778 
Supplement to the "Tropical Agriculturist." [May 1, 1895. 
Water - 
Pats - - ' - - 0.94 
* Albuminoids - 9-94 
t Amides, &c. - \-qq 
Pectose, gum, &c. - #■•)•> 
Starch - ,37 38 
Digestible fibre - - - 16 46 
Woody fibre - 9 67 
Mineral matters - - - ^ 2 44 
10000 (nic.) 
* Oonfciiniog nit-o«en - . ]-59 
t „ - «16 
The grain of this grass, from its composition, 
possesses a fair value, although the proportions 
of fibre present are somewhat high. 
In the Journal of the Agri-lL„rl. Society of 
India, 1894, p. 78, it is stated : — " A very good 
crop was raised this season. After the stalks 
had reached a height of about 5 feet, they wore 
cut down to within 1 foot of the ground ; three 
weeks later a second crop was ready for cutting, 
varying in height from 18 inches to 3 fei I 
third crop was cut a month later, and yielded fttalkt 
about 2 feet high ; in this manner three good 
cuttings were made in four months. li 
found that from 4> to 5 lbs- of seed were sufficient 
to sow an acre. The fodder is greatly relished by 
cattle." 
At Lagos, on the West Coast of Africa, Mr. 
Millen has successfully introduced " Teosinte " 
as a fodder plant, and in June 1894 wrote i I 
have planted a quantity of plants of RuchUena 
luxuriant; it is the only fodder plan 1 of those 
introduced which appears to be growing with 
good results." 
At Saharunpur, in the Report for 1893 just 
issued. Teosinte is mentioned as having suddenly 
grown into demand as an annua] forage grass, 
and seed has been harvested to meet all possible 
demands. 
ZOOLOGICAL NOTES FOR AGRICULTURAL 
STUDENTS. 
Quadrumana. — The characteristics of the mem- 
bers of this order are the following :— The hal- 
lux (innermost toe of the hind limb) is sepa- 
rated from the other toes, and is opposite to 
them, so that the hind feet become prehensile. 
The pollex (innermost toe of the fore limbs) may 
be wanting, but when present is usually oppo*- 
site to the other digits. To this order belong 
the apes, monkeys, baboons, lemurs, &c. 
The last order of the mammalia is Bimana, 
and as it comprises man alone, it hardly re- 
quires notice here, since the peculiarities of man's 
mental and physical structure belong to other 
branches of science. 
Postscr pt — These notes were commenced in 
our issue of July 1892, and were originally in- 
tended only for the students of the Colombo 
School of Agriculture. The subject of Zoology— in 
its relation to agriculture— must, however, needs 
be of great interest to students of agriculture, 
who need not all be students of an Agricultural 
School or College, and for this reason and in 
order that the notes may be collected and pre- 
sented in a convenient form to nllwho may wish 
to study or cor.sult them, the writer will en- 
deavour to find time to revise and publish them 
in hand-book form. 
TUB COSSIPORE INSTITUTION. 
The following extract from the report of the 
Cossipore Practical Institution of Ilorticultuie, 
Floriculture and Agriculture for l89.'i, deals with 
the practical operations carried on in the Insti- 
tution's Gardens, and contains much information 
of a useful nature, which will be interesting 
reading to students of agriculture in Ceylon. In 
congratulating the Superintendent (from whom 
we have also received a Report of Sixth Flower 
Show held in February, 1894) on the excellent 
work done by the Institution, we can only ex- 
press a hope that some from among our 
wealthy native gentry maybe induced to follow 
the example of the philanthropic founder of the 
Cossipore Institution : — 
Now let us turn to offer a few remarks regard- 
ing the improvements made upon the resources of 
the Gardens and Experiments! Farms of the 
Institution during the year under review. We are 
glad to note that, the quantity of flowering and 
ornamental plants and fruit grafts of various de- 
scriptions, added to the stock of the gardens, ex- 
ceed the collection of former years. These were 
nil indented to benefit the students, who by pro- 
pagating the plants might learn the various me- 
thods of multiplication, and also their nature and 
treatment from the first stage of development. 
Here we may add that we have acquired a plot 
of land directly to the west of the Cossipore Gar- 
den, for the purposes of extending of Rosary and 
making agricultural experiments. This addition 
has been put in hand by the r xecutive Commit- 
tee simply for the reason, that, for want of a pro- 
per field to experiment upon near Cossipore, most 
of the students have found difficulty to learn agri- 
culture, as they had to go to our distant farms at 
Ultadanga and Shankhyanagar. 
In agricultural matters, — the necessity for in- 
creasing the quantity and improving the quality 
of the crops have become strongly felt in our 
country ; and they have always engaged the at- 
tention of t he Institution most closely during the 
past years. V> T e have, therefore, shown much 
zeal in setting examples to the cultivate 8 by way 
of improving the soil grown exhausted by the 
same and unifoim methods of tillage, and in- 
troducing recent systems most suited to the re- 
sources of the country. In our Experiment Farms 
of Cossipore, Ultadanga, and Shankhyanagar where 
every ytar larger areas have been brought under 
cultivation, we have attempted the cultivation of 
some crops such as paddy, tobacco, radish, peas, 
cabbages, cauliflowers, onions, garlic, beet, car- 
rot, beans, parbar, mustard, moosooree, oats, gram. 
Thikra kalai, Indian corn, &c, according to our 
own way ; and the results arrived at were more 
or less satisfactory. As regards fibrous plants, 
we may add that we have cultivated Boehmeria 
niven, Sida rhomboidia, Malachca capitata, and 
Hibiscus abelmoschus. All of these tre indige- 
nous to this country ; and most of them may be 
turned to profitable account. We tried similar ex- 
periments with jute and hemp on a somewhat 
larger scale, extending over many bighas of land in 
our Experimental Farm of Shankhyanagar : but 
