370 
Supplement to the " Tropical Agncuttiirist." [Nov. 2, 1903. 
The Principal of the Queensland Agricultural 
College, in an article on Paspalum dilatatum, in 
the May (1903) number says :— " Having been the 
first to bring before the notice of the public of 
Queensland this valuable grass, some seven years 
ago, I have experimented with it under different 
conditions, and watched its progress very care- 
fully, and the more knowledge I acquire of its habits 
and growth, the more strongly am I convinced 
of its value, not only for pastoral purposes, but 
also as a fodder Regarding Pas- 
palum dilatatum as a grass for milk production 
and for fattening stock, I think I am within 
bounds in saying that, all things being con- 
sidered, it surpasses all other grasses known to 
us as a permanent pasture. It possesses great 
drought-resisting qualities, and frost will not 
injure it. . . . Trampling it down and cutting 
it off with stock does not injure it. The soft 
succulent nature of the grass induces stock to 
relish and eat every part from crown to head. 
When cut and saved at the proper stage it makes 
excellent hay; with us one acre has yielded 
22 cwt. of good hay. When milch cows are 
grazed on the Paspalum field, the flow of milk 
increases rapidly and the cows put on condition. 
In respect to what has been written 
above, the writer can truthfully say that all 
particulars are based on actual results." This 
is high praise and praise from a high quarter. 
We trust that our own experience with the 
grass — only just begun — will eventually turn out 
to be as satisfactory as that of the Principal of 
the Queensland Agricultural College. 
The v^ue of green-manuring in improving 
poor soils is little understood and less practised 
among local agriculturists. Says a contemporary, 
"The most barren soils may eventually be ren- 
dered by green-manuring with velvet bean or 
cow pea. ... An acre of well-grown cow 
pea will amount in -weight to from 1^ to 2^ 
tons, and when this mass is turned under (the 
soil) it gives up 64 to 70 lbs, of nitrogen, 
21 to 26 lbs. of phosphoric acid, and from 
100 to 130 lbs. of potash." Here are two 
crops which might with advantage be sown 
in paddy-fields between crops and during the 
dry seasons, with a view of supplying some 
fodder for cattle and adding fertility to the soil. 
Mr. Flage Carter of Park County has made 
himself famous as " the orginator of the capillary 
attraction principle of supplying water to trees." 
The State Board of Horticulture and the Govern- 
ment Experimental Station at Fort Collins are said 
to be investigating the merits of the new discovery. 
Shortly explained the modus consists of taking 
a bucket of water to the tree, as you would 
to a horse, and suspending it on a limb of the 
tree. Then bend down a twig (qviite about that 
of a lead pencil) as you would draw the neck of 
the animal to the bucket. Besult : The liquid 
will be rapidly absorbed by the twig ! Who is 
going to be the first to try this in Ceylon ? 
The Chinese idea of a prosperous State is well 
worth the careful notice of rulers — Colonial and 
otherwise. The Chinese have a respect — which is 
akin to reverence — for agriculture, and their 
appreciation of its value in the State is well 
shewn in the following translation of a Chinese 
poem : — 
" Where spades grow bright, and idle swords 
grow dull ; 
Where gaols are empty and where barns are full ; 
Where field-paths are with frequent feet out- 
worn, 
Law courtyards weedy, silent and forlorn ; 
Where doctors foot it, and where farmers ride ; 
Where age abounds, and youth is multiplied ; 
Where poisonous driuks are chased from every 
place ; 
Where opium's curse no longer leaves a trace ; 
Where these signs are, they clearly indicate 
A happy people and a well-ruled State." 
Mtrate of ammonia added to twice its weight 
of freshly-crusted washing soda and an equal 
quantity of the coldest water obtainable will 
produce a temperature of 40° below freezing point- 
This is the most powerful freezer without acids. 
Mr. S. C. Voller, Assistant Instructor in Fruit 
Culture of the Department of Agriculture, Queens- 
land, sends to the Agricultural Journal of that 
Colony what he recommends as an infallible wash 
for destroying aphis and other insect life on 
vegetables. The wash is said to stick like varnish 
and instantly destroy all animal life on plants. 
Here is the recipe :— Eesin, 20 lbs.; Caustic Soda, 
(98 per cent) 4 lbs., or (70 per cent) 6 lbs.; Fish 
Oil, 8 pints or Whale Oil, 2 J lbs.; 140 to 150 
gallons water. Place all the ingredients in a 
boiler with 20 gallons of water, and let the whole 
simmer for 3 hours. Then add hot-water slowly 
and stir well till there are at least 40 gallons ; 
then add cold water to make up 140 gallons. 
Never add cold water when corking. A stronger 
solution with only 80 gallons of water will destroy 
the most intractable pests. 
With reference to the extraction of Plantain Fibre 
from ordinary varieties, we learn from a con- 
temporary that a Madras Official Bulletin gives 
a description of a kind of simple and cheap 
machinery invented by Mr. Underwood and also 
by Major Maitland, These inventions have not 
come before us, and we would be glad to have 
any particulars with reference to them. 
The description of the "remarkable pineapple" 
referred to in the Queensland Agricultural Journal 
of April last reminds us of our local "Queen" 
(we do not know the smooth-leaved Queen), while 
the illustration of the "remarkable mango" is . 
very like our Parrot mango, with the exaggerated 
horn rather too high up 
