446 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULrUEIST. [Jan. 1, 1908. 
■the crop in any way. These pruuings piovide a 
delicate vegetable. 
The crop should be lifted when the sterna near 
the growing point get hard and fibrous and the leaves 
tnrn yellow. The vinea should be reaped close to 
the ground and cuttings selected for a nursery, 
such of the vines or portions thereof as are green 
and succulent can be used as cattle fodder. Irri- 
gation water should be withheld as the crop ap- 
proaches maturity. When the tubers are ripe, they 
should be lifted at once, otherwise much damage 
will be done by rats and white ants, etc. 
Yours faithfully, 
Jas. Mollison, 
InSfectoy- General of Agriculture in India Nagpur, 
J3th October 1902. — Indian Gardening and Planting. 
PAPAYA CUTIVATION. 
It is, of course, well known that natives pluck the fruit 
in a green state and ripen it arcificinlly. Tliis system 
is responsible for the ab3ence of flavour and quality 
BO common in the fruit sold in the bazairs. If 
readers will observe the following directions, every 
one may giow and gather his or her own papiyas, 
of really good quality. 
Firstly, obtain seed of a good variety from the 
Supeiintendent of the State Gardens, Btnaalore. Sow 
the seeds in pots or pans in common garden soil, 
say in July, as soon as the young plants are about 
six inches high transplant them simply into 12-inch 
pots, filled with a fairly rich soil. When these pots 
are filled with root", transfer the plants bodily to 
ordinary tubs, or the largest sized pots obtainable, 
filled with good, rich soil. Water them in dry 
weather, and lee them grow. If you have sufficient 
ground, put out the young plants into the op'n, in 
rich soil, and water in diy weather. In the follow- 
ing April and Miy you may gather your fruit and enjoy 
a really good Papaya. The tree fruits well when 
grown in tubs or large pots. In ordtr to get fruits 
of large size, it is necessary to thin them out, and 
so give them a chance of swd ing and developing. 
The reason why I hfive recomended the procuring 
of seed from Bangalore is that is it the best variety of 
Papaya I have yet seen- 
There is one point, however, which the grower 
must make himself acquaintel with. The Papaya 
tree carries the male aui' female on separate tree?. 
The male tree bears its flowers in large, loose bun- 
ches which hang down, and the stems on which 
the flowers are bor.ie are from one to three feet 
long. The female tree bears stemles« flowers, attached 
close to the main stem or trunk of the tree. 
.Therefore, as soon as the trees show flowers, all 
the male trees except onr, should be uprooted and 
thrown away. Some trees baar what botanists call 
"hermaphrodite" flowers, that is, they carry the 
two sexes in the same flower. These are no good 
as fruit bearers, and should bs treated as m lies and 
thrown away, unless yoii wish to grow a plant or 
two as a curiosity. It is important to bear the fore- 
going in miud and thus avoid much disappointment. 
I have often heard my friends say that their Papaya 
trees never bear fruit, though they are covered with 
flowers. On looking at them, I have always found the 
trees to belong to the " male persuasion.'' 
If you like the Papaya fruit and wish to get it 
of good quality, follow the foregoing hints. Tnere 
is no reason why evei'yone should not have hii or 
her own Papaya trees in pots and tubs, if there is 
no garden or grounds to grow the tree in. The tree 
fruits in one year from the time of sowing the seed, so 
it is easy enough.— Local " Times." 
RUBBER IN CEYLON. 
Mr. J. Ij. Tennant, of Bt3rredewelle, Matale, 
went down to Kalutava in September to inspect 
• the Para rubber cultivation on Oulloden Estate 
Neboda. A "Standard" representative, who wa 
in Kalatara on Saturday, in a brief conversation 
with Mr, R, W. Harrison, the manager of the 
estate, learnt that the prospects of Para rubber in 
Iheflow country were very bright. Recent sales in 
London fetclied exceedingly good prices. All the trees 
have been tapped, a' d are yielding very freely. TrefS 
have been planted in all parts of the estate. (Cal- 
loden), which belongs to the Rosehangh Tea Com- 
pany of Oeylon. and is the best estate in the low country 
where Pata Rubber has been fully planted, Arra- 
polakande (also in Neboda) coming next. Mr. Hairi- 
son informed our representative that he expects an 
output of nearly ten thousand pounds this year, 
which is considered a splendid record. Large quatities 
of seed have been sent to Southern India, and several 
local estates have also been supplied. Mr. Harrison used 
to do a tremendous business all over Java, Sumatra, 
the Oapp, Noith Borneo, Thursday Island and Queens- 
land. Small quantities have also been shipped to 
Loudon and Paris, but the foreign is now practically 
over. — Indiaruhber and Guttapercha Trades' Journal 
THE MOSQUITO BLIGHT OP TEA. 
Mr. H. H. Mann's important note to the Indian 
Tea association has the following summary and ap- 
pendix. — 
SUMMARY. 
In summary, therefore, I think we may say with 
regard to methods of dealing with mosqnito-blight in 
serious cases, that the greatest piomise is held out 
by the method of spraying the bushes with a solu- 
tion of Ohiswiok Compound, or kero.^ene Emulsion 
in the spring within three or four weeks of prun- 
ing — save at the end of February, as described in the 
Appendix. The crux of the whole question lies not 
in the material used so much as in the time 
selected for spraying the bushes. The method 
is one of prevention not one of cure. It will 
bs advisable to experiment in the coming year 
on a far larger scale with this method, and by the 
end of next season data enough ought to be in 
existence, to show whether indeed the blight can 
satisfactorily be dealt with by the system in question. 
APPENDIX. 
Kerosene Emulsion is piepared as follows: — 
From one to two pounds of ordinary country soap 
are boilel with one gallon of water till thoroughly 
dissolved*. To this while still almost boiling, two 
gallons of low quality Kerosene aie aided slowly, 
the whole being thoroughly mixed with a syringe 
during the mixing. It then forms a creamy, almost 
butterry mass. The mixture is then allowed to cool, 
and when cool is made up with water to thirty 
gallons, and after thorough mixing can then be applied. 
Oheswick Compound. — With this substance, which 
we understand is prepared from sulpher and soap, 
the spraying liqaid is merely obtained by dissolving 33 
lbs. in 200 gallons of water. 
It either case 150 gallons- per acre will be required 
if properly sprayed on the plants. It is no use to 
syringe the bashes with a garden syringre, 'he fine 
cloud like form of the spray is far more effective and 
less wasteful, The best prayer for the purpose at present 
on the Indian market is one made by the Gould's 
Manufacturing Co , of Seneca Falls, New Y^ork, and 
so'd by Messrs. Jessop and Co., Calcutta. It is 
made to be fitted to a barrel, and should be furnished 
with much longer hose than has been the case 
hitherto, and the specification should include Vermorel 
nozzles. No other nozzle is as good as the Vermorel 
for the present purpose. The Ohiswiok Compound 
is apt to injure the rubber ann metal of the sprayer, 
and it should hence be very carefully used every 
time of using. The Kerosene Emulsion will not injure, 
the sprayer at all.— L ocal " Times." ^ 
* The quantity oE soap needed depends on the 
hardness of the water. The softest water available 
should be used; 
