May 1, 1900.1 
Suppkmenf h the Tropmil AgricuUvrist.'^ 
?91 
bowstring hemp {Sanseviera zeylanica) required a 
strain of 316 lbs. to break it. In another series 
of experiments made at the office of the Marine 
Board of Calcutta, palm coir stood a strain of 
823 lbs., when a remarkably fine specimen of 
European hemp stood 1,967 lbs. In this test the 
coir stood No. 12 in strength and No. 1 in 
elasticity, stretching 82 inches against 9^ inches of 
the hemp. Unfortunately, the length of rope was 
not given, though its size was I5 in circumference. 
The cocoa palm has other uses than for fibre 
which are of sufl5cient interest in connection 
with its textile uses, to briefly mention : The 
Cocoa-nuts are sometimes used for illuminating 
purposes, to light roads, and an excellent charcoal 
is yielded by the burnt shells. These in the entire 
state are manufactured into a great variety of 
vessels for household use. The tree itself is used 
in the manufacture of small boats, frames for 
houses, rafters, spear- handles, furniture, and fancy 
articles of differeut kinds. It is exported under 
the name of porcupine wood. " The Cingalese 
split the froads in halves and plait the leaves so 
nicely as to make excellent baskets, and they form 
the usual covering of their huts, as well as the 
bungalows of the Europeans." These dried fronds 
also furnish fuel and are used for torches, or they 
are made into brooms by trying the midribs 
together. The leaves furnish mats, baskets and 
screens, and combs are made of the midribs of 
the leaflets in the Friendly Isles. Mats are also 
made of the coconut leaf cut out of the heart of 
the tree, which are described as of fine quality and 
used in the Laccadive Islands as sails for boats. 
A downy fibre is also taken from the plant which 
is used to stanch the blood in wounds after the 
manner of lint. 
Coconut oil is one of the best-known products 
of the palm, especially as it is employed in the 
mauufactutt of stearine candles. In the Eiist it is 
employed as lamp oil, and also for anointing the 
body. Fifteen coconuts produce about 2 quarts 
of oil. The drink known as toddy or palm wine 
is derived from the flower spathes before they 
have expanded. It is also distilled aud produces 
an intoxicating liquor or arrack. It is also made 
into vinegar, or, if it is not allowed to ferment 
may be made to yield jaggery or sugar which is 
brown and coarse. 
The palm grows well in Southern Florida, and 
while already producing nuts the coconut industry 
has assumed no importance, though a single 
company in Massachusetts extracts the fibre from 
imported nuts. — Dr, Dodge, Washington. 
PEACTICAL HINTS TO HORSE OWNERS. 
By a. Chinniah, g.b.v.c. 
Chapter I,— {Continued.) 
The eaves of the stable roof should be so con- 
structed as to admit of the free passage of air. 
Ridge or roof ventilation is an important con- 
dition in a stable. The absence of it induces the 
accumulation of impure air which would other- 
wise rise and pass out of the stable making way 
for a supply of pure air. Other systems of venti- 
lation are adopted in continental cities, but it is 
unnecessary to describe these as they will bo 
hardly of any practical use to my readers. 
Chapibr II. — Food and Feeding. 
There is a great variety of horse foods, and a 
description of the chief foods, together will ana- 
lyses, will be given later. 
By nature the horse is intended to serve as an 
animal of activity and speed, but in a state of nat- 
ure, where speed and activitj' are exercised either 
for pleasure or as a means of security against assail- 
ants, natural herbage suffices for the nutrition 
of the animal, which, to a great extent, expends its 
energy according to its strength. In a state of 
captivity, however, and as a slare to man, ex- 
pending energy not according to its owti instincts 
or inclinations, but according to the will and fancy 
of his master, the same food does not suffice to 
supply the wear and tear of the tissues induced by 
regular and hard work. While grass nlone does not 
supply sufficient nurtriment to a hard-working ani- 
mal, it is also to be objected to on the ground that 
if partaken of in large quantities, from its bulky 
nature it interferes with the free action of the 
lungs, and as a result incapacitates the animal 
from hard and fast work which it is expected to 
perform ; while again energy is unnecessarily ex- 
hausted in the effort to digest and assimilate so 
bulky a food. It is for these reasons that work- 
ing animals are fed on artificial concentrated food- 
stuffs. No single foodstufl, however, can be said 
to contain every element required for the proper 
nutrition of the animal economy, and it therefore 
becomes necessary to make up for the deficiency 
of certain elements of nutrition in one foodstufl 
by using with it another which supplies the want, 
and so two or more ingredients are mixed till the 
required standard of diet is attained. For instance, 
oleaginous seeds linve to be mixed with cereals 
rich in starch and so on. For many reasons 
grains raised in the country are selected ; they are 
of course to be preferred on the tcore of eon- 
veuience and cheapness. 
(To be continued.) 
THE RATTAN INDUSTRY. 
We are indebted to the Kevo Bulletin of Sep- 
tember-October, 1899, for the following account 
of the Rattan industry extracted from the Report 
of Henry P. du Bellet, United States Consul at 
Rheims for January, 1898 : — 
" Rattan is the name given to more than one 
hundred species of climbing palms of the genus 
Calamus, natives of inter-tropical Asia and Africa, 
most or all of which are perennial, simple or un- 
brauched, cylindrical, jointed, very tough and 
strong, from the size of a goose quiil to the Eiza 
of the human wrist, and from 50 to 100 feet in 
length. 
In the regions where it grows wild, rattan ren- 
ders forests inaccessible by reason of its long, 
tough, and thorny stems, running from tree to tree 
and on the ground. These stems are used in the 
manufacture of numerous articles, the principal 
among which are walking sticks (very much in 
demand and often very high priced), riding sticks, 
cables, and very strong ropes, and when split into 
thin strips, are used for making seats of chaire. 
