736 
Sux>xjl<iinent to tlie " Tropical Agricullurist." 
[April 1, 1899. 
OCCASIONAL NOTES. 
In reply to a lettei- asking for informntion 
regarding a rubber extractor wbicli \va.« referred 
to by one of our contemporaries as being sliowii 
in Trinidad, we liave been favoured witli the 
following reply: — " Tho Rubber Extractor shown 
in Trinidad was made by mc on tlie base of n 
'Cream Separator' and adopted ujjon on improved 
principle to that of Mr. Biffen. 1 cannot send you 
a description of the machine, but you will be uble 
probably to fee quotations f<* it or a similar one 
upon the market shortly by a London firm. 
1 have now a process of preparing Castilloa 
rubber by anotlier method which will be put upou 
the market shortly. 1 will advise you in both 
cases where you can procure the machines and 
when." 
We make no apology for taking over the 
instructions on trout breeding from the Cape Agri- 
cultural Journal, in view of the active interest 
now being taken in this matter. 
We have at the request of Mr. John Fergusoji 
taken' charge of the plants (familiar enough in 
Cteylon) consigned from the Seychelles as the food of 
young gourami, and tliey are now established round 
tlie pond in the School of Agriculture grounds. 
We are expecting to have some of the fish 
to stock the pond, and trust before lung to 
be able to make a favourable report with reference 
to the experiment. 
The report on the Poona Dairy is always interest- 
ing to us, from the fact that it served as a model 
for the Ceylon Government Dairy; and Mr. MollisoQ 
never fails to give us useful hints in his report 
wliich we publish on another page. 
The February number of the Queensland Agri- 
cultural Journal quotes the letters of Mr. S. M. 
Fowler and " C. D. " contributed to the Ceylon 
Observer with reference to Gourami fish. 
We learn that Mr. O'Connor, who called here 
on his way from Europe, after conveying speci- 
mens of the Queensland Ceratodus to London and 
Paris, has introduced gourami from Java. Some 
seventy specimens were taken over and placed 
in suitable lagoons and waterholes. 
TllE BRAHMANl BULLS OF INDIA. 
There is a good deal of confusion existing 
abroad, to judge from frequent refarences in the 
press to the " Sacred trotting oxen of Ceylon," 
between the sacred bulls of India and the trotting 
bullocks of this Island, and we are therefore glad 
to find a clear account of the former given by Ur. 
Voelcker in his report on Indian Agriculture. 
The Brahmani bulls, which are dedicated to Siva 
or some other deity, are let loose when still young, 
on the occasions of funeral ceremonies, or in 
fulfillment of a tow. They are picked cattle, and, 
being sacred, are allowed to roam wherever they 
please, no one being permitted to kill them. The 
custom is still maintained, and iu some parts 
there are too many Brahmani bulls. Sometimes 
considerable disseneion exists regarding the bulls, 
and frequent trouble between Hiudoog and 
Muliammiidans «ri,-e on this account. In miiny 
parts, however, the Bruhm.-ini bull 18 quite extinct, 
this being due chiefly to the decrease in free 
pasturing urea, and to the decline of fnith in the 
eld religious belieff. 
The Bnihmani bull, where he etiste, is nlmoet 
olwaya a fine creature, fed on the best of every- 
thing. All tl»at a cultivator may do is to drive 
the bull off hifi own field, though it may be only 
for it to go on to his ueighlwurV. The old Hindoo 
system of breeding is carried on by iBe«ns of the^e 
sucred bulls, but so well does the animal fare 
that it 18 frequently asserted agoimt him that he 
gets too fat and lazy to pursue his proper calling, 
and that the cows get t-erv:ed by the half-starved 
bulls of their own herds instead, Neverihele?*, 
it is very certain that were it not for the Brah- 
mani bull, many villages would be very badly off. 
In pome parts, as already mentioned, (Behar for 
instance) the bulh are too numerous, and cause 
serious damage to the crops of the indigo plunterh. 
Though they do not eat the shrub itself, they 
tread it down while searching for the gniss tliat 
grows under its shade but nowhere else. Much 
expense has accorditigly been incurred by planters 
in putting ditches and hedges round their indigo 
field?. 
When the bulls get too numerous Municipalities 
often scire them and work them in to^vn c«irt>. 
This proceeding, so long as the bulls are not killed 
or sold, is quietly acquiesced iu. 
In t!ie North-West Provinces considerable 
trouble has been caufed by the de|)re< lotions of 
cattle-stealers and Muhamm&dan bntcbera. The 
Muhammadans, being ment-eniers, hnre not njuch 
reverence for the Brahmani bull, and it is said 
that numbers of these cattle are stolen for the 
purpose of being slaughteied, and that their flesh 
is sold. 
Dr. Voelcker complains of a decision of Mr. 
Justice Straight, in which he (the Judge) declared 
the Brahmani bull to be " no one's property," 
inasmuch as it could not be said to belong to any 
particular ciwner. The bull is thus deprived of 
the protection of ow^nership, and becomes more 
than ever the prey of the cattle stealers and 
butchers, while the villagers are deprived of the 
means of getting their cows served. "Surely," 
says Dr, Voelcker, "such a deci-^ion camiot be 
allowed to stand. That men should be allowed 
to steal and realize money by the sale of the flesh 
of stolen animals, and then escape punishment on 
the ground that the animals are ' no one's pro- 
perty,' seems manifestly unjust, and in the 
interests of the agricultural communities, the 
practice should not be permitted to continue." 
We doubt not, however, that the Judge's deci- 
sion is correctly based on the law of property, 
and there is of course the other side of the storj', 
Tiz., that there is no possibility of recovering any 
compensation for the damage wrought by animols 
that have no rightful owners. Some compromise 
can surely be arrived at by which the benefits 
•ccruing to the agriculturist* from Brahmani bulls 
can be secured, while at the same time the damage 
which they are capable of causing might be 
prevented. 
