COLOMBO. 
Added as a Suppleraent Monthly to the " TliOPICAL AQIIICULTUUIST.'" 
The following pages; include the Contents of the AgricuUaral Magazine for 
Septembe r : — . 
Vol. XIY.] SEPTEMBER, 1902. [No. 3. 
KLTRAKKAN. 
SOME months ago we read some 
remarks of a Government Agent 
to the effect that Kurakkan is a 
palatable and nutritious food when 
properly prepared as a porridge, 
though only fit to be utilised for gun wads if 
turned out in the shape of the indigestible cakes 
*q much affected by the village housewives of 
the North-Central Province. 
We make this reference to show that even 
in Ceylon there are among the more enlightened 
population those who see some good in this 
much-maligned article of die'. 
In our last issue we quoted under the head of 
" Three Chena Crops " the reratirks of an African 
authority on the subject of native diet. The 
author of these remarks proposes submitting 
samples of Kurakkan (with other grains) to the 
authorities at tlie Imperial Institute, with a view 
to settling certain points relating the possibilities 
of Kurakkan, such as whether by careful and 
continuous selection, the hard husk of the grain 
can be reduced (as has been done with wheat 
and maize) to a minimum, and whether the 
gcaia could be harvested and cleaned, husked 
aad milled on a commercial scale. 
To give another instance of the good opinioi s 
that are gatliering round this " pariah " among 
cultivated grains, we may mention that the 
Agricultural Explorer, the United States Gov 
ovnment, ou the occasion ot his last visit to 
Ceylon, procured through us a quantity of tlie 
two cultivated varieties of Kurakkan seed for 
sxperimental purposes, with a view to testing 
its suitability for the warm arid regions of 
America, together with other drought-resisting 
plants (from the region of the Persian Gulf 
and India) which lie was giving his atten- 
tion at the time. 
Kurakkan (well known as " ragi " in India) 
is scintifically known as Eleusine corucanu, 
and is a cultivated variety of E. indica, a 
commovi weed. In the Madras Presidency the 
crop occupies no less than l,ool,OOU acres, and 
in Bomba,' 802,000 acres. These are the returns 
for these Presidencies for 1887-8, but the plant 
is largely cultivated in other parts of India 
as well. In Mysore ragi coustitutes the diet 
of four-fifths of the people. 
Professor Church's analysis of the grain is 
as follows : — 
Husked, 
Unhusked. 
Water 
... n-i 
12 -.5 
Albuminoids 
... 7-5 
o» 
Starch 
... 73-2 
74-6 
Oil 
... 1-0 
0-8 
Fibre 
... 2-5 
S-6 
Ash 
... 23 
2-6 
The nutrient ratio is given as 1 : 13, and the 
nutrient value 84. Phosphoric acid exists in tli» 
whole grain to the extent of '4 per ceu;. As a 
food Kurakkan is looked upon as indigestible, 
but it is the defective cleaning and preparation 
of the grain that causes indigestion and other 
stomach disorders. From a dietetic point of 
view it is a suitable food for the working man. 
OCCASIOI^AL XOTES. 
Mr. J, B. Carruthers, tiie Government Crypto- 
gamist, is reported to be working at the " betel 
disease" with a view to discovering a remedy. 
The "disease" is due to a fungus and causes 
much loss to cultivators of this remunerative 
product. Tiie application of lime to the soil 
has been known to check the attack, and Bordeaux 
solution is about to be tried ia some of the 
infected School Gardens. 
Inn article on Tapeworm in the Dog appearing 
in the June number of the Agricultural Journal 
of Tictoria, the following recommendations are 
made under the head of treatment: — "To espel 
tapeworms from dogs uo remedy succeeds as 
