868 
Supplement to the " Tropical Agriculturid." [June 1, 1904. 
Fi'om the cultural point of view the banana 
is characterised by its requirements for potash, 
its necessities for phosphoric acid and nitrogen 
being less important. It became of great import- 
ance for us to try and obtain a good formula 
to apply to the banana. We know that the soil 
of Guinea, in a general manner, is wanting 
in potash and phosphoric acid, and that the 
cultivation of the banana cannot be carried on 
•without having recourse to the employment of 
mineral manures, these two elements playing 
an important part in its fructification. 
It goes without saying that the exclusive 
employment of chemical manures is to be 
rejected, for we ought not to lose sight of the 
fact that a bananery ought to contain a notable 
quantity of humus, which could be furnished 
by farmyard manure or by composts ; the latter 
could be made every year on the place with 
little expense and in large quantities. 
The formula of chemical manure employed 
at the Experimental Garden, which has been 
definitely settled upon aftei two years of experi- 
ments, is following : — 
Nitrogen ... 5*47 per cent. 
Fotash ... ... 11-02 
Phosphoric acid ... 11-20 ,, 
Lime ... ... 8-17 ,, 
Each clump of banana receives per annum 6 
kilogrammes of this mixture, (about 13 pounds). 
The banana being a plant with widely spreading 
roots, and the watering being frequent during 
the dry season, this manure will be applied 
in small doses in order that the plants may 
use the greater i art of the fertilizing elements. 
Also, the employment of chemical manures ought 
to be suspended during the rainy season. The 
clumps of bananas should receive during the 
whole of the dry season, 1 kilogramme (about 
2 lbs.) of the mixture mentioned every month, 
in three or four applications. 
Besides this manure, the plants should receive, 
twice yearly, comj )sts or barnyard manure, 
in order to furrish the humus indispensably 
necessary for the vegetation. 
In this colony it is necessary to reckon on 
one franc, 50c. of manure for each clump per 
year; (about Is. 3d.) with this expense one 
can obtain from the second year of planting 
bunches of perfect regularity, bearing 10 to 12 
hands. At the rate of about 1,000 clumps of 
bananas per hectare (2| acres) it will be seen 
from what has been stated that the expense 
of manure is 1,500 francs per year and per 
hectare. The cultivation of the banana ought 
to be an intensive cultivation, and it would be 
imprudent to operate on great areas of land. 
On the other hand, if we reckon on the 
average return of 4,000 bunches to the hectare, 
it is easy to see that the cultivation of the 
banana in Guinea is susceptible of giving good 
profits. 
(The translator wishes to point out to the 
general reader that the formula herein given 
is a typical example of a "complete manure," 
that is to say, it contains all the important 
chemical matters that are necessary for the 
QUtrition of plants. It is especially important 
to notice the introductou of lime into the 
manure. French agronomes attach much import- 
ance to the value of lime in a soil, and their 
authorities assert that an arable soil should 
contain as much as 5 per cent., or 50 per 
mille. It is important also to observe the 
importance which he attributes to the influence 
of humus, agreeing in this regard with the 
views of Mr. Barclay. The necessity for potash 
in liberal allowance is also dwelt upon, and 
nitrogenous materials are shown to be necessary. 
Finally, it is to be noted that under proper 
manuring an inferior soil can be made to produce 
bunches of ten and twelve hands. The paper is 
full of material for thought on the part of the 
intelligent Tea.CiQr,— Journal of the Jamaica Agri- 
cultural Society. 
♦ 
DISEASES OF FARM STOCK AND THEIR 
PREVENTION. 
By D. HuTCHEON, M.R.C.V.S., 
Colonial Veterinary Surgeon, Cape Colony. 
( Concluded from 2Jage 97, J 
In connection with this group of infective 
diseases, I would like to refer to tiiat suppurative, 
INFLAMMATION OF THE EYES 
of cattle and sheep, which is often so prevalent in 
the Colony, more particularly during the summer 
months. The inflammation is mainly confined to 
the cornea or eyeball. It first becomes cloudy and 
opaque, followed by a circumscribed swelling, 
usually about the centre. This swelling gradually 
increases in size, and acquires a pale yellow colour 
indicating the presence of pus or matter. An 
abscess has really formed which becomes diffused 
through the corneal tissue which it destroys. The 
abscess ultimately bursts, and discharges its con- 
tents, the aqueous humour of the eye frequently 
escaping with the purulent matter, and the sight 
is lost. Now the formation of an abscess in the 
cornea of the eye is usually the result of infection 
of the cornea with pyogenic organisms which reach 
it either from withou*;, through the surface of the 
cornea, or from within through the blood. It is 
necessary to explain here, perhaps, that the forma- 
tion of pus in any tissue or organ of the body is 
always due to the entrance of pyogenic or pus- 
forming organisms into the part. Matter does not 
form in a part merely by the introduction of a 
foreign body into that part, so long as such a 
foreign body is clean and free from septic or infect- 
ive organisms. To give a familiar example, a man 
may receive a bullet from a rifle which may lodge 
deeply in some of his tissues, or he may receive a 
charge of shot from a gun ; but, although the bullet 
and shot are both foreign bodies and cause acute 
pain and irritation in the organ or tissue where 
they become lodged, an abscess does not usually 
form as a result of the presence of these pieces of 
metal in the man's flesh, simply because these 
missiles carry 
NO SEPTIC OB PYOGENIC OBQANISM3 
into the tissues along with them. But, if, on 
the other hand, the same individual should receive 
the point of a thorn or a thistle, or a splinter of 
wood, into his hand, and he could not get it ex- 
tracted at once and the wound cleaned, an absces 
