Sept. 1, 1900.] Supplement to the " Tropical Agriculturist." 
time comes for fattening. If we give too much 
fattening food to chickens when they are growing, 
the tendency is for them not to develop in frame 
as they otherwise would. The best foods, there- 
fore, for chickens are oatmeal, with a little pea- 
meal and a percentage also of lean meat. This 
latter must be varied according to the circum- 
stances under which they are raised. Chickens 
which are kept in the country, and have access to 
a wood or copse where they can obtain plenty of 
insect life, will need very little, and can be fed 
almost entirely on oatmeal, whereas those which 
are kept in town will need to have this want 
supplied by the addition of lean or flbrine meat. 
On the whole excellent results would be obtained 
by feeding little chickens alternately on biscuit 
meal, with meat at one time and groats or coarse 
oatmeal the next. As they grow, of course, the 
food can be changed, and they can have whole 
oats instead of groats, and a more liberal percent- 
age of lean meat in proportion. Lean meat con- 
tains roughly about 2-5 per cent of albuminoids. 
Laying Poultry. — For the production of eggs 
poultry also need a large percentage of nitrogenous 
matter, as this is required for the formation of 
the egg ; they also need a little extra supply of 
mineral matter. Now oats are always fairly rich 
in mineral matter, whilst meat fibre and fish are 
rich in albuminoids ; therefore, it will be found 
that on the average a somewhat similar diet to 
that recommended for chickens will suit the laying 
hen. In actual practice I have found that poultry 
will lay better upon oats than upon any other corn. 
The Fattening Fozul. — Here we do not need to 
give frame-growing foods at all. What is wanted 
is to increase the amount of flesh and fat. This 
can be brought about by giving a surfeit, and by 
preventing exercise, which tends to the distribu- 
tion of heat and prevents the accumulation of 
fresh bodily substance, i'atty, starchy and sugary 
foods are recommended for fattening purposes, 
Thus fat meat residues, Indian meal, potatoes, 
rice and cow's milk are amongst the best foods 
for fattening purposes. Many people of experience 
recommend oatmeal to be given with milk for 
fattening purposes, and that is excellent. Oat- 
meal contains if anything more fat forming matter 
than Indian meal, and is to be preferred to that 
on account of its effect upon the colour of the 
fat. I ought to point out that oatmeal, too, not 
only contains a considerably higher percentage of 
albuminoid and fibriue matter than Indian meal, 
thus being suitable for all the three purposes 
which have been enumerated, but it does not 
contain so high a percentage of starchy or heat 
giving matter, and thus is more easy of digestion 
than is Indian meal. Oats possess a much higher 
value as a general poultry food than they are 
reputed to possess by a very large percentage of 
the poultry-keepers of my acquaintance. If 
poultry-keepers would use whole oats more freely 
than Indian corn and wheat as an evening food 
for their^ stock they would obtain better results. 
STABLE MANURE AND FRUIT TREES. 
The Fruit Grower gives some wholesome advise 
regarding the indiscriminate use of stable manure 
in fruit cultivation, which grcwers would do -wel) 
to take to heart. We reproduce below the pith of 
the article under reference : — 
Where fruit trees are fed heavily with stable 
manure they can never be depended upon to pro- 
duce the best fruits in abundance, and the more 
that is fed to them, the more insipid and watery 
will the fruits be. Though nitrogen is necessary, 
it is only necessary in proper proportion and ia 
conjunction with other elements needed to produce 
the best results. The tree will not grow without 
nitrogen, but that is no reason why it should be 
fed to the trees in excess or in unequal proportions 
to the other elements. Still it must not be for- 
gotten that often the trees in those soils wh ch 
contain the largest proportion of nitrogen g ve 
fruits which are more watery, and the skina of 
which are only partially coloured, when contrasted 
with the fruits grown on the soils containing less 
nitrogenous materials. So long as the wood 
growth of the tree is ample each year, remember 
that the soil contains enough nitrogen and does 
not need any more fed to it. Lime and potash 
work wonders in the orchard, and there is no 
doubt in our mind that were our plantations 
dressed with applications of lime, muriate of 
potash and superphosphate, they would yield far 
better fruits and crops than they are in the habit 
of doing under the present out-of-date system. 
We warn our readers against the free use ot stable 
manure in fruit culture, or rather, we repeat our 
warning— for this journal stands out as the only 
one in which this idea has been persistently 
advocated — for we are sure that the dosing of fruit 
trees with nitrogenous material is a gross error, 
and if the land is made over-rich, with the organic 
substance stable manure contains, th^re can be but 
one result, and that is an increase of wood growth 
at the expense of fruit. The dung feeders are 
simply ruining their fruit trees every year that 
they nauseate the soil with this foul-smelling 
compound. They are starving their fruit trees 
really, inducing weak and diseased growth, and 
in due course the trees will become producers of 
third-grade fruits, which are a source of annoyance 
to dealers and of loss to the producers. Here out 
views are in striking contrast to those of out 
contemporaries. They advocate the digging of a 
big bole, into the bottom of which large supplies 
of dung must be shot, and after covering this with 
soil they set the roots over this bolus. They argue 
that in time the roots will reach the manure, and 
that it will furnish the tree with ample plant food 
for many years to come. The argument, to out 
mind, is not convincing. We say, use no manuro 
when planting, and particularly no stable manure. 
Peed in due course with surface feeding, and thus 
induce the roots to spread out near the surface. 
That is the way to secure plentiful crops of large 
fruits. 
CEYLON TIMBERS AS COMPARED WITH 
ENGISH TIMBERS. 
The July number of the Imperial Institute 
Journal contains an interesting report by Pro- 
fessor Unwin, f.b.s., on Ceylon Timbers* We 
presume the report is based on tests applied to ths 
collection that was sent to the Ceylon section of 
the Imperial Institute soaje 8 or 9 yeare ago, I| 
