180 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. [Sept. 1, 1902. 
There was also Nicol, Cargill & Co. of which was 
G. B. (country-bottled) Cargill who, afterwards 
became Preniierof Dunedin orluvercargill Province, 
and of whose survival now in a good old age we 
heard the other day in a letter from New 
Zealand. We well recall cheery and stalely 
Sylvester TranC Richmond* who was a partner 
in the Firm (and our great Military authority 
in those days) coming into our office with a 
copy of a Dunedin paper giving on the one page 
a speech by the Premier and on another an 
advertisement saying that C. B. Cargill sold 
Straw, Hay, etc. Everything is grist to the mill 
in a new Colony. 
THE GEM TRADE OP CEYLON. 
" GOES STEADILY ON." 
VALUABLE CAT' S-BYKS AND OTHER JKWELS. 
Attention was recently attracted to the 
seem trade of Ceylon by the announce- 
ment that Messrs. M. Ismail & Bros., Jewel- 
lers, Galle Pace Hotel, had become the 
possessors of two catseyes which at one 
time had been a single stone weighing 
3i0 carats in the rough. The stone had 
been cut into two— one weighing 105 carats 
and the other 71 carats. The colour was 
between light and olive green, of admirably 
oval shape, the bodies being neither opaque 
nor too transparent, setting forth bright 
silvery rays of a dazzling straight nature. 
The estimated value of these stones is R50,000 
and RSO.OOO respectively; both were shipped to 
the London market, and it is time we heard 
of the result. [Not yet sold, we are told.] 
Later on we had the pleasure of ex- 
amining some most valuable jewels in the 
possession of another well-known firm. 
In particular we were shown a very 
magnificent catseye weighing over 100 
carats and valued at £3,0TO. Of an olive 
green colour, with a perfect white ray, 
the gem exactly matches the description, in 
colour, given by Mr. Streeter in his book 
on gems. The gem has been in the posses- 
sion of the firm for several years. Attempts 
have been made to purchase it— on one occa- 
sion an offer of R30,()()0 having been made for 
it on behalf of the Nizam of Hyderabad. 
The owner, however, finds the gem most vala- 
able for advertising purposes and refuses to 
sell it under value. Among the other gems 
shown us was a smaller catseye of much 
lighter colour, weighing 40 carats. This jewel, 
although not so valuable as the larger one 
— being valued at R10,000— is much more at- 
tractive and has also a white ray running 
through it, A beautiful pink star stone, 
which along with the catseye, is the only 
jewel which defies imitation, was also shown 
us. The stone which is over 100 carats is a 
perfect specimen, with six rays. It was 
found in Ceylon and is valued at R5,000. A 
*There was no Broker in Colombo in the " sixties"; 
bat a well-known Broker of the present day who came 
ont to be Assistant nnder Mr. Richmond in 1899, 
declares that he was the finest specimen of a British 
Merchant of the old school high-minded, honoarable 
BtraiKht ^nd liberal) he has ever known, and to this, 
all who were acqaainted with oat old friend, will un. 
-^oabtedly labicribe, 
real Ceylon ruby, beautifully cut, weighing 
20i carats, is certainly the finest we have 
seen in Ceylon. It is valued at R25,000 but 
it has been so much admired that the owners 
are loth to part with it. The stone, along 
with a particularly good blue sapphire stone, 
weighing 30 carats and valued at R3,000, was 
found in the Ratnapura district. 
These particulars t'^nd to show that the 
gem trade of Ceylon is not the " baseless 
fabric of a vision " which of late years pec^e 
have begun to suppose it is. Rubies, it is 
true, have not been plentifully found for the 
last four or five years ; nor have there , been 
any big finds recently until these catseyes 
of Messrs. Ismail and Bros., but the trade 
goes steadily and regularly on. 
DESTRUCTION OP TROUT FRY AT 
OOTACAMUND. 
Ootacamund, July 19. — I hear that the 
heavy floods in the Pykara River have 
breached the lately constructed fish pond in 
which the newly hatched trout fry of the 
Nilgiri Game Association were placed some 
weeks ago and that all the fry have been 
washed away. The Association has had con- 
sistent ill-luck in its efforts to introduce trout 
into the Nilgiri streams, and I hope that better 
fortune will attend the consignment of ova 
which Major Bagnall is to bring out with 
him from England. — Madras Mail, July 21. 
PLANTING NOTES. 
Groun» Pumpkin Skeds for Fowls. —yowls 
are very fond of cucumber and rock-melon 
seeds, and young cockerels will eat thera in 
preference to wheat. They also are partial to 
pumpkin seeds broken up small. Where cows 
are fed on pumpkins there are always large 
quantities of seed, which are not fed to cattle. 
These, if cracked small, would form a valuable 
food for poultry. Those who have tried it say it 
increases the fertility of laying hens,— Queens^anci 
AgrieuUuralJournal. 1st June. 
Best Breeds of Fowls.— The following extract 
is taken from an interesting article by Mr W B 
Tegetmeier in The ' ountry for April last : — The 
question may therefore be asked by those who 
keep poultry for practical and useful purpo.«es, 
What breeds shall we employ, and what system 
of keeping shall we pursue ? If egcs are the chief 
de^iiderata, the best breeds to adopt are those 
which do not incubate, such as those known at 
the present time as Minorcas, Leghorns, Andalu- 
sians, and Hamburgs. Of these the two former 
are unquestionably the best, inasmuch as they lay 
the largest eggs. But the system pursued varies 
greatly, as do the conditions under which the fowls 
are kept. It is almost needless to say that the 
most advantageous method of keeping fowls is in 
localities where they have an extended range, 
finding for themselves a great portion of their 
natural food — worms, insects, seeds and herbage of 
various kinds. Under these conditions, fowls only 
require a clean roosting-house and feeding twice 
a day to yield a good supply of new-laid eggs, 
provided the hens are kept for two years and not 
beyond that time, as the second year's laying 
exhausts the great prolificacy of any hen, when 
her services should be at once transferred to thd 
stock "^ottSgricxUtural Neivs, Jud« 21, 
