|52 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
[Nov. 1, 1900. 
Hunting and Hapotale Planters in 
Days OF Old.— On another page will be 
found some reminiscences by the late G. A. 
Cruwell which have never been in print 
before. They afford a peep of a Hapu- 
tale planter's life in the hey-day of coffee, 
before there was any railway and only a few 
roads in Uva. G.A.C. gives some true incid- 
ents of injuries (some fatal) to hunters ; 
but we never heard that he or MacLellan, 
Duff, Hood, Corbet or Rose suffered for all 
their gatherings in the " merrie greenwood" 
in the days when all was forest between 
Radella and Adam's Peak. 
" Ostrich-farming : Would it do in 
Uva?" — It is suggested to us that one or 
more of our enforced visitors at the Diya- 
talawa Camp may have had experience in 
South Africa of Ostrich Farming, and may 
be able to say whether the uplands of Uva 
■ would at all offer a suitable region for the 
■ iestablishment of a farm ? Of course the 
pursuit is usually associated with expanses 
of flat country ; but we do mot know that 
undulating patanas would be objectionable. 
Sand, and lime, or shells however, are said 
to he necessary for the birds for the deve- 
lopment of bone. Water supply and fresh 
vegetable food could be managed in Uva. 
The food of ostriches in Egypt is said to 
cost 2d a day. Each adult bird, five years 
old, is estimated as worth £40. The annual 
crop of feathers, after three years old, equals 
about £i 10s in value on an average, and 
there are the young ostriches hatched each 
year, to count on against the general 
expenses. But perhaps there are enough of 
ostrich farms already in Africa ? 
r How TO Free a Town from Mosquitoes.— In 
•' view of the now established connection between 
' mosquitos and malaria, the following extract from 
the British Medical Journal is likely to be read 
with interest by many of our readers, especially 
'in Calcutta. Expert opinion is pretty well unani- 
' nious that the mosquito pest can be controlled. 
■' AH that is wanted is united action. It is a fair 
' i'field for village improvement societies. At a meet- 
''ingofthe Societa Medico-Fisica Universitaria of 
'' Sassari, oh 23rd March, Dr. C Fermi gave an 
account of certain experiments made in Sassari, in 
conjunction with Dr. Lunibau and Dr. Cossu- 
Rocca, with the object of freeing the town from 
mosquitos. He was able to discover all their 
breeding places in different parts of the city, in 
ndrains, cisterns, puddles, etc. The method adopted 
V was the destruction of the larvss by means of pe- 
'.i' troleum placed in the breeding grounds twice a 
'•'month. The mosquitos were destroyed in shops 
by means of chlorine, and in houses by means of 
ulicides, such as a mixture of pyrethruin, chry- 
' anthemum flowers, valerian, and Calamus aro- 
f-t.lnaticus, or the •' zanjoline" of Celli and Casa- 
^^'grandi. The results obtained were so satisfactory 
^' 'that Dr. Fermi concludesfrom them that it is always 
0' possible to free a town from mosquitos unless the 
■) conditions are exceptionally unfavourable — as, if 
q it be situated in the midst of a swamp. He es- 
<■' timates the expense of freeing a town of fifty 
• . thousand inhabitants at 1,000 to 1,.500 lire (about 
K1,000 to K2,000) a year. This includes the wages 
of the staff required to carry out the measures 
prescribed.— Zwcfi«7i Gardeninc/ and Plcmtiivj, 
Uct, 11, ' V • Vr 
. ) art I 
The Phylloxera in Switzerland.- This 
pest made considerable pi ogress last year in 
Switzerland, and in Waadtlande (Vaud) the 
Vines were attacked with great virulence. Of 
the 6,568 hectares planted with* Vines, thirty 
four hectares were devastated by Phylloxera. 
Although the percentage of 5 per cent., may 
appear small, the seriou.«ness of the case lies in 
the fact that sixty-eight out of a total of 183 
wine-growers, i.e., roughly about one-third, had 
their vineyards affected. The owners hesitate 
to introduce the American Grape vines as stocks 
on which to graft, fearing a deterioration of the 
good quality of the wine, although nothing else 
can be Aom, — Gardeners' Chronicle, Oct. 6. 
Californian Vegetables for London 
Market.- In so excellent condition do all kinds 
of fruit arrive from California, that it was deter- 
mined to try the experiment of introducing Aspa- 
ragus to the English market. As we are told 
the experiment has been tried but the cool cham- 
ber of the .steamer was a trifle too cool : the 
'■ grass" was frozen and so rendered unlit for 
marketing. Next season every effort will be 
made to furnish supplies of Asparagus in good 
condition to consumer.s here at a reasonable 
charge. It is a " loug order" from the Pacific to 
Coveut Garden, iiy-and-by it may be found 
possible to make it a paying concern to place 
orders for the same vegetable at the Cape. — 
Gardeners' Chronide, Oct. 6. 
The Shan State.s.— Tne resolution of the 
Government of Burma on the reports of the 
administration of the Slian States during the 
past official year has lately been issued in Kan- 
goon. In the Southern Shan States the year 
was barren of incident ; the people were pro- 
sperous, crime lioht, and the harvest good. Re- 
lations between the different chiefs were good, 
and those between Ken-tuug and the adjacent 
French and Siamese territories were also good. 
Slavery was abolished in Ken-tung during the 
year by the chief himself after a visit that he 
made to Burma and Ceylon. Dacoity ha.s dis- 
appeared, old roads have been improved, new 
ones opened, bridges constructed, and much 
other work of the same kind has been carried 
out. In the Northern Shan States also tran- 
quility has been maintained, except in one 
frontier State, where the operations of the 
Boundary Commission between China and Burma 
were resisted by a petty local chief, Other- 
w'se crime has decreased and many works of 
public utility are being carried out by the 
chiefs. Another memorandum describes the trade 
of the Shan States as nearly three-fifths of the 
total trans-frontier trade of Btirma. It amounted 
to 178 lakhs of rupees last year, and when 
communications with Burma are in a better 
state a large growth in this trade must take 
place. The States send down to Burma cattle, 
ponies, provisions, such as potatoes, tea, and 
other articles not grown in Burma, as well as 
pigs, geese, and fowls. A considerable quantity 
of teak also finds its way down to the coast 
from the States. Of all the regions adjacent to 
Burma the Shan States appear to be the one 
in which land trade with that province is most 
prosperous and most likely to increase. The 
reports, in the words of the resolution, "af- 
ford striking proof of the benefits which have 
accrued to the Shan States from the settled 
government of the last 12 years.' — London Times. 
Oct, 6, 
