THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, 
[July l, 1900. 
our experiment. No worse form of malaria is to 
be found anywliere than that whicli exists in this 
fever-stricken area. It is indeed one of the dead- 
liest spots on the globe. Tliere are, of course, 
places just as bad in tropical Africa, but in the 
Campat;na, while it is possible to iive under the 
worst imaginable conditions, one is within iew 
yards of all tli^; civilisation and resources of Kome, 
which is, I should add, iiselt perfectly healthy. 
The few people who live in the Catnpagna arc 
the very lowest type of Italians. They sufler 
terribly from malaria and the unfortunate railway 
men and others who have to seek their living in 
tins swamp have to be constantly changed. E\cn 
wich these precautions the death rate is tenibly 
high. A specially 2onstructed mosquito-proof house 
has been designed in which we are tospenilihe 
summer, and a spot chosen for its ereciion. We 
have hit upon a locality on the line of railway 
running from Rome to Tivoli. The house will 
be put together at a spot about a mile from the 
little station of Cerveliata, thirty minutes' run l)y 
rail from Rome, where a colony of Lombards are 
trying to reclaim that part of the Catnpagna. 
PKECAUTIONS AGAINST BEING BITTEN. 
"Acting on the theory that the disease is dae 
solely to mosquito bite weinustseeinit that we are 
not bitten. So during every night, the chief time 
of attack, we shall see ourselves up in our mos- 
quito-proof house. In the daytime we shall, of 
course, go out and pursue our work in the ojien air 
bub the chances of being bitten by this special 
species of mosquito in the day time are very small. 
Our contract with the Colonial Office is to live 
here and not to get bitten. If we do not get fever 
it will be proof positive that our theory is correct, 
but if, on the other hand, we do get malaria it will 
not prove the contrary, but will be merely evidence 
that we have been bitten. The house in which we 
shall live is a specially constructed wooden build- 
ing with double casements all carefully covered 
with special zinc mosquito proof netting. This 
material has also been placed under the eaves of the 
roof, and we have a special system of double doors 
and curtains in the entrance porch. There are, of 
course no chimneys. la addition to bedrooms for 
overselves and our servants aud a diningroom there 
will be a specially fitted laboratory. Besides 
these precautions we shall also have mosquito 
jiets round the beds. 
INOCULATION EXPERIMENTS. 
"Another part of our experiment will be the dis- 
patch to London of live mosquitos, that have sucked 
the blood from cases of benign tertain fever (the 
mild form of the disease). These will be sent to 
the School of Tropical Medicine, and Dr. Hanson's 
son and other doctors there will, by thrusting their 
bare arms into a box of these infected insects, al- 
low themselves to be inoculated." 
Dr. Patrick Manson, Medical Adviser to the 
Colonial Ofiice, confirmed what Dr. Sambon had 
said, and added that malaria inleeted mosquitos 
which are to be sent home will be used to inoculate 
certain volunteers in England.— i?07nc paper, 
May 5. 
CRYLON PLANTERS IN THE WYNAAD, 
The Wynaad correspondent of the Times 
nf Mdlnhnr writes : — " The following ex- 
Ceylon planter's are either residents now in 
Wynaad, or have acquired valuable pro- 
perties in the taluk ;—Messr.s. Hugh Parry, 
^ De FonblaiKiiic, J y Nicolls, R Uleiinie, E 
H _P Day, Stewrtrfc Robinson, and W Q 
Wright. Mr. Robinson, during a trip home 
last year, volunteered for the Yeomanry, 
and IS reported to be in South Africa now, 
while illness recently compelled Mr. Wright 
to seek a change out of India, hut we have 
hopes of welcoming: these popular members 
of the conimunitv back later on." 
TO BANISH FLIPJS. 
Fhes area great nuisance in summer time around 
the house. They are a greater nuisance when the 
barn is filthy, or if it is too near the house. 
W liere it is desired to get rid of Hies, the follow- 
ing IS recoiuiiiendod :— One part of benzoin and 
?i t-alsam tolu, live parts of charcoal, one and 
a-tialf of common insect powder, and one-half part 
ot saltpetre ; ad<l sufficient water to knead a 
stitt paste. Roll into pastels and dry them. 
One w ill burn for some time in a room, and the 
tumes will destroy Hies, mosquitoes, and vermin 
without injuring furniture or tine curtains — 
Augustus,'' in Park and Cemetevy.— Queensland 
AgnculturalJournal, April 1. 
RUBBER : RANDOM NOTES FROM PARA, 
The figures herewith indicate how important 
the ports of Iquitos and Manaos are becoming 
as points of shipment for rubber. The shit? 
ments direct from those ports have increased 
as follows : <=«ocu 
Year. Tons. Year. 
1880 ... 373 1887 
1881 .. 307 1888 
1882 ... 430 1889 
1883 ... 655 1890 
1884 ...1,013 1891 
1885 ...1,462 1892 
1886 ...1,574 1893 
Ton.s. Year. Tons, 
•• 1,688 1894 ...3,953 
.. 2,141 1895 ... 5,433 
.. 3,2.00 1896 ... 6,827 
.. 3,693 1897 .. 7 .523 
.. 3,991 1898 . 7 173 
.. 8,812 1899 ... 7,853 
3, / f .3 
Albert Courbain, the illustrious Belgian ex- 
plorer at present on the river Jurua, writes to 
the Belgian consul at Para: "I hav4 acquired 
some knowledge of the Indian tribes between 
the Jarua and the Javary, of some of whom I 
hare taken photographs. The soil is most rich 
in rubber and caucho. I can affirm the existence 
of a new tree, of whose leaves, seeds, and plants 
I shall send specimens to Para. It is abundant, 
the milk IS rich, and the rubberj is similar to 
sernamby. After smoking, it is flexible and 
elastic. These regions are^ in a great part un- 
^^ovfn. GRAO PaRA 
h^-^WovM^'^' j^arch 7th, 1900.-r/te India Bub- 
OVERHEAD NETTING FOR TOMATOES. 
_ Referring to an extract from Garden and Field 
in our last issue on tomato growing Mr W 
Hobart, Main Range, Toowoomba, writes • I haTe 
grown tomatoes on overhead netting for veai-s 
and I find it the best of many plans I have tried' 
The young stalks must be properly guided and 
trained through the meshes and not %q allowed 
to fall back again. "When the vines are full grown 
the top of the netting is a complete mass of fruifc 
and leaves and all the fruit is clean. I make the 
frame of stout hardwood pegs, 18 inches above 
ground. Hardwood betens are nailed on the ton 
and the wire stretched across it. Such a frame- 
work is easily taken to pieces and put up again 
naflpruT ^^^"''''^^'''''^ -^aricxatural A^, 
