassisted by Government or private 
individuals, has been maintaining it nearly seven 
years for the purpose of imparting free education 
on Horti-Flori and Agriculture. Students are ex- 
pected to remain as such for a period of at least 
three consecutive years, and they are allowed to 
draw a monthly stipend of R10toR14. accordingly 
to their efficiency, with free board. Lectures are 
delivered to the students on variou? subjects in 
Practical Botany, while the institution also offers 
facilities for the training of the sons of gardeners 
in the art of high-class gardening. On another 
page we give an extract from the report of this 
useful Institution for 1893. 
