COLOMBO. 
Added as a Supplement Monthly to the " TBOPICAL AGRICULTURIST." 
The following pagos include Ibe Contents of the Agricultural Magazine for 
August : — 
Vol. XIV.] 
AUGUST, 1902. 
[No. 2. 
KEPPETIYA AND BETEL. 
R. George Weerakoon, Mudaliyar of 
Wellabodde Puttu, writes:— "All 
vegetable substiinces are no doubt 
useful for manurial purposes, but 
some Ceylou plants are more 
greatly favoured thau others for fertilising the 
soil. One of these is Keppetiya. As you know, 
it is a favourite manure, and almost the only 
fertiliser used for Betel and Chillies. It is also 
used in paddy-fields, and I have tried it myself 
with very good results. I have no doubt it 
examined by the Chemist it will be found to 
prove its reputation as a manure. 
Speaking of betel, it is as your are aware, a. sine 
qua non with the villager— olmost a part ot his 
diet, so to speak,— though not much in vogue as a 
masticatory among the anglicised portion ot the 
Sinhalese community. As for myself, though 1 
do not indulge in betel chewing, I see no harm in 
countenancing the habit which, in my opinion, is to 
be preferred as less cbject^.onable and deleterious 
than the " fragrant weed " of Ceylon, provided it is 
done at the proper time and place without offending 
the eye. Apart from the regular cultivation of 
betel in " kottuwas," there is hardly a plot of 
ground near a dwelling-house that has not got 
its casual betel vine. As a cultivated product 
it is decidedly remunerative, aud enormous quan- 
tities of leaves are sent to upcountry stations, such 
as Nawalapitiya, by rail. The betel, according to 
the Sages, has such extraordinary viriues that^it is 
in demand even in the abode of the gods ! " 
Keppetiya {Croton laecifevus) apart from its 
value for manurial purposes and as a medicinal 
agent, is a source of lac, as its name implies. 
Trimen in his Flora, referring to tlie plant, 
gnya ; — A small red coccid occurs on the bark 
of the older trees, and is collected in districts 
where it is abuudaut to mix with the colours 
used in lacquer woik. This lac is collected in the 
dry season near Matale for the liaudyans lacquer 
industry. It is melted in a metal pot over the 
fire and is then called Keppitiya resiu, 
As regards betel (Piper betle) we agree with 
our correspondent that the practise of chewing 
is "in loco" by no means objectionable or dele- 
terious, and is even to be encouraged among those 
who have a penchant for the habit; for when mixed 
with the usual concommitants it is undoubtedly 
useful as a digestive, corrective, and (for the teeth) 
as a preservative agcut. The leaf contains an in- 
valuable oil, which is employed with great success 
in many ways. In this connection we doubt not 
our readers, including our correspondent, will be 
interested and perhaps also amused, by an account 
of betel-cultivation in India which we give oa 
another page. 
OCCASIONAL NOTES. 
Since the issue of our last number a great event 
has been prevented by the stern decree of Nature, 
under circumstances solemn and almost tragic. 
We refer to the enforced postponement of the 
Coronation of King Edward VII, which was to have 
taken pliice at Westminster on the 26th June, 1902, 
owing to the sudden and serious illness of His 
Majesty. All prejent danger to the person of 
the King has now passed, and before the 
month is out, the great ceremony will, we doubt 
not, have been consummated. 
On July 22ud Dr. Willey, the Director of the 
Colombo Mesuem, visited the School of Agricul- 
ture, and spent some time working with Mr. 
Drieberg in the apiary, where the hives were 
examined and overhauled, and the bees (Apis 
indicu) handled without accident. 
Quot homines tot seyitentice. One very success- 
ful coconut planter lately stated to us that he 
would not have any of the sensitive plant {Mimosa 
pudica) on his estate for all the nitrogen it 
imports into the soil. But he was an testhete 
and kept his property almost as clean as the Galle 
Face Maidan. Another planter was an ardent 
admirer of the " modest mimosa" which had only 
to be kept down and taken full advantage of. 
His sole objection to the plant was that it made 
things a bit inconvenient when the plucking 
