Oct. 1, 1902.] 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
277 
THE JUNGLE CROW. 
Abbotsfoid, Sept. l,5tli. 
Sir, — I was very pleased and proud when some 
five or six j'ears ago a couple of jungle crows 
eettled down here as they are really handsome 
birds when on the wing. 
They now swarm all over Upper Diiiibula ; but 
as I feel quite certain they have either killed or 
Irightened away large numbers of our small inseeti- 
vorons birds, I have shot some six or eight of them 
daring the past few months ; anJ I hope all who 
can hold a gun straight will join in exterminating 
the thieves and so help to safeguard our little, 
feathered friends. One crow actually attempted 
to enter a pigeon-cot in my kitchen verandali the 
othei' day, so like all crows they have cheek for 
anything. — Yours faithfully. J. F. 
P.S.— Here is what " The Indian Field " of 4th 
inst. says of them under "The Game Destroyers of 
India": — 
Cbows. — An arrant egg thief and chick destroyer is 
The Jungle crow. Found throughout India and ascend- 
in)? to considerable elevations in the Himalayas 
capable of enduring heat and cold, it is one of the 
ever-present sources of game bird destruction. In 
portions of the hilly tracts it is so numerous that it is 
a wonder the black partridge, chnkor, etc.; ever suc- 
ceed in hatching out their eggs. The carrion croii- also 
is answerable for the absence of many a young brood 
of chukor, but is not found in any numbers except in 
Kashmir and the neighbouring hills. The delinqueu- 
ciea of the jungle cvovi (Corvus iiiacrorh'/ncJtus) v/ere 
brought to our notice not many yearsi ago in a forcible 
manner. We were in CT.mp at about 6,000 feet in some 
hilla which were evidently popular b eediug grounds 
for chnkor. A prolonged halt enabled us to look for 
nests. One we discovered in a corn field contained 16 
eggs of the chnkor, whilst on the edge of the scrub 
jungle were other chukors' nests with varying numbers 
of eggs, none of these were at all carefully concealed; 
in nearly every instance the jungle crows found them 
out. Near the camp were three or four large clumps 
of high trees and there the crows were breeding. 
Most of the young crows were hatched out, for the 
jungle crow breeds about April iu the hills, and often 
somewhat earlier in the plains. "We saw the parent 
birds flying with egg shells in their bills and on walk- 
ing round found as we have f aid most of the chukors' 
nests were rifled. We wiped out that colony of crows, 
•»nd thus did a good turn to the chukor as a small re- 
turn for the harm we have so often done them. 
« 
PLANTING NOTES. 
Ceylon Te.\ in Western America.— From 
Mitchani, Surrey, under date I8th July, Mr. 
Palrhurst sends us <a copy of an advertise- 
ment of Ceylon Tea, cut from The Santa 
Cruz (California) " Surf "—which he says will 
shew " that the exploitation of the tea is not 
^uite so unknown [in America?] as a letter 
in your paper lately would make it appear." 
The advertisement is certainly striking 
inches by 4) half of it showing a doughty' 
warrior t)n horseback, the " Pride of Ceylon.' 
While belovv it we read " Finest Hill-Grown 
Tea— Registered Trade Mark." The rest of 
the letterpress is : — 
Try "Pride of Ceylon" Tea, packed in Ceylon. Ot.e 
teaspoonful will make one quart — 5 to 8 cups. Blue 
Wrapper, 50e per lb. ; Red Wrapper, 7.5c per lb. ; 
White Wrapper, Sl.OOperlb. ; F. A. Peterson and 
Co., Direct Importers. 136 Pacific Ave., Santa 
Cruz. Also sold by:— Hinkle's Cash Store, 2 Pacific 
Ave; F. D. McPherson, 180, Pacific Ave; W. A. 
Husband, Seabriglit. Sold only in the original her- 
metically sealed packets. 
Cotton Seed Oir..— In a circular which has 
just been issued to the sha reholders of the Cotton- 
seed Company (Limited), the directors .state tliat 
a mill of commercial cap acity has been erected 
on the company's riversid e premises in London, 
and that in a trial run all that is claimed for 
the company's process in the treatment of cotton- 
seed was fully established. A larger building is 
now being adapted to receive another mill of 
greater capacity, which, together with further 
mills of varying sizes, is now well under construe- 
tion. — Chemist and Druggist, August 30. 
The Orangr. — The Orange is ot compara- 
tively niDdern introduction in horticulture. lb 
is not mentioned in the Scriptures, nor by Hero- 
dotus, who lived five centuries before Christ, and 
who wrote a list of fruits then known, nor by 
Virgil, who wrote much about such matters one 
hundred years before th.e Christian era. The 
Orange came originally from the south of China, 
liurmah and India. It is found growing wild 
in the jungles in various parts of India. The 
Arabs introduced the Orange to their country, 
and thence it got to Syria and Southern Europe, 
This was probably the Bitter Orange. The sweet 
variety was brought to Euiope about the four- 
teenth century by merchants of Genoa or Portugal. 
Tlienee the tiee was passed by the Spaniards and 
Portuguese no the Azores and other parts of the 
" New World," and found con>>;enial conditions. 
Mexico, Florida, California, proved to be highly 
suitable. The St. Michael Orange originated in 
the Azores ; the Pernambuco and Bahia (or Navel), 
were both named after provinces in Brazil. The 
Orange is now found growing in nearly every coun- 
try where there is enough sunlight and absence of 
severe frosts. — Journal of Horticulture and Cot- 
tage Gardener, i^ugust i4. 
Ceylon " Guano."— We recall a very in 
teresting account by a sportsman in the 
"Days of Old" of a visit to certain "caves" 
in the backwoods of the Kalutara district 
whence the Sinhalese paddy cultivators were 
in the habit of excavating guano— the drop- 
pings of birds and especially bats— and con- 
veying the same for use in their paddy fields, 
having fully realised the value of such 
manure. We mentioned this fact to Mr. 
Kelvvay Bamber whe expressed a wish to 
see a sample. We hope still to get one of 
the Kalutara article ; but the first to reach 
us were two samples from a Hanwella resi- 
dent of guano used by the cultivators in that 
neighbourhood. These are not " the real 
Simon Pure", being mixed with earth and 
poor in quality as Mr. Kehvay Bamber 
kindly reports :— 
"I tested those two samples'of guano you kindly 
sent me some time ago, but they turned out of 
little value as they contained extraneous matter 
including earth, small stones, &o., especially No. 
2. The following was their composition : — 
No. 1. No. 2. 
Dark Light 
coloured. coloured. 
Nitrogen 2-80 per cent 1'12 per cent 
Phosphoric Acid r76 ,, trace 
Potash '19 ,, '19 per cent 
The first might be of value for application to local 
gardens, but would not stand freight charges." 
