August 1, 1898.] Supplement to the " Tropical AgricuUiinsty 
141 
becomes one of practical importance. I liave made 
enquiries as to remedies against, the attacks of 
termites, .".nd {Tu-. d (hat the popular pre^'OiUatives 
are numerous and not usually eiticacious. 
The cultivacor staris with the belief that the 
white-ants liave a delicate sense of taste or smell ; 
and exercise their ingenuity in inventing nauseous 
mixtures with which to viater the suffering plant. 
Water in which fish has been allowed to decompose 
is believed to be almost as strong in efficacy as in 
Etench. Solutions of salt or tobacco are about the 
most popular remedies. The al dye 1 iiave heard 
of in tills connection, but it is not thus used 
locally. The burying of gur in a hole near the 
tree in the hope that blacJc ants will be iittnicled 
thereby and will incidentally eat up the white- 
nut colony, has been put forward by villagers. 
I have also been told to utilize the fact that 
bears are greedy eaters of white-ants, and to 
soak a bear skin in water and put the termites 
to light by applying the lesulting liquor liighly 
impregiuited with the smell or taste of their 
enemies' fkin. 
None of these proposals are believed in very 
much by the people. 1 have myself tried a decoc- 
tion of salt and tobacco with some effect, but 
the young trees are not thriving on the diet 
any more than the white-ant is. Tlie question 
of finding a cheap and efficacious remedy is, 
1 submit, worth an enquiry over a larger area 
tlian I have been able to arrange for. 
THE TRINIDAD GOYERNMEXT DAIRY FARM. 
The Report on this Establisliment which is al- 
ways interesting to us from the fact that it was 
the Trinidad Farm which suggested the establisli- 
ment of the local Government Dairy, is as usual a 
satisfactory one. Tlie manager, Mr. Meaden, 
states at the outset tiiat the demand for milk from 
the various institutions has steadily increased dur- 
ing the past three years and lias been well fulfilled. 
The produce for tlie year was 131,285 quarts: 
an average of o60 quarts was issued daily, and 55 
cow« were milked. Tliis is certainly a satisfactory 
record. The l''sse.s by ueaih during the year under 
review (IH'JY) were, an importeil ]{ed Poll Bull, 
ft shorthorn bull, two other bulls, 7 calves 
and 3 cows, making a loss— somewhat larger than 
usual we are told — of 14 animals in all. 
The Manager considers that the eating of earth 
by young calves — a common experience in all 
dairies — is probably due to an insufficiency of 
saline matter, but though the animals have salt now 
placed before tliem each evening in an open 
trough, Mr. Meaden i.s not able to say that this 
is a preventative. 
' As an instance of the influence of the sire, 
it is mentioned that a |-bred zebu heiier with 
well-developud hump and ample hurris produced 
a hornless calf to the polled bull. Mr. Meiiden 
ftates that a start has bten made in tlie special 
treatment of the herd to cultivate the milking 
qualities of cows or heifers under different 
conditions of feeding, shelter, &c., a departure that 
may well be follovsed in our own dairy, where 
we shoulil also like to see some trials in crosting 
with approved European breeds and our Sind 
."•toek carried out- 
Mr. Meailen points out that all English stock 
should be introduced to a tropical Colony 
such as Trinidad as early as possible, Expeiience 
has sliown that pure-bred European auiuuds do 
not thrive satisf.iCtorily in Cokmbo, but half- 
bred animals from up-country have, wlien mated 
with Indian cattle produced excellent milkers 
and regular breeders. We should like to see a 
country-bred shortliorn or Jersey bull in- 
troduced among the Sind cows for a siicrt period 
as a trial, or an arraiigemeat by which a number 
of heifers could be made to visit a good ('iire 
bred bidl npcountry. The progeny cf the hali- 
Englisli .sire that was kept two years ago .vere, 
as a rule, unsutitifactory unimalc; no doui.;. froru 
tije fact of the bull being rather coo old iw 
breeding purposes. 
Regarding di. horning we read: "Ail ihe htifer 
calves born during the year have been dishorned, 
the process adopted being almost painless. The 
button was scraped, but it assumed an inflamed 
apjiearance, and then was rubbed with stick 
Caustic potath. The operation was generally 
effectual the first lime. The immense horns of 
our cows are a nuisance arid a source of danger 
to the cows themselves, as they frequently in- 
flict injury on each other ; besides, dishorning 
makes them more docile, a fact that must weigh 
a gieat deal in managing part-bred zebru cattle. 
The red poll was introduced vvitii a view to 
bringing down the horns by a natural process, 
liut this would take years to effect. The arti- 
ficial process is immediate in it,> re.-ults,'' 
Another method cf tieatment for dishorning 
is by making cross incisions in the button and 
inserting a tmall piece of stick caustic polath. Hie 
stock cou.-titutiiig the dairy herd in Trinidad 
are as iiKlicated a cro^s breed between English 
and Zebu cattle (the humped cattle of India, 
but of what particular breed or from whai part 
of the Indian Empire we have not been abie to 
gather), borne weeks ago a good deal of surprise 
was evinced at the announcement that native 
Sinhalese cattle were wanted for Trinidad. The 
infeience naturally was that the stock were 
requiietl in conneclif'H w'ith the dairy ojiera- 
tioiis, and that x^ossibly a mistake was made in 
a.-king for Sinlialese Cattie instead of tiiose of 
the »ind breed (kept in the Ceylon dairy) wliose 
reputation as dairy stock might have reached the 
West Indies. But a letter to the Editor of the 
Ceylon Observer from the Manager of the Trinidad 
Stock Farm explained the misconception, for 
the Sinhalese stock v.'ere wanted as Lieing small 
and cheap draught animals suited to the require- 
ments of the peasants. An enquiry for these 
animals for diuuglit purposes in connection with 
Municix^al work came some time ago from Mauri- 
tius, £0 that there is a likelihood of tliese hardy 
little creatures being found as colonists in other 
lands in the near future. 
« — 
THE VALUii OF ASHES AND CHARCOAL. 
Ashes are now largely used in connect ion with the 
cultivation of coconuts, and the good result-^ attend- 
ing its use are well known to luo.st coconut 
planters, but Mr. R. Harding, Curator, Bouniic 
Gardens, Toowoombn, proves so well the value of 
