Bvpphmenf to th " Trojaml JyiicuUw'hL" [Ji ne 1, 190§. 
expeiimetUs sliouM be conducted. A single im- 
provement will well repay the labour of experts 
even if they were to take years to discover it. 
As a preliminary step it will be of great impor- 
tance to make a collection of agricultural imple- 
ments which are in use in other countrie?. Such a 
collection will be a very interesting one, and will 
givK some ideas as to improvements that can be 
effected in Ceylon. 
W. A. D. S 
RAINFALL TAKEN AT THE GOVEENMENT 
1 
Friday 
2 
Saturday 
3 
Sunday 
4 
Monday 
5 
Tuesday 
6 
Wednesday 
7 
Thursday 
8 
Friday 
9 
Saturday 
10 
Sunday 
11 
Monday 
12 
Tuesday 
13 
Wednesday 
11 
Th'Ursday 
15 
Friday 
16 
Saturday 
lEN FOR 
MAY, 1903. 
•07 
17 
Sunday 
•70 
•61 
18 
Monday- 
3^30 
Nil 
19 
Tuesday 
•08 
•12 
20 
Wednesday... 
1-97 
•03 
21 
Thursday ... 
•39 
•04 
22 
Friday 
Nil 
Nil 
23 
Saturday ... 
•21 
3.70 
21 
Sunday 
•02 
•77 
25 
Mondaj- 
•30 
•13 
26 
Tuesday 
■Oo 
•r,8 
27 
Wednesday... 
Nil 
^•16 
28 
Tliursday ... 
•06 
1'13 
29 
Friday ' ... 
•02 
i-Vl 
30 
Saturday ... 
•07 
•53 
31 
Suuday 
•05 
5-53 
1 
Monday 
. •o? 
Total iu....26^88 
Mean in. . . ^87 
Tl e greatest rainfall in any 24 hours, on 16th 
May, 1903, 5-53 inches 
Alex. Pereba. 
OCCASIONAL NOTES. 
We regret the error that has crept into our 
April number which gives the botanical name of 
the flowering tree commonly called " Madre-de- 
cacao," and a familiar sight about Golombo, as 
MilMtia utroimrpurea. Through some mistake 
the label bearing the name wa.=( attached to 
a specimen in the Peradeuiya Gardens, from 
where the information given was derived, and 
hence the confusion that has arisen. The name 
" Madre-de-cacao" came with the seeds from 
Central America, but this term, also applied to 
Erythrina umbrosa (another introduced tree in 
Ce^ion), is no doubt a general term for cocoa 
shade trees. Tiie name Millettia was given to 
the tree, in question on high authority, but it 
would now appear that it belongs to the genus 
Lanchocarpus. Our attention was called to 
the error by Mr. Eidley of the Singapore Botanic 
Gardens. 
Three of tlie eight Queensland bcnanas growing 
in the Government Stock Garden, Colombo, are now 
in fruit, namely the va>rielies labelled Borego, 
Ladies' Fingers and Cavendish. The only one, which 
has so far ripened, is the first named. The fruit 
of this variety is of moderate size with a thin 
skin and a yellowish mealy pulp of good flavour. 
Plants of all eight varieties (>\hich have thrown 
up suckers freely) ha ve been sent out to School 
Gardens in various parts of the Island. 
A fresh nursery of fruit trees has been estab- 
lished in the Stock Garden. A highly-recom- 
mended variety of pnpaw (seeds procured from 
Bangalore), sapodill.., Acras sapota (seeds kindly 
supplied by Dr. Passe of Colombo), and a variety 
of other fruits (^eeds obtained from the 
Pe.radeniya Gardens) are to be found in it. 
Can any of our readers give us the botanical 
name of the plant known us "massoy" or 
"muswe" found in Singapore, and the roots of 
which are used medicinally? A correspondent 
will be greatly obliged for the information. We 
believe the latter name is Malayam. Another 
Malay plant, the rhizome of which resembles 
ginger, and is used as an ingredient of a special 
curry preparaJ;ion, is locally known as 
"Lank was ■■ (i?pelt as pronounced). The root 
resembles that of the great galangal, Alpinia 
galmir/a (Sinhalese kaluwala.) 
Experiments made by a well-known planter 
with Arsenite of S da (r«3ommended by us) 
go to show that the poison is ineffective on 
"illuk," Imperata aruniinacea, but is very 
effective in eradicating the sensitive plant known 
in Sinhalese as " Nida-kumba," Mimosa pudica, 
and " Xalandurii," Cyperus rotimdus. 
That the seeds of the citrus fruit will produce 
different varieties has been proved o.-er and over 
again. We have been informed by a reliable 
authority that among the older generation of 
Sinhalese there are men, to whom t^ie knowledge 
is said to come down from the Dutch, who are 
able to classify the seeds taken from a single 
fruit, distinguishing different kinds really as 
certain to produce orange?, shaddocks, &c., the 
distinction being based upon differences in the 
shape, size, weight, and general external structure 
of the seeds. 
There has been some correspondence in the 
local press over the plant known by the native 
name of "Et-tora" (not to be cotifounded with 
Etora, Panicum repens, the Ceylon "couch grass") 
which one authority considers identical with 
' Uru-tora " Cassia sophera. According to Trimen 
'•Et-tora" is Atylosia Can«Zo//ei, described as an 
ornamental shrub, occurring like broom or furze 
gregariously on open patanas. The young leaves, 
according to a correspondent in the local " Times," 
are used for wounds in cattle. 
The plant known as " Rampeh " is botanically 
a screw-pine, belonging to the order PundanaceEe, 
and is named Pandanus latlfvlici. It is a grace- 
ful shrub possessing a peculiar<idour imparted to 
rice when boiled with V, the leaves being also 
invariably used as an ingredient in the prepar- 
ation of curries. A .'ingle loaf can be sold for a 
cent, but much more is asked in the markets, 
