122 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [April 1, 1901. 
into the interior. Metielik's consent is not neces- 
sary for a line up to our frontier at Ujawaji, a 
little south-west of Harr;eisa, in the direction of 
Jigjiga. This has already been surveyed, and 
presents no ditticulties, there being a steady rise 
all the way. The distance on to Jij^jiga is only 
forty miles over a plain, and Menelik should have 
no objection to a railway terminus at Jigjiga. 
But even if we only penetrated to our frontier at 
Ujawaji, all the Harrar and Shoa trade would be 
attracted, and we should tap all the trade of 
Ogaden and South-East Abyssinia. Moreover, the 
tribesmen of the district would bo benefited, instead 
of being ruined, as they will be in the Issa country 
by the Jibuti line. 
I am convinced that the whole future of 
BRITISH INFLUENCE IN NORTH-EAST AFRICA IS 
AT STAKE, 
and that, unless prompt measures are taken, our 
Government will be responsible for a disgraceful 
and irretrievable surrender. 
[The news has just been made public that the 
French concessionnaires ot the Jibuti-Harrar- 
Addis Ababa Railway, which connects the capital 
of Abyssinia with the Red Sea, have concluded an 
agreement with three English companies whereby 
the latter find the money needed for the construc- 
tion of the line, and thus practically control the 
undertaking.— Ed. P.M.M.] 
'—Pall Mall Magazine March. 
GRASS FARMS IN INDIA. 
Of the nine grass farms in the Bengal command all 
excepting one showed a saving on the work of the 
year 1899-1900, the largest amouut being KC3,696 in the 
case of the Allahabad farm, and the smallest, 
Rl, 634 on the Dinapur farm. The solitary loss was 
thAt of 1,146 rupees in the case of the farm at Bareilly 
The net saving for the year over all the farniB 
amounted to E208,320, and it is the largest which 
has accrued to the State since the inauguration of 
grass farms, The increased savings were conspicu- 
ous at Allahabad, Cawnpore Lucknow Sitapurj 
Meerut, and Muttra. The year was not very favour- 
a'ble for grass operations, as the rains were some- 
what irregular. The establishment of grass farms has 
tended to reduce market rates very considerably. 
This was the experience as far back as 188(5 when 
only one or two grass farms existed. Now the 
grass produce at the various farms is found sufficient 
to feed all Government animals on an average for 
ten months in the year. The abundance of the 
grass supply from these farms must result in the 
tnarket being over-stocked with hhoosa (trodden straw), 
with the inevitable consequence of reduced rates. 
The nine farms range in area between 2,70* acres 
at Allahabad and seventy acres at Dinapur, and the 
aggregate area is 9,651 aores, the production of green 
gra^s upon which in 1899-1900 was" 98,152,102 lb. The 
scarcity of fodder throughout the country during the 
year was unparalleled, andthere was a very largo de- 
mand from native States, even so distant as Baroda. It 
ia in such times that the actual benefits derived 
by Government from the establishment of grass 
iarms can be a'lequately realiaed. If the farms had 
not existed and Government grass-cutters had been 
nermittpcj, aa in former years, to encroach on the 
lands of the ryots for grass, the hardships of the latter 
would have been intensified, while the Government 
requirements could not have been met without ex- 
treme difficulty and heavy expenditure. All Govern- 
ment horses and cattle wore fed throughout the year 
at Cawnpore, Bareilly, and Pyzabad ; and at Allahabad 
also except for about three iiionllis, when the transport 
sattle were fed on lihoosa. The balance of produce 
remaiued on hm^ at the clyse the year 
comprised 4,425,404 lb of si'age, and 6,719,410 lb of 
hay dry bedding. The expenditure duiing the next 
few years on manuring operations is expected to be 
heavier than in p:xst years as it is intended to 
trench lands more extensively wilh town rubblish 
for the cultivation of dub praxis. This will not only 
yield a better quality of grass and a larger 
output but will obviate objections on sanitary 
grounds. Experiments on the fattening of cattle were 
made during the year at AllahabacJ, ajid the Govern- 
ment of India have since diiecttd their continu- 
ance. The question ef extending these investiga- 
tions to other stations is under consideration. The 
improvement in the meat is very mai lidd and c3apt. D J 
Meagher, the special forage ofEcer is of opinion -that 
the benefits which will be derived from the fattening 
of slaughter cattle wiil more thp.n compensate for the 
extra cost incurred in the feed. A training class in 
agriculture and dairying for British soldiers was 
started in Allahabad early in the year, ' under the 
orders of the Government of India. Fifteen students 
were selected, but they were not all of the stamp of 
men required for grass farming — probably owing to 
Government not being able at the time to bold out 
any definite pro,^pects to applicants. Revetting to the 
the Government butchery, worked in connection with 
the grass farm at Alhihabad, Brigadier-General Sir 
Charles Leslie reports that the experiments made in 
fattening slaughter cattle seem to indicate advantage 
to Government in not only getting a much superior 
quality of meat for the soldiers' rations, but in 
actually procuring thc^e rations at a cheaper rate. 
He had some of the beef issued to himself and 
found it to be the best he ever tasted in India. — 
Indian Agnlcuturist, March 1. 
WHERE CAMPHOR COMES FROM. 
AND THE VARIED USES IT IS PUT TO 
N0W-A-DAY8. 
A page of the March AY. A'k/;oZ«.s is filled with 
a paper by Ralph Benton entiiled "Talking of 
Camphor." 
" Where does this corns from ? " askel Sandy 
McLaurin, picking a block of camphor out of a 
jar that stood on the counter. 
The druggist at the corner near Sandy'.s home 
was a good friend to all the boys, and they liked 
to ask him queslions. 
"Camphor? That 's a long story." The 
.speaker and questioner sat down behind the 
prescription counter. " Have you ever noticed 
that row of lindens down on Fourth Street, near 
the grammar school ? Well, the tree that pro- 
duces camphor looks very much like any one of 
those. It grows in China, Japan, and other parts 
of eastern Asia. Occasionally a camphor-tree 
becomes so old and so large that it is a veritable 
land-inark. In 1691, for instance, a traveller in 
Japan described a tree which he found that was 
thirty-six feet about the trunk. Almost a century 
and a half later the same tree was said by another 
traveller to be fifty feet around. 
" Did your grandmother ever make you take a 
few drops of spirits of camphor ? You know what a 
fiery taste it has, then ? You wouldn't think that 
camphor and the cinnamon sticks that you like so 
well are first-cousins ; but they belong lo the same 
botanical family. 
" If you take one of the shiny green leaves from 
a camphor-tree and rub it gently between two 
stones, you smell the same odour as comes to you 
when yon take the lid off" a camphor-jar. Every 
part of the tree contains its part of the gum, bub 
the bulk of it comes from the root, trunk, and 
branches. The first step is to reduce a tree to 
chips, and these are put into iron vessels liaving sk 
