670 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[April ], 1901. 
peasantry iasbead of the oatmeal porridge upon 
which their foreteathers lived ami wliich their 
degenerate cliildreii liave n\m~)it entirely discarde d. 
How greatly sach a chanjie would increase the 
conaumpbiou of rice at home ! I trust that tliese 
facta with regard to a food so vvholeso;iie and 
invigorating as rice may reach those interested 
in that industry, and that brjwn riee may be 
properly appreciated in the near future. — The 
Indian Agriculturist. 
<} 
FLOWERING OF THE BAMBOO IN THE G. P 
By A. Smythies, b.a , i.f.s. 
A somewhat remarkable event is taking jdace 
in the Chanda district of the Central Piovinces, 
and that is the flowering on a large scale of 
the ordinary bamboo (Dendrocalarnm itrictm). 
The area over which the flowering extends is 
estimated at 1,200 square miles, and in this area, 
althougli a few clumps here and there have e.s- 
caped, the |jhenomenon is universal. But the 
extraordinary point about it is that clumps of 
all ages are flowerine — not only mature clumps 
but quite slender seedlings of six or seven years' 
growth, or even less. I send you some specimens 
to illustrate this; the rhizomes show that th(jse 
clumps are quite young. Last year the drouglits 
afiected the bamboos in the Uhaba Range of 
this district, and the bamboo flowered over a 
small area, and produced a kind of manna, 
which was desciibecl in the Forester (Vol. XXVI. , 
page 863). Many thousands of people were kept 
alive for some weeks on the seeil. This year 
the area is infinitely larger, and the whole 
population will, in coursa of time, flock to the 
forests to gather the seed. 
The consequences to the people in the vicinity 
of this flowering and subsequent death of the 
bamboo will be rather serious, as, for many years 
to come, they will not be able to find sufficient 
•tores to satisfy the numerous wants of the 
agricultural population to the north and west of 
Chanda — at any rate, the price of bamboos will 
be very much higher. 
The Government revenue which now 8, mounts 
to about 1^20^000 from tliis source will also sutier, 
as, when the dead bamboos have been utilized, 
there svill be no more available for some 15 
years or so. It would be interesting to ascertain 
whether such a universal flowering of this 
particular species has been recorded belore. 
Needles to say, tlie oldest inhabitant has no 
recollection of such an event, and the flowering 
of the smallest clumps is believed to be unique. 
It is probable that in this district, at least, 
the bamboo does flower gre'.'ariousiy over faiily 
large areas, as three of the oldest inhabitants 
informed me that they had seen the bamboo 
flower twice: lirsl, when they were about 10 years 
old. Their ages were probably quite 70, Hence 
it is not unlikely that this bamboo flowers at in- 
tervals of about .30 years. 
( We ivould refer our readers to Volume 
XXV. (1899) of the " Indian Forester," paqea 
1—25, and 305, 306. -Hon. Ed ] 
PYTHON-BREEDING AT THE 
CALCUTTA ZOO. 
It is not often that one has the opportunity of 
seeing a pythoness hatching its eggf, and those 
who were lucky enough to visit the Zoologica 
Gardens last May might have witnessed the 
unique sight. The eggs are about twice the size of 
duck's eggs, and exhibit a leathery crumpled-up 
appearance, as if they were small bladders not 
properly distended with air, their colour, how- 
ever, is a dirty white, and their covering might 
be compared to the skin of a mushroom. The 
pythoness which appears to be aboutthirteen feet 
in length, and whose body in its thickest part 
must be learly two feet in dianiPter, is nursing 
her cogs in a curious manner. She lias coiled 
herself up in a .symmetrical heap till slie resembles 
a basket of which the sides and the lid ate her 
coils ; and within this arrangement siie has pded 
up the eggs, which she is so assiduously hatch- 
ing. It will be interesting- to , see the little py. 
thons when they make their entrance into the 
world, for to judge from the size of the eggs, 
they should be quite six inches in length. The 
poor mother was so stared at by sight-seers that 
the authorities took pity upon her and covered 
up the glass face of the cage with a screen.— 
Statesman. 
TREE GROWTH ON IHON SOILS. 
In the course of examining a forest area for 
the purpose of marking off' areas of approxi- 
mately equal capability, I had to walk over 
two larse hills froiu 1,750 to 1,850 feet high. 
These hills are covered with dense spear grass, 
about 3 feet high, among which are hidden 
Loulders of various sizes. There is scarcely a 
tree over an area of 100 to 150 acres, although 
an adjacent higher hill is well clotlieil. The 
very few trees that do exist are evidently not 
happy, and consist of dwarf, badlj'-gro .vn in- 
dividuals of Anogeissns, Lagerstrmnia, I erminalia 
fomentosa, Sehreber-a,, and Buchanania. The hills 
have often been burnt, but not more so than the 
adjacent stocked ones, On examination of the 
boulders I found that they were full of an ore 
of iron, and would be interested to learn whether 
there Ure other cases wdiich point to soil so 
constituted being inimical to tree growth. Iron 
oc urs in many parts of this district, but I 
have not observed it in such large quantiliee 
elsewhere, nor any marked effect on the crop. 
Iron. —Indian Forester. 
Chlorosis in Plants.— Recent researches by 
Dr. Roux confirm the notion that the yellow 
condition of the leaves known as chlorosis is due 
to some deficiency in the chemical constituents of 
the soil. The liquid absorbed by the roots has aa 
excess of lime, and deficiency of potash and 
phosphorous. The consequence is a stoppage of 
the work done in the leaves, and of transpira- 
tion ending in the degeneration and death of the 
cells froiu starvation. — ibid 
Gape Fruit. — Since our last note on this sub- 
ject, two ships of the Union Castle line have 
arrived with consignments of some importance, 
the Tantallon Castle bringing 189 boxes of Plums, 
and 212 boxes of Peaches; and the Dunottar 
Ca,s^Ze \N it h 280 boxes of Plums, 82) boxes of 
Peaches, and in 18 of Nectarines, from Cape 
Town. (Since the above was in type we are 
asked to note the arrival of the Binton at South- 
ampton with 2,124 packages of Peaches; 98 of 
Plums ; 120 of Nectarines ; and 27 packages of 
Pines).-/&id. 
