148 
Swp'plement to the ^'Tropical Agricultwrisi." [Aug. 1, 1899. 
regard to the course which should be followed 
under the altered circurostunces ha.' undergone a 
corresponding change. For i-onie considei able time, 
I have frequently been asked the quesiion,— " If 
Einderpest should appear either amongst my own 
cattle, or in my immediate neighbourhood, what 
method of inoculation would you recommend 
me to adopt?" In replying to this question I 
have readily and frankly given the individual 
querist the advice which I considered the best 
under the particular circumstances in which he 
was placed with regard to his cattle. Hitherto, 
however, I huve been reluctant to publish advice 
to the public generally which would iu any parti- 
cular contradict the directions for inoculation 
which w^ere drawn up by the Rinderpe.st. experts 
at their last conference in Cape Town, and pub- 
lished for geiseial information, until 1 felt cij;i- 
vinced that the altered conditions necessitated some 
departure frum the course then recommended. And 
in publishing these slightly altered recommenda- 
tions to the public at the present time, it is due to 
my colleagues as well as to the public to explain 
that my opinic n with resjiect to the efficacy of the 
preventive and curative treatment of Rinderpest 
thus recommended has not undergone any change. 
It is merely the altered ciicumstiuices which I con- 
sider require that a slightly different course should 
be pursued. 
AVith respect to the serum mei.hoij of inoculation, 
all the experts are agreed that, if Einderpest should 
appear in a herd of cattle which have not been 
previously inoculated with bile, they should be 
immediately inoculated with strong immunising 
serum if it can be obtained. Every animal which 
indicates, by the thermometer, the presence of fever 
should receive a very large dose, while the healthy 
ones should receive the usual modifying dose. If 
serum cannot be procured, then blood freshly drawn 
from a salted animal and defibrinated shoud be in- 
jected in proportionate doses. And if neither of 
these can be obtained, then gly cerinated bile should 
he used, as it has been shown to possess strongly 
curative at< well as immunising properties similar 
to serum, when used in large doses, more especially 
whea injected direct into the jugular vein. 
C To be continued.) 
GENERAL ITEMS. 
jbillenia indica or speciosa {the Sinhalese Honda- 
para) is not known in Ceylon to produce an edible 
fruit. Dr. Trimeu in his Flora merely refers to 
the fact that the fruit makes a lather with water 
and is used as soap. Dr. Watt, however, mentions 
that it is eaten by natives either raw or cooked — 
chiefly cooked in curries ; adding that it is also 
made into a pleasant jelly, while the acid juice 
sweetened with sugar forms a cooling drink. Mr. 
Lewis Bernays, writing about the tree iu 
the Queensland Af/ricultural Journal, says that 
the fleshy leaves of the calyx, when the fruit is 
fully matured, have an agreeable acid taste, and 
are eaten raw, cooked in curries, or made into 
sherbet ; inside are numerous reniforra seeds, 
surrounded by a pellucid glutinous matter, and used 
for making a palal.able jelly, for a cough mixture, 
or a cooling drink iu fevers, and other^'ise. The 
bark and leaves are both astiiigent, and nro used 
medicinally. 
A Zanzibar paper says : Throw a bit of alum 
about the size of a marble, into a bowl of water 
and wet the hands and face and any exposed parts 
lightly with it. Not a mosquito will approach 
you. They hum about a little, and disappear. 
The United States Governa,eut ac the experiment 
stations has succeeded in grafting the tomato top 
on to the potato root, and strange as it may seem 
the grov/ing of a crop of tomatoes does not seem 
to interfere with the growth of the potato, and we 
have no doubt that it will become common some 
time by this means to grow the finest tomatoes 
and potatoes both from the same plant. — Exchange 
Mr. D. ¥. TurubuU, Martintown, Cairns district, 
writes to say that he has discovered a " wrinkle " 
worth knowing to keep cattle free from ticks. 
As it is important that every light should be 
thrown on the .suliject of cattle ticks, we print 
Mr. Turubull's letter. He says : — " Of a few 
cows I have, one in particular seemed such 
a favourite of the ticks that I got tired of 
trying to keep her clean. She was down to 
skill and bone, when a ueighbour, happening to 
see her, said she could not live above three days. 
Shortly after this, 1 thought of saltpetre and'its 
effect on dead beef. 1 decided to try it on the cow. 
1 ground a bit the size of two peas, with a little 
salt, and gave her this amount daily for three 
days, when half of the ticks disappeared. 1 then 
reduced the amount to one-half for the next three 
days, when 1 could count on my fingers the remain- 
ing ticks. After this, I gave her a bit— and still 
do so— the size of a pea twice a week, which keeps 
her in a thoroughly clean condition. Of course 
the cow put on flesh quickly, and was nearly 
fat in six weeks after the treatment began." 
This remedy, says the Australian Exchange, 
is not new. A Erencliman was travelling the 
colonies some time ago, who aflarmed that he 
could cure ticks by the use of saltpetre. Mr. P. 
R. Grordou says that the matter was gone into by 
Sir Horace Tozer, and quantities of saltpetre were 
trc "! on cattle without the slightest effect. The pre- 
sump; ion is that the cow above mentioned was just 
about getting clear of the tickswhen the remedy was 
tried with such a satisfactory result. Mr. J. Irving, 
M. R.C.V.S., concurs in Mr. Gordon's opinion. 
Veterinary Major F. Smith, M.R.C. V.S., says :— 
The mean ratio of carrying power to body weight 
is 1 : 5 "757, that is to say, it takes, speaking 
roughly, 5| lb. of body weight to carry 1 lb. on 
the back during severe exertion (racing excepted). 
The rule therefore for ascertaining the carrying 
power of a horse is to divide his body weight by 
5"7o7, and, if iiUended for only moderate work, 
add to the product 28 lb. It has to be noted that 
the observations were made upon military horses, 
and it is doubtful if it would work out so accurately 
if applied to all horses used for the saddle. 
The fruit of Aberia Caffra, known as the kei 
apple, is used for making a most palatable jelly 
mixed with the ash' pumpkin pulp. Unripe, the 
kei apple is use for pickling. The plants form 
excellent hedge*. In Ceylon we have Aberia 
Gardncri (Sinhalese kei-ambilla,) but we are not 
aware that any use is made of the fruit. 
