290 
St^ppkment to the " Tropical Agnculturist." [October i, 1891 
of the Sanitary division of the Municiiiality to 
superintend the work of poudrette manufacture, 
after having seen the process iu working where 
it is carried on. 
There is more than one spot Avhere sewage 
matter, and blood and other refuse from the 
slaughter-houses, together with coir dust could 
be manipulated without proving a nuisance to 
the public. 
We hojDe to find tliis suggestion carried out, 
as there is little that could be said in the way 
of objection ; for Avhile we would be glad to 
see illustrations of agricultural economy such as 
this, there is the high authority of thij speaker 
at the Congress of Hygiene and Deiuography, 
that the utilization of sewage for agricultural pur- 
poses is by no means antagonistic to the funda- 
mental principles of sanitation, that should carry 
great weight with our city fathers. In our last 
issue we quoted a passage to ijrove that a large in- 
come was being realized by the Municipal towns 
in the Punjab by the sale of sewage and other 
refuse matter. We reproduce the following sen- 
tence: — 
"The sooner this prejudice (against the vitiliza- 
tion of sewage in farming) disappears, the better 
for both tlie Municipal coffers and the agricul- 
turist, as a common gain must fall to both. ' 
OCCASIONAL NOTES. 
The Sub-Committee appointed by the Legisla tive 
Council to report on the Ordinance relating to 
Cattle Disease, have recommended that the duties 
and powers vested and imijosed on the In.?pectors 
should be exercised and performed by the 
Government Agent, it being impracticable to 
procure in the island Inspectors having sufii- 
cient veterinary knowledge to carry out such 
duties to the satisfaction of the public. We 
suppose that this siiggestion will be carried out 
pending such arrangements as will secure the 
InsiDectors with the necessary veterinary know- 
ledge. AVe would suggest that a qualified 
person, and one who has had some experience 
of the working of measures relating to cattle 
disease, should be ai^pointed to draw out a list 
of instructions, as a guide to those who are to 
assume the duties of veterinary inspectors, till 
these latter are available. 
Of late there have been reports of "foot-and- 
mouth disease" from more than one district. 
There are tAvo forms of this troublesome dis- 
order: — (1) Sporadic aphtha, and (2) Epizootic 
aphtha. The former which affects few (and 
e.specially young) animals is controllable to a 
great extent by aperient medicines and astringent 
washes, but the latter which affects large numbers, 
is very liard to deal with. It is commonly known 
in Scotland by the name "Murrain" which, 
liowever, lia.s a totally different application with 
us. Affected animals should be isolated and 
care should be taken that they are kept in a 
clean dry jjlace. A dose of |- to f of a pint 
of linseed oil (according to the size and age 
of the animalj with an ounce of powdered ginger 
should be given to act on the bowels, tlie moutli 
should be washed with a solution of alum in 
water — one ounce to a (juart — and tlie feet with 
a litroiiger solution, and the hooves kept clean 
and dressed with blue vitriol (copper sulphate) 
or zinc sulphate or salycilic acid or zinc chloride 
or carbolic acid and glycernic (i oz. to 6 oz. of 
water) or .strong mixtures of Condy's fluid or 
Jeye's disinfectant and water. It is a good 
thing to relieve the vesicles and hasten their 
healing, and to cut and remove all detached 
pieces of the hoof. Rock salt should be sup- 
plied for the animals to lick. 
Eleiisine Indica (crow-foot or crab-grass) the 
Sinhalese Belatana, or as it is sometimes called 
the wild kurrakkan, is a variety of the Indian 
rar/i (Eleusine Covocana) the Sinhalese kur- 
rakkan. It is figured and described in the New 
South Wales Agricultural Journal for February 
last. The Botanist to the Agricultural Department 
thus refers to it :— " A coarse, erect, tufted peren- 
nial grass recognised by its dark green colour, 
strong stalks, and digitate panicles, the spikelets 
of which are flat, and overlap each other. It 
grows nearly all the year round, but during the 
summer months yields a great amount of rich 
succulent herbage, which is much relished by 
cattle. If cut when it first shows its flower 
stems, it makes excellent hay. Mr. G. D. Uilder 
of Kempsey, forwarded a specimen of this grass 
to me for identification quite recently, with a 
note to the effect that it was a 'very good orass 
for cattle, and that they ate it greedily.' It^'is a 
grass that is worth disseminating on moist lands 
in the coastal districts; and as it produces a 
great amount of seed if left undisturbed for a time, 
there would be very little trouble iu collecting any 
quantity. Besides its value as a forage grass, it 
is useful for binding the banks of rivers, dams, 
and loose earth. Its tough fibrous roots penetrate 
deeply into the soil, and in time form a perfect 
mat, so that flood-waters would have little effect 
upon the land where it was firmly established. 
It will even undergo partial submer.sion for 
a few days without the slightest injury." 
This hardy grass grows abundantly iu the warmer 
parts of Ceylon, and cattle are very fond of it 
Native medical men recommend it for external 
aijplication in cases of sprains. 
Two varieties of Cumbu (Fenidllaria spicata) 
are grown in India : the ordinary variety is that 
grown as an unirrigated crop, while that known 
as Munumani Cumbu is an irrigated crop. The 
plants of this latter variety are shorter than those 
of the other, and mature sooner, the ears appear- 
ing as a rule at fourth node. Cumbu is con- 
sidered an unexliausting and ameliorating crop. 
It is largely grown and relished as a food by the 
natives of South India. It is a common proverb 
among them that " cumbu is equal to paddy as 
food." The crop is not usually manured, and is 
generally chosen for exhausted lands. It is either 
grown alone and successively on the same land year 
after year, or with other crops such as green gram. 
The ears are reaped two or three times before the 
straw is cut. The chaff is used as a bedding for 
forming straw stacks, and subsequently added to 
the manure heaps. The straw, which is inferior 
to paddy straw, is not of much value as fodder. 
Cumbu is grown to some extent in the island, 
and principally in the North-Western Province. 
A small extent of the new land attached to the 
