MAkCH 1, 1902.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 631 
limit the destruction to the Master, and the distur- 
bance to the District Forest Officer. 
By limiting the shooting of ibex to one saddle- 
back, a measure of protection seems to have been 
afforded these shy creatures, rapidly diminishing in 
numbers, since, during, the 12 months ending with 
June last, only three ibex were shot, and one of these 
turned out to be a brown buck. In this connection, 
the Honorary Secretary complains that sportsmen, 
who were asked to send in the heads and skins of 
ibex killed have failed to comply with the request, 
and that, for this reason, it will have to be made com- 
pulsory in future. 
Major Bagnall is aware only of one large trout cap- 
tured last year, and that was a female, weighing 5i lb., 
fall of spawn, which was discovered too late to restore 
it to the water. He fears that p.ny trout in Burnfoot 
Lake, that is fouled by the work going on in the cnn- 
strnctlon of the Tiger Hill Beservoir, have perished, 
as '^ome dead fish were seen floating on the surface ot 
the water. He suggests that when the fouling is over, 
as it will be when the dam is completed at the Reser- 
voir site, arrangements with the proprietor should be 
made to rc-stock it. The carp of Pykara River were 
netted and placed in other s'^reams that will suit them, 
and in the Ootacamund Lake. 
The Game Association maintains a record of game 
shot each year, but this is necessarily incomplete,_ since 
sportsmen will not communicate their successes in the 
field ; but from what has been reported it is noted 
that 14 heads of sambur, measuring over 30 ins., were 
secured in the 12 months. One head shot at Kotagiri 
had horns that measured 33J ins. ; it was remarkably 
symmetrical, although 2 ins. short of the record, and 
the brow antlers wei-e 17g ins. Another good head was 
secured on the Succoth Estate. It was the best of the 
season, but in massiveness a head from Kotagiri beat 
it. The left brow antler in this latter case was 16j 
ins. and the right 17| ins, 
A black panther was shot ou the Koondahs, last 
season 6 ft. 7 ins. in length. It was the largest black 
panther ever seen on the Nilgiris. Of bears, two, 6 ft. 
in length were shot, one at Kolakumbay and one at 
Kodanad. A tiger was killed on the Koondahs, which, 
judging by the size of head and skin, must have taped 
9 ft. 8 ins. 
A consignment of 20,000 trout ova is expected to 
arrive in Bombay on the 6th proximo. Mr. Van Ingen, 
the Taxidermist, who has had some experience in the 
matter goes to Bombay to receive the ova, and arrange 
for their safe conveyance to Ootacamund. — 3Iadrfis 
Mail, Feb. 24. 
SUNFLOWER AS AN INDUSTRY. 
(From a Madras Correspondent.) 
The sale on the Baltic of 300 tons of sun-Hower 
seeds at ill 5s. per ton serves as another reminder 
to people, that the Ilelianthus or sunflower is one of 
those crops in which there is money. A small trade 
has been done in the seeds for close on two centuries 
in Russia, France, Germany and Italy, but in England 
the cultivation has been exclusively for ornamental 
purposes. In America it has recently formed the sub- 
ject of a special report to the United States' Depart- 
ment of Agriculture. This report shows that the plant 
can be grown successfully but that it is a crop which 
makes a considerable drain on fertilisers. The report 
also shows that the cultivation of the flower would 
prove commercially advantageous, and that the methods 
pursued for growing Indian corn should be followed. 
It is largely cultivated in China and Tartary ; it spreads 
■with comparative rapidity ; and, in Simla and other 
hill stations, where it was introduced into gardens, it 
may now be found growing wild. The Jerusalem 
Artichoke or Helianthus Tuberosus is believed to be 
a native of North America. It was introduced into 
Europe about three centuries ago, from there into 
India, and soon became an article of diet, the people of 
Pftthiwar reckoning it a very nutritious vegetable and 
most palatable when boiled in milk. The seeds are 
sold in Russia and eaten as nuts, and when torrefied 
in the same manner as coffee, may be used as a 
substitute for it. They are also considered beneficial 
to poultry and to birds generally, and possess, more- 
over, medicinal value in the treatment of farm animals. 
Cows and oxen, horses, sheep, pigs, rabbits and poultry 
are all fond of them, and they are considered superior 
to linseed for cattle, which are also fed on tfao oilcake. 
It is however, on account of ihe oil that the plant has 
now assume') such commercial importance. In its 
pure state this oil is said to be excellent for the table, 
and in Russia it is already in use as an adulterant 
of almond and olive oils. It may be advantageously 
utilised for woollen dressing, lighting, and candle and 
soap making. Somehow, the oil expressed many years 
ago from seeds of p ants experimentally cultivated 
in Bangalore was a disappointment commercially, 
for it was inferior as a table oil, its 
thinness made it useless for railway trains, 
it dried too slowly for paint, and, though in 
the Ordnance Department it was found to serve all 
the requirements of the Arsenal, the price was pro- 
hibitive. Some species of the sunflower, such as IJ, 
tlinrifer, secrete a resinous juice, which some day mny 
be utilised. The blossoms furnish a bright and lasting 
dye and the stalks of the plant yield a useful textile 
fibre, while bees are largely attracted to the flowers. 
It was at one time believed that the sunflower 
possessed great value in the reclamation of marshy 
tracts of land besides the property or removing malaria 
from swampy areas. To test this theory, cultivation 
was underlaken in Bangalore about 30 years ago but 
the virtues of the plant pioved to be iraagiuary. 
In Russia where the cultivation for oil is on a large 
scale, the (jrandijiora is the variety grown. The species 
which the natives of India have for a long time 
cultivated is the II. Annus ot modern botanists and 
the H. Indicus of Linnaaus. This was at one time 
believed to be a native of India, and it is probably 
to this genus that reference is made in the history 
of the reign of Akha,!,— Capital. Feb. 20. 
Tobacco-Growing in Trincomalbe.— " J. 
B, O." 's seasonable letter elsewhere should 
excite interest in the peninsula as well as 
at Trincomalee. We shall welcorn* up-to- 
date replies to the request for Jaffna in- 
formation on the topic. 
Cacao Stealing.— It is almost incredihle 
that the Cacao Planters of Ceylon should, 
directly and indirectly, owing to the depre- 
dations ot cacac thieves, be submitted to bear 
a loss of 25 per cent annually on their crop. 
Such is the case, however, and the Cacao 
Committee of the Matale and Kandy Associa- 
tion which met on the 17th inst., give good 
ground for the motions they passed praving 
the Parer.t Association to approach Govern- 
ment on the subject. Under existing legisla- 
tion it has been found impossible to suppress 
the evil, and in many cases although plan, 
ters were morally certain of the thieves they 
could not prosecute with any prospect of 
success. Rural Police have, after a fair trial, 
proved a failure and indeed the only pre- 
ventative at present is " small shot and fire 
low." Cacao planters are a law abiding people, 
however, and do not wish to take the law 
into their own hands and have so far re- 
frained from this effective cure. Government 
cannot we think, if the matter is properly 
represented to them, abstain from devising 
some special method of preventing this 
wholesale robbery, a measure like the coffee 
stealing law is wanted. 
