Magazine  of  the  School  of  Agriculture ; 
47 
MORIN  DA. 
in  Handbook  No.  6 of  the  Imperial  Institute 
series,  says  the  Indian  Agriculturist , the  article  on 
Morinda  in  the  Dictionary  of  Economic  Products 
by  Dr.  Wat-t  has  been  produced  with  the  addition 
of  an  Appendix.  Al (Morinda)  root  has  been  occa- 
sionally sent  to  Europe  but  no  regular  trade  in 
the  dye  stuff  appears  to  exist.  Cloth  dyed  with  Al 
is  not  attacked  by  white-ants,  and  on  this  account 
is  used  in  India  to  wrap  round  the  account  books 
of  bankers  and  shopkeepers,  and  it  might  with 
advantage  be  more  generally  used  for  book-bind- 
ing and  other  purposes  for  which  protection  from 
insects  is  a desideratum. 
Morinda  is  a genus  of  erect  or  climbing  shrubs  or 
trees  which  comprise  about  forty  species,  all 
tropical.  Of  these  seven  are  natives  of  India, 
and  three  of  Ceylon,  viz.,  Morinda  Citrifolia  var. 
Brachteata,  and  M.  Tinctoria  (both  known  as  Ahu 
among  the  Sinhalese)  and  M . ITmbellata  (Sin.  Kiri- 
wel  or  Maha-kiri-wel). 
Of  M.  brachteata,  Thwaites  says: — Not  uncommon 
in  the  hotter  parts  of  the  island,  in  and  near  the 
gardens  of  the  Sinhalese,  who  employ  the  root  as 
a dye.  The  leaves  are  used  medicinally  by  the 
natives.  The  stems  of  kiri-wel  ( M.  umbellata)  are 
used  by  Sinhalese  villagers  instead  of  rope  for 
tying  fences. 
Dr.  Watt,  however,  remarks  that  the  variety 
Brachteata  will  probably  be  restored  as  a species 
by  future  writers,  as  the  reduction  of  that  plant 
to  Citrifolia  appears  quite  untenable. 
M.  Citrifolia  is  described  by  Watt  as  a small 
tree  or  bush,  and  as  the  most  important  economic 
species  of  Morinda,  yielding  by  far  the  greater 
portion  of  Al  dye  of  Indian  commerce.  The  dye 
is  yielded  by  this  as  well  as  other  species  of 
Morinda.  M.  Citrifolia  proper  supplies  in  its  wood, 
root  or  root-bark  the  bulk  of  the  material  which 
is  the  chief  source  of  the  dye  of  commerce  in  India. 
The  colours  given  by  Al  vary  from  a reddish 
yellow  through  a pink  and  various  shades  of  red 
up  to  a dark  brownish  red.  The  dye  contained  in 
the  root  bark  seems  to  be  the  best  red,  whereas 
that  contained  in  the  woody  part  of  the  root  is 
more  yellow  than  red,  and  consequently  where  the 
wood  preponderates  over  the  bark  the  resulting 
dye  is  reddish-y'ellow.  In  some  parts  the  bark 
stripped  from  the  stem  of  the  plants,  as  also  the 
twigs,  are  used  for  dyeing,  but  the  dye  yielded  is 
inferior  ; while  the  juice  of  the  leaves  seem  to  be 
occasionally’  used  as  a dye  for  cotton,  to  which  it 
imparts  a reddish  brown  colour.  The  selling 
price  depends  on  the  lineness  of  the  root,  the  thin 
roots  being  by  far  the  most  valuable.  According 
to  McCann  the  price  varies  from  R1  to  R18 
per  maund. 
GENERAL  ITEMS. 
The  wood  of  the  Pandauk  (Pterocarups  Indians) 
which  vies  with  the  best  Spanish  mahogany  in 
richness  of  colour  and  hardness,  has  for  some  time 
been  exported  to  England  where  well-seasoned 
wood  fetches  as  much  ns  £10  per  ton. 
Brushes  and  mats  made  of  coir  fibre  are  being 
maufnetured  by  special  machinery  invented  by  Mr. 
