§64 
Supplement to the " Tropical Agriculturist." 
[Jt5Ne 1, 1900. 
portion, of about two to one, and the percentage of 
carbo-hydrate and fibre, should also be noted, 
for it is found by physiologists that the latter 
(woody fibre) plays an important part in 
Btimuli^ting the assimilating functions of 
tSie digestive organs. This food given alone has 
lieen found to be very well suited to horses in the 
wejstern countries, but in tho tropics an unbroken 
llpiirse of feeding on this food is not always 
y^ithout ill-effects. "When the horse is allowed to 
'icbhsume too much of oats it generally suffers 
';';^61tn chronic-congestion of the liver. In the hilly 
'Regions of the island it raaj' be used with less harm 
to t}ie horse, but in the lowlying districts if an 
"i^ifliial is to be fed purely on oats great care ought 
'tp be exercised in regulating the food. Occasional 
■ blran mashes at least twice a week should be sub- 
itiituted for the oat diet. Care should also be ex- 
"i^cised that the oats are properly crushed. Oats 
generally mixed with chaff in order to prevent 
the animal from swallowing without proper 
mastication. It is advisable, as a rule, that an 
addition of chaff should be made to any food to 
eftsure proper mastication. Tho following is an 
anftlysis of oats : — 
0 o 
.■S ^ 
on 
at 
3 
e 
a 
a 
a 
.a 
130 li2-9 6-0 55-4 100 27 119 
jBr^?M.— Bran by itself does not rank high as a 
foO^ifpr horses. It is used by horse owners as an 
occasional laxative food. Its action as a laxative 
i|. more or less of a mechanical nature, and if it 
has got any stimulating effect on the liver it is 
attiudirect one. The use of it lessens the tendency 
to,, sluggish action of the organ, — a condition 
generally noticeable in the hot weather. This 
•wautiof proper action and the consequent diminu- 
. tioR of the bile secretion may easily be detected 
by the disagreeable smell of the dung ; and suc- 
c^fSiye, bran mashes instead of ordinary diet 
w^il correct this evil. Indian bran is more 
lijatritjious, owing to its containing a considerable 
qunij,^ity.of flour. Bran mash forms an excel- 
i^qt:low.,diet for sick horses. To make a good 
bran m,as?hj put the quantity of bran into a bucket, 
thris'w into it a handful of salt, pour in boiling 
wfttejc just enough to wet it, taking care not to make 
itt^oo sloppy, stir with a rod and then cover it with 
brown paper or a piece of gunny bag, and leave it 
for a couple of minutes. The following is an 
bualysis of bran : — 
m 
O a. 
P O 
o a 
bD dS 
luble Car- 
-Hydratea. 
« 
.a 
n 
9 
O 
.0 
a 
a 
o o 
14-0 
14-5 
4 0 
61-3 
lO'I 
61 
11-7 
•warm. 
_. When bran is treated like this it becomes 
▼ety palatable and most horses really relish it. 
<2ra»l.—C;^^am is a very commonly used food in 
India aijd Ceylon, and is undoubtedly a very rich 
food, for it belongs to that important natural order 
of plantF, the L^gumiaoeae, and most of the ©dibh 
varieties that belongs to this group are so ver 
rich in nitrogen, that they have been ufed fo 
centuries by the non-meat-eating people of India 
as a proper substitute for animrtl food. Good 
gram weighs from 45 to 55 pounds per bushel. 
When a handful of good gram is thrown into 
water it will fall to the bottom quickly. Immnture 
gram is of a greenish colour, with a bitter taste and 
does not readily swell like good gram. Gram is very 
subject to the attack of insects, and sucli damaged 
gram is very injurious to the digestive organs. 
Very f re.sh gram is on the other hand not considered 
wholesome, and a few mouths should he allowed 
to elapse after the harvest and before it 
as food, but of course the gram mu.-^t 
allowed to become d;im!iged in any way by 
or insects. 
The following is Prof. Church's analysis of the 
common gram fed to horses {Cicer arietinum) also 
called chick pefi, which should be distinguished 
from what is known in India as horse gnim or 
kollu (Dolichos btflorus): — Water 11-2, alburaiu- 
oidsl9 5, starch 53 8, oil 4 6, fibre 7 8, ash 81. 
{To be continued.) 
is used 
not be 
mould 
BEE-KEEPING IN CEYLON. 
The experiment in bee-keeping at the School of 
Agriculture is still in progress, in spite of the many 
difficulties that have been encountered. A Colombo 
resident who has had considerable experience in 
apiculture in England was good enough to 
volunteer his help, and paid a number of visits 
to the school with the object of suggesting im- 
provements ; but we regret to say that he was not 
sufficiently encouragad (by the bees) in his en- 
deavours to make them adapt themselves to modern 
civilized methods of treatment. The original swarm 
introduced iuto the school was one brought from 
Kurunegala by Mr. Clias. Andree, whose name is 
always associated with bees, and who, it will be re- 
membered, gave most interesting demonstrations 
in bee-keeping at the Fruit and ^]o^Ter Show of 
1898, and the Agri-Horticultural Exhibition in 
1899. We are unfortunate in not having easy 
access to Mr. Andree, who, had he been at hand, 
would, we doubt not, have been able to help us to 
overcome all our difficulties, from his intimate 
experience of Ceylon bees and their habits, of which 
he has made so special and successful a study. 
Two other swarms were subsequently brought 
over from Cotta through the kinoness of Mr. H. D. 
Wijesinghe, a student of the School of Agriculture, 
and installed in box-hives in the school apiary. 
These are of the same species as those which Mr. 
Andree had brought, viz., Aijis indica, the common 
honey bee of the Island ; but it is notable that the 
bees of these latter swarms are slightly larger in 
size than the Kurunegala bees, while they are of a 
characteristic rugose hue. There is also the 
important circumstance that they are decidedly 
savage compared with Mr. Andree's educated 
Ewarm. With such a wealth of floriferous vegetation 
as the school grounds possess, it is but to be ex- 
pected that the honey produced in these hives is of 
exceptionally good flavour, and we were pleased 
to find that H.E. the Lieut.-Governor and the 
acting Director of Public Instruction at the tim© 
