August T, i89T.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 137 
51*1. 
British 
mine 
'or the 
me. 
PIS. 
r been 
made 
nrmah 
icate a 
; but 
ey re- 
The " Cyclone Wit\erer"is much used in Assam 
BOW, and is patented in Ceylon by the inventor» 
I understand, it is aclverliacd in the Indian 
Planters' Gazette in Inilip., and it is all the inventor 
claims for it — a thorough witherer — and I wonder 
it is not advertised here also. I shall call Mr, 
Turton's attention to this. He wrote me he would 
be in Ceylon in February last, but, I fancy, has 
not had time. 
I p;nc; rou his pnmphlet. The onefhere repre- 
sented is his ,/()',s^ attempt. His improved one is 
very much better and more effective. I have 
diftgrams of it. to show anyone who thinks of 
getting one.— Yours truly, WALTER AGAR. 
[It is certainly surprising, if the "Cyclone 
Witherer" is a success in India, that it has not been 
advertised in Ooylon ; but we have seen it Btrongly 
condemned by " Peripatetic Planter," Mr. Lepper; 
Perhaps that may have been an unimproved one. 
—Ed. T. a.] 
To the Editor. 
APICULTURE. 
Glasgow, June 2 
Dear Sir, — I enclose a cutting from the 1 
Beekee^Jtrs' lieconi in answer to a query of 
regarding Apia dorsata. I was much obliged f 
Tropical Agriculturists which you kindly sent 
Yours truly, AI 
[The large bee of Java {Apis dorsata) has neve: 
domesticated in Europe. An attempt was 
several years ago by a KPitleraan resident in Bi 
(as reported in the American Bee Journal) to lo 
swarm of these beea m an observatory bive 
afSer remaining for tw'lve days ia the hive th _ 
fused to submit to ths ways of civilised bees and 
absconded. The writer says of them: — 
' In the Padnng-Karen coia.-iry, about eighty miles 
north-east from Toungoo, these beea are in some sense 
domestioatod, as is also the Apis indica. In order to 
secure the services of the Apis dorsata, the Paciuiigs 
dig n trench in a side hill, anil drive a stout stake, in- 
clined about 45° towards tbe down slope of the hill, 
into the ground, and lean branohes of trees agninsfc the 
stake on either side, making a shieJd from the wicd. 
The Ains dorsata returns to these places yeat .ifter 
year, and the natives secmre b>juntif;il harvests of wax 
and honey, always leaving some for their ytllow workers. 
May it not be tbat tho Apis dorsata builds oae comb 
only bf cause it docs not u-ually fiud a place to build 
double combs? The comb is so large that it must 
indeed ba a large limb of a tree to give room for 
double com':!S. 1 am strongly inclined to believe that 
the Apis dorsata can be domesticated, especially the 
black-coloured epeoies. Yet, to ensure saoJafs, doubt- 
less much study must be given to the habits of this 
bee.' The same gentlemin, in a subsequent number 
of Gleanings, sgain refers to (be departure of his 
swarm as follows The comb of Ihd Apis dorsata 
left with mo moasur-is about 2 ft. lonft by IJ ft. 
deep. The houey-comb and brood-conib ero quite 
distint. The honey-comb is placed always hiifhest 
on the limb of the tree or. which the nest is built. 
From 'his, which is on tbe right in my comb, the 
brod-comb extends to tho left, new o;jmb being added 
along tho whole edge, from the honey-comb around 
to the limb again. Tho honsy-oomb is three inches 
thick in its thickest part, but built in a cylindrical 
firm. The natives say they have seen this honey-chattei 
6 in. in diameter. The cells a'e inches deep, and 
less as tbe slope ohnnges. There are three honey-cells 
to the iooh. This comb is beauti-ully white, aud the 
walls of tho cell are almost trsr.sparer t. Honey is 
also deposited among the brood, but it seems to be of 
a different kind from tbat in the honey-chattei. Tbe 
brood cells are from ^ to | of ar, inch deep. The 
number to tho inch varies from 4 to 4|, or 23 cells to 5 
square inches. Tho brood-comb vsries a little iu thick- 
ness, and is about 1| in., aud is a light brown iu colour. 
