^Tov, 1, 1898.] Supplement to the " Tropical Agriculturist." 
373 
hairy soon falling ; calyx densely silky, two 
upper segments completely connate, lowest much 
longest ; pod 2i — 3 in. by about i in. broad, 
linear, blunt, falcately curved at both ends, with 
a longitudinal rib along -whole length of each 
valve hut with cut wings, densely covered with 
close rather weak orange-brown irritant bristles 
pointing backwards and readily detached, 4 — 6 
seeded with partitions between them ; seed ovoid, 
5 in., compressed, brownish mottled with black, 
liilum oblong, nut half the length of the seed. 
yar. B. bifiom — Leaves smaller, more hairy 
above ; peduncles about 1 in., erect, 2-flowered. 
Dry and intermediate regions; rather common. 
Vai: B, Batticaloa. — Flowers January-February ; 
dull dark purple, the keel yellowish-green. Found 
throughout the tropics. This is the cowage or 
cowitch plant, Moore's name is wel-damaniya. 
The Sinhalese name given by Trimen is aeheriya 
pala, 
The Florida bean is now bearing profusely at 
the Colombo School of Agriculture, having been 
raised from the seed kindly presented by Mr, 
J. P. Williams of Henaratgoda. 
Phnllin is the active poison found in poisonous 
mushrooms. Nothing of the same character was 
known in plants except abrin the poison of abncs 
precatorius (Sin. olinda). A similar substance 
exists in the venom of the common rattlesnake 
and other poisonous reptiles and insects, and in 
the cultures of such disease-causing bacteria as 
those of diphtheria and typhoid. 
Bamboo and cane are now largely used for 
making furniture, and though such furniture 
has many advantages over wooden articles, it 
must be admitted that the former are liable to 
deterioration sooner than the latter. I have been 
asked whether somethi.ng could not be done to 
prevent bamboo furniture from going bad, There 
are, of course, many methods of preserving timber, 
all of which require more or less expensive plant 
and laborious treatment of the wood, but as a 
cheap and easy means of preserving bamboo ware, 
I would recommend the immersion of the 
materials (after being thoroughly dried) in a 
solution of sulphate of copper or bluestone — 
which is cheaper than any or other chemical salt 
•with the required properties, and beside^ leaves 
no unpleasant odour behind. The strength of 
the solution should be about 1 lb, of bluestone 
to 5 gallons water, and there should of course 
be enough for the material to be thoroughly 
immersed and left till completely saturated, 
Simmonds, in his Tropical Agiiculture, states 
that in 1870 there were more than 70,000 a^res 
under chillies in the lladras Presidency. England 
is said to import about 80 tons per annum 
from the W. Indies und Africa- I am glad to hear 
that there is prospect of 100 acres being laid 
under chillies by an enterprising planter. 
There are a number of what may be c illed velvet 
beans indigenous to Ceylon besides -V/. pniriens. 
M. mo)tosperma, M. atropurpiu-ea,and M. gigantea, 
are all jfurnished with reddish brown hair on 
the pods. 
Last month I had an application for seeds of 
the jak and breadfruit tree from the Political 
Superintendent, Palanpur, and was surprised to 
iearn that these two trees are little known on 
the Bombay side of India— if indeed tliey are 
common in other parts of the peninsula. Tlie 
j.-ik seeds, or nuts as they are s jmelimes called, 
were not difficult to obtain, but in the case of 
the cultivated breadfruit {Artocarpus inci-sa) 
which cannot be propagated by seed, a few 
short (about 3 inches) root-cuttings with inci- 
pient buds were despatched with the jak seeds, 
packed in coirdust in a cigar-box. 1 have since 
heard from Pulanpur that the contents of the 
box arrived in excellent condition, 
Through the courtesy of Mr. Geo. Warr, whoso 
name is familiar in connection with ramie fibre 
cultivation, I secured a small parcel of American 
rice seed. The parcel was unfortunately much 
damaged in transit, and 1 am afraid that 
much cannot be done with the very .-mall quantity 
of good grain that was got from the parcel. I 
hope, however, to make another effort to introduce 
one of the excellent varieties of American rice, 
THRIPS. 
^ 
TR.\NSFERR1NG BEES TO A BAR-FRAME 
HIVE. 
A correspondent has asked for advice as to the 
best way of transfer ring a colony of bees, which 
have for some time beju domiciled in a gin-case, 
to a bar-frame hive. To the inexperienced and 
timid person this seems a formidable undertaking, 
but when you see it done by an expert operator, 
the matter is as easy as falling off a log, Let us 
say the colony has been at work in the gin-case 
for t\»elve months or so, and have filled it with 
comb. Choose a nice sunny day. Take all the 
bar-frames out of the new hive and place it on a 
box or table in a clear space. See that all tl.e 
frames are in good order and put them — without 
any comb foundation— in a handy place. Then 
get a lot of pieces of narrow tape about 30 inches 
in length, and put them where you can reach them 
easily ; also a sharp tliin-bluded knife. When 
everything is in readiness, take off your coat and 
roll up your sleeves to the elbow. Seems a 
hazardous thing to do, but if your sleeves are 
dangling round, and a bee happens to get squeezed 
in, it will sting like a fiend possessed. To protect 
the face and neck, a veil should be worn; and as 
a gentle persuader a smoke bellows with a piece 
of smouldering sacking will be all that is necessary. 
Take up the gin-case as carefully as possible, and 
carry it to the table, on which it should be placed 
with as little jarring as possible, upside down. 
The beos will come out and fly around some. Just 
stand quietly, and if one aliglits on you, do not 
make a violent effort to dislodge it. If a bee 
really means to sting you, it comes right at the 
spot like a bullet. Some bees will fall to the 
ground, and to prevent them crawling into your 
trousers, just pull your socks over the ends of" the 
unmentionables. Give a few puffs of smoke in the 
corner of the gin-case that ajipe irs easiest to get 
at, and with the knife cut tlie first comb out by 
running the blade along the top or as near to the 
