Aug, 1, 1903.1 
THE TEOPICAL AGEICULTURIST. 
133 
The Jungle Crow T have already condemned 
and I am executing him whenever I get the 
opportunity. 
The Colombo crow, like the Colombo Agent, 
I look on as a necessary— (I won't put a 
name to it as it might be considered fulsome 
flattery), so we '11 leave him alone. 
The Jay is a beautiful bird and not over 
plentiful or aggressive ; but should he 
attempt ever again to sweep my 
garden clear of lizards, I'll have much 
pleasure in sending specimens of him to Dr 
VVilley and Mr Peter Robinson. 
The above applies to sparrow hawks 
which live almost entirely on lizards. 
Take away these rogue birds and there 
may then be a change of our having hosts 
of useful ones. I wonder if Dr Willey ever 
saw a massacre of young crows in a rookery 
and, if so, what his thoughts were as to the 
balance of nature then. 
Lizards are splendid insect-eaters as there 
seems no end to their appetite. A drop of 
12 or 15 feet from a tree on to a beetle, 
grub or worm is their pet particular way 
of keeping their digestive organs in order, 
and the performance is a most amusing 
and surprising one, so let us preserve them 
by all means. We don't call them blood- 
suckers though ; but I am not a scientist, so 
I had better stop. 
One word more, however, about the intro- 
duction of insectivorous birds. There are 
lots of them no doubt all round us in India, 
the Straits and Australia, so why not try 
and bring them here ? The Australian 
magpie or sh-ike is, I know, a grand hand 
at swallowing beetles and whistling, so why 
should we not try this and others ? — Yours 
truly. JOHN FRASER. 
BANANA FIGS, 
AN INTERESTING EXPERIMENT. 
July 18. 
Sib,— I send you the results of an attempt to 
produce banana 'rigs.' They are, by no means, 
as satisfactory as they might he— particularly 
as regards colour when compared with the 
Mafuta brand 'figs,' But the experiment is 
interesting as proving that it is not every 
variety of plantain that is suitable for fig- 
making- From previous experiments I am 
inclined £o think that our Ceylon varieties 
as being starchy are not so suitable for drying 
into the fig form as, for instance, the ' Caven- 
dish,' (an imported variety, of which the figs 
I send are made) which is more sugary and 
glutinous, — Vours truly, 
C. D, 
[We have tried the sample of " banana 
figs " submitted to us by our correspondent ; 
the flavour of the fruit is good and by no means 
too sweet, but the colour is not attractive, 
being too much like dried dates ; if this can 
6e improved the "figs" would be far more 
attractive. But we question the use of such 
an article as " banana figs." On the English 
market there would be very little, if any, 
demand ; the West Indian plantain is sup- 
plied in such quantities throughout the year, 
and so cheaply, that as dessert fruit or for 
cooking purposes the " fig " would have no 
chance against it. A dried " fig " plantain 
has already been on the English market for 
some years, and we can say, from personal 
experience, that it was not satisfactory for 
dessert or culinary purposes, but it was not 
up to the standard of our correspondent's 
sample either in flavour or appearance. On 
the Continentof Europe, where fresh plantains 
are scarce and very dea..-, a demand might 
possibly be found for a good " banana fiz." — 
Ed. T. A.I 

PLANTING NOTES, 
■Jute Cultivation— has been taken in Land 
to some purpose in Tonquia by M Duchemin. 
The Governor-General has just visited his plant- 
ations, H. E, is reported Co be highly pleased 
with what he saw, especially with the signs that 
the cultivation of the fibre there is likely to 
spread very considerably.— S^mits Times, June 3. 
Cardamoms, —There has been a remarkable rise 
in the cardamon produce of the Travancore forests. 
The Forest Department were able to collect from 
the reserved area 65 candies of cardamon, the aver- 
age collection in former years being only 25 candies 
per annum. The price of cardamon is Kl,000 
per candy.— /wc^f Agriculturist, July 1, 
Invention for the Preparation of Rub- 
BEK.— The specification of Mr E H Mathieu, of 
Singapore, of his invention for the preparation of 
ludiarubber from the milk of rubber trees, has 
been accepted by the Perak Government, ' and 
the petition for a grant of exclusive privilege of 
this invention will be considered by His High- 
ness the Sultan in Council on the llth July, 
Straits Times, May 30th. 
Pakatriptics.— In that admirable work by the 
late Theodore Child, entitled "Delicate Feasting," 
he says :— " Tea, coffee, and tobacco come under 
the heading to which scientific men have given 
the name of Paratriptics. The demand for them 
is based upon their power to prevent waste in 
the body, so that by their help and stimulus men 
can do more work, and endure more privation 
with a smaller amount of actual food. Tea, coffee' 
and tobacco are not food, although temporarily 
and continuously tliey supplement it. The physio- 
logist, Moleschott, calls them the 'savings banks' 
of the tissuee." — Indian Planting and Gardmin<j 
July 4. ^' 
Good News Foe The Rubber Trade.— Ac- 
cording to the mail advices from Ceylon, it has 
been officially reported that Para rubber is "rapid- 
ly taking its place as one of the most important 
cultivations of the island." During the past 
year 250,000 seeds were distributed from the trees 
in the Henaratgoda Gardens, from which good 
yields have been obtained. With these satisfactory 
observations anot^ of warning is given to planters. 
It is important it is urged, that the Ceylon name 
in the London market as representing the best 
quality of this rubber should be maintained, and 
that carelessly prepared or inferior rubber should 
not be exported. Rubber, it is hoped will prove 
one of the most valuable of the crops of Ceylon,— 
Bi'itish Trade Review , July 1, 