These bies on the comb form one of the most beautiful 
sights in nature I ever saw. During their stay tboy 
built comb and brought honey aud water, bat they did 
not at any time work bs if thoy were happy. Jnst 
before kaving there was a great running to and fro, 
f.ad presuing of wings and legs, preparatory to flight. 
Not more than half a dozen bees remained.' — Ed.1 T. A. 
A TEA WITHERER. 
June 25th. 
Deab Sir,— Some short time back I rend a letter 
in your paper suggesting that Mr. Jackson should 
invent a " witheror." This has already been done, 
and anyone desirous of seeing same at work can 
do so ou applying lo me. 
18 
IRBIGATION IN BIND. 
The Indus Valley Steam Irrigation A Trading 
Co , Limited, Bombay, June 25th. 
Dkau Sir, — May I venture to ask if you wouI4- 
kindly reproduce tha article appearing in today's 
Bombay Gazette in respect to Irrigation in Sind, the 
development of which this company proposes to 
undertake. — I am dear sir, yours faithfully, 
JOHN GRIPEK, Managing Direotor. 
SIND IRRIGATION OLD AND NEW. 
According to a Government Resolution oa irrigation 
in Siud, whici: was it sued a few days ago, there were 
during tho ofiicial year 1889-90 2,109,804 acres of 
Qovernmint lands aud 240,015 acres ot Jaghir lands 
under cul'ivatiou, or an increisa on tbe fli^ures for 
1889 of 222,248 acres and 8 936 acres, respectively, 
while tbe revenue, Jedacting remissions an.l land 
share, increased from R'14.12,756 to E47,80,328. There 
is thus an icoreaso in cultivation of nearly eleven par 
cent., Bud in total canal revenue of nearly seven 
anti three-quart ers per cent., over the figun s forl888-89, 
anii of twenty-f .ti. per cent, and twenty-one andthree^ 
qui 'Tt^n-sper ceos , rt spectively, over the results for 1887- 
88. Large as these figures appear, they are very small 
compareJ with the total area irrigabln in Sind, and muob 
smalici still when contrHstcd with those of the irrigation 
works of other provinces. The Ganges Canal, for ia- 
stsnce, comprisLS 437 miles of main canal and 3,569 miles 
of distiiButaries, and irrigates 807,574 acres. The 
Slrhind Oaniil la t he Punjab has 542 miles of main chan- 
nel aud 4,389 miles of distributaries. Tbe Godavari, 
Kifttia, nnd Cauvery irrigation system in Madras totals 
1,246 miles of canal, and waters two millioi, acres. Iq 
Sind the pysi:em is ranch simpler, and under exist- 
ing conditions much less effective. The inundation 
canals are for the most part mere earthen ohaunelB, 
iuEocent of masonry dams and sluices, and supplied 
by the Kuoual rise in May of the Indus and its 
tributaries. Sianple as the sj stem is so far, the method 
of the ryot ill getting the water from these channels 
to irrigate his land is even more rudimentarj', for 
lie ki 0W3 i!0 better appliance than the clumsy 
Pf'rsia!! wheel which hns been iu use for thousnndi 
of yearf . Tha cultiv:itor with three pairs of bullocks 
capable of plougbiug »n acre Hud a half per day, 
has to emp'oy two f f these pairs night and day to 
r&ise a fcsnty supply of water barely sufficient to 
irrigate enough lami to keep the other pair of 
bullocks ploughing six hours a cay. S'ow and costly 
as this inethod is — !>coordi ig to an ofiicial return it is 
estiIna■f^d that c-acb aero costs on this system R32-8 
ro iiii;.',itc — th ^ Siiidhee practically knows none other, 
and until rectully little it no attention has beea 
giver to tho question of find a cheap and effective 
Bub8titut>3 for this dear md effete system: 
Recently, however, a Company has been formed 
under the title of the Indus Yaliey Steam Irrigation 
