•292 
Supplement to the " Tro^rical Agriculturist" [Oct. 1, 1899. 
his words written in the report already mentioned : 
" The trade in annatto is a limited one. I t is used 
"as a dye occasionally, but its principal employ- 
" ment is for colouring cheese and butter." But 
this timely warning was disregarded, and no 
wonder that when at last this " anniito craze " had 
reached the climax, a react ion should have set in, 
and over-production should have brought down 
prices in the home market. The following are the 
words, one in the trade (Messrs. R. J. Fullwood and 
Bland of 61, Bevenden St., Hoxton, N.) wrote at the 
time: " The Ceylon people made a great mistake 
" in 1888, in sending one consignment of loO 
" barrels ; the consequence of so large a quantity 
"being thrown in the market was, fiiat they were 
" sold for less than cost of freight, dock charges, 
" &c." vide Kew Bulletin, July 1890, p 143. 
Then followed what was quite natural, namely, 
the wholesale destruction of the annatto trees 
on most of the European estates and the 
lands put under tea or cacao. It was very fortu- 
nate for those who had resorted to this bold 
alternative ; for, by the time these tea fields 
commenced to bring in handsome returns, and the 
cacao come into bearing, annatto, wherever it 
was still allowed to stand began to show indica- 
tions of exhaustion and decay ; and the fact was 
then found out that it was a permanent tree. 
Its natural limit was to grow for seven or eight 
years, and then die off. If it stands longer, it 
will be after it had ceased to bear fruit. This is 
the opinion of your humble servant the writer, 
whose practical experience in growing this 
product extends to a period of fifteen years. 
Opposed to this, instances might be pointed out 
where the trees have been known to be growing 
for a longer time, but they are only isolated 
cases — exceptions, not the rule. 
In my next I shall dwell upon the cultivation 
and diseases incident to this product, with some 
other notes as may be interesting to the readers 
of your popular Magazine. 
A, YAN STAEEEX. 
♦ 
VETERINAEY NOTES. 
The Age for Castrating Domestic Animals. 
The question when an animal should be cas- 
trated has often been asked. In cases of surgical 
interference, necessitated by pathalogical changes 
in the glands, no age has got to be observed 
excepting the fitness of the system in general 
to stand the effects of an operation. But in 
ordinary instances of castrating farm or domestic 
animals either with a view of fattening them, 
preventing the propagation of weeds, or checking 
vice, &c., the earlier the animal undergoes the 
operation the better. Any time after the develop- 
ment of the gland has taken place and before 
the animal is half-grown the operation must be 
performed. For example, a horse is full grown 
at six years and the gland is developed at one 
year ; and so the best age for castration is 
between one and three years in the colt. When 
an animal is castrated early, his tissues being 
young and liealthj', help to bring about a heilthy 
termination of the operation within a short time, 
and at this period of the animal's life feel there 
is less chance of the animal's death from shock 
unless he is allowed to bleed severelj'. 
A Case of Tetanus uue to the Syce Replacing 
A Broken Nail of the Shoes. 
In answer to a call I proceeded to see an 
animal belonging to Dr. Muttucumaraj who told 
me that the horse limped badly, but as it was 
dark, 1 was not able to examine the animal 
well. 1 told the ower that the lameness was 
either due to some injury to the foot or to splints. 
On examining tlie foot later nothing was notice- 
able, and when the horsekeeper was questioned 
whether he removed any nail from the hoof he 
denied flatly. On the third day I received a 
message that the animal feit pain at the fetlock. 
On examination, found that tlie horse flinched 
when the inferior su-^pi^nsary liganut was pressed, 
and accordingly the region of the liganut was 
blistered. The following morning tlie animal 
showed symptoms of tetanus and succumbed. On 
postmortem a nail was found to have penetrated 
the sensitive hoof at the outside quarter. It was 
only after the death of the animal that the 
horsekeeper admitted his interference. 
Tracheotomy in a Case of Roaring. 
A case was brought to me with the history that 
the animal emitted a loud sound while galloping 
and that he was unable to breathe freely when 
driven for a short distance. I saw the animal 
trotted and found that he was a roarer. I sug- 
gested tracheotomy as the only means of ena- 
bling the animal to prolong his life. The owner 
(Mr. Babapillai) consented and the operation was 
performed standing, on the 25th of May last. 
The horse is being worked since the 15th day 
after the operation. The tube was devised and 
made to my order, and a gauze shutter was 
also devised to prevent exposure of the wind 
pipe to chill and also to prevent dust &c, 
falling into it. 
PRESERVATION OF EGGS, 
The appended report has been sent us of trials 
made at the Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa, 
Canada, of the two best reputed methods of pre- 
serving eggs, viz : — Solution of water glass, (silicate 
of soda), and lime-water. Out of twenty different 
materials and plans which were tried, only three 
of which were found to be effective and reported 
" all good." These were varnishing with vaseline, 
lime-water, and water glass, and we find that the 
last two were found effective at Ottawa : — 
Central Experimental Farm, 
Ottawa, May 19th, 1899. 
Sir, — Having received numerous inquiries from 
farmers during the past tTO months respecting 
the merits of " water glass "' as a medium in which 
to keep eggs, we are led to think that certain 
conclusions drawn from an experiment, lately 
brought to a close, with this and other preserva- 
tives will be of interest to your readers. The 
investigation was commenced last September, 
perfectly fresh eggs from the Farm poultry house 