John  Earnshaw  of  Greenwich  at  the  works  of  Messrs, 
i’rice  and  Wadleigh,  East  Greenwich. 
In  his  Presidential  address  atHnward  University' 
Prof.  Goodale  discussed  the  question  of  the  likeli- 
hood of  new  cereals,  fruits,  and  vegetables,  fishes, 
dyes,  and  perfumes,  and  remedial  agents  supple- 
menting or  taking  the  place  of  those  now 
employed.  An  abstract  of  this  interesting  address 
appears  in  the  last  volume  of  the  Royal  Agricul- 
tural Society's'  Journal. 
Attention  has  been  drawn  to  serious  disorders  in 
stock  traceable  to  the  presence  of  castor  oil  seed  in 
the  so-called  oil  cakes,  due  to  either  carelessness  or 
deliberate  admixture.  It  has  been  suggested  that 
in  the  case  of  cotton  cake  the  presence  of  castor 
seeds  may  be  due  to  the  fact  that  the  castor  plant 
grows  as  a weed  among  cotton,  and  the  difficulty 
of  distinguishing  between  the  two  kinds  of  seeds. 
Stock-owners  are  adviced  to  be  careful  not  to 
allow  castor  poonac  to  lie  near  their  cattlefood. 
The  price  of  ground-nut  oil  in  Pondicherry'  as 
reported  last  month  is  R86  and  8 annas  per 
candy  of  529  lb.  The  estimated  total  value  of  the 
ground-nut  oil  trade  for  the  current  y’ear  is 
Rl, 118, 828.  The  price  of  gingelly  oil  is  given 
as  R78  per  candy. 
There  are,  say's  the  Indian  Agriculturist,  at  the 
present  day  over  480,000  acres  more  or  less  under 
coconut  cultivation  in  various  parts  of  the  world, 
and  the  ever-increasing  demand  for  the  products 
of  this  tree  makes  its  cultivation  a profitable 
undertaking. 
No  bird,  beast  or  creeping  thing,  say's  ait 
American  paper,  will  touch  a castor  oil  plant ; it 
seems  to  be  a rank  poison  to  all  the  animal  world. 
The  Veterinary'  referee  of  the  North  British 
Agriculturist,  writing  on  distemper  in  dogs,  say's: — 
The  disease,  ns  stated,  must  run  its  course. 
Good  nursing  is  almost  more  important  than 
doctoring,  and  treatment  can  only  be  directed  to 
mitigate  untoward  symptoms.  The  patient  should 
be  restricted  to  simple  digestible  food, — -mainly 
milk.  Undigested  food,  which  may  prove  a 
source  of  irritation,  is  best  got  rid  of  in  the  earliest 
stage  by'  an  emetic  or  gentle  laxative.  The  animal, 
promptly'  removed  from  its  companions,  should 
have  quiet,  comfortable,  airy  quarters,  which  must 
be  kept  scrupulously  clean,  and  distinfected  daily. 
Several  times  a day  the  discharges  from  ey'es  and 
nostrils  should  be  removed  with  tepid  water  and 
a sponge  or  piece  of  lint,  the  parts  carefully  dried, 
and  sprinkled  with  a little  dusting  powder,  which 
may  consist  of  one  part  of  boric  acid  or  sanitas 
powder,  with  twenty  of  kaolin.  Before  the 
cornea  becomes  opaque  or  ulcerated,  or  other 
serious  symptoms  occur,  professional  advice  should, 
if  possible,  be  obtained.  Difficulty  of  breathing 
or  cough  are  combated  by  steaming  the  head,  hot 
compresses  to  the  throat,  and  repeated  doses  of 
ammonia  acetate  solution  and  other  stimulant 
expectorants.  Gastro-intestinal  catarrh  is  relieved 
by’  sodium  hyposulphite,  or  by  mineral  acids  and 
bitters.  Diarrhoea  is  prevented  from  wasting 
the  precious  strength  by  a few  drops  of  chlorodyne 
or  of  spirit  of  chloroform  and  laudanum.  The 
irritable,  eczematous  skin  is  dusted  with  borax 
and  starch,  or  moistened  with  glycerine  and  water, 
containing  a few  grains  of  boric  acid.  Anodynes 
