291 
School of Agriculture is about to be laid under 
cuaibu. 
A small quantity of the seed of Lathynis 
Sylvestr isiox experimental cultiTation at the 
School of Agriculture, has been indented for. 
Of V,\\o\\xvsx ( Sorfjhum Vulf/ave) there are two 
varieties grown in South India, Songucholum 
and Arisichohim. In the former the grain lias 
many husks, in the latter the grain is visible 
X^rotruding over the husk. The former variety 
which is raised for fodder may or may not produce 
ears. It jDrincipally follows cotton. Cholum 
straw is wholly consumed without any i^ortion 
being rejected. The crop is reaped in 4 months 
close to the ground, the roots remaining or 
not, as the soil is hard or soft, in the 
ground. About three cartload of 40 bundles 
each is said to be a fair outturn of fodder. 
Cholum is grown as a grain crop without rotation 
where sand predominates, and the grain of this 
Arisicholum is eaten by the looorer classes. The 
straw and chaff are given to cattle, but consump- 
tion of the grain by them is said to he attended 
with distention of the stomach. The albuminoid 
ratio of cholum straw is the lowest of all Indian 
fodders, but, says Dr. VanGeyzel, Chemical 
Kxaminer, Madras, " without further information 
as to the digestibility of the straw, it is not possible 
in reference to the analysis of cholum to explain 
the high repute in which the fodder is held, 
although in respect of the total amount of 
nutriment contained in it, it is superior to all 
the other Indian fodder straws. ' 
The Agricultural Gazette of Ne^v South Wales 
declares that the value of Sorghum (Sovglium 
SacckrarifumJ iov the food it furnishes to man 
in the form of flour from grain, of sugar, and 
of mollasses, and to animals in the form of green 
fodder, ensilage or grain, has not been fully re- 
cognised. Its value as a source of sugar lias 
been conclusively shown in the United States by 
exhaustive investigations, and the financial results 
of a number of sorghum sugar factories, to be 
a highly commercial one. The plant also furnishes, 
in addition to sugar, a large quantity of syrup 
of the best quality, seed, and other by-products 
of commercial value. It is, in fact, a x^l'mt 
which has been found to pay the farmer to cul- 
tivate- Sorghum is said to succeed wherever 
maize will grow, and provided it gets a good 
stand in t\ve earlier part of the season, will even 
flo\irish during a drought far too severe for maize. 
Three to four crops can be obtained in a year 
from sorghum, wliich, whether in the form of 
green food or chopped witli straw, is very much 
relished by stock. The clean seed, as food to 
man or animals, is fully equal in value to either 
maize or oats, and but little inferior to wheat. 
The average yield of seed may be put down at 
30 bushels per acre. 
SOME USEFUL EXOTIC PLANTS. 
I. The Basna Latifolin. 
Among the plants which Mr. J. P. AVilliam 
of lleuaratgoda has grown for sale, there are 
several very useful oues, which would readily 
find a home in the Island and prove to be 
highly remunerative. Among these is the 
Mahawah tree {Bassia latlfolia.) The genus Bassia 
is represented in Ceylon by a widely-growing 
and useful timber tree, the B. longifolia. Apart 
from the uses to which the timber of this 
tree is put, we find the villagers making its 
fruits and flowers articles of food. The sweet 
syrup obtained by boiling the flower calyices 
is used by the poorer classes in the interior 
villages for making certain sweets. It is believed 
that the hard cement .which is met with in 
ancient structures of Ceylon was formed with 
the syrup of Mi, and the large forests of 
Mi trees which existed at the period would 
have supplied this article to' a large extent. The 
Bassia latifolia is, however, not indigenous 
to the island. This plant would ap- 
pear to be of very great economic value, 
and it is being at the present day in- 
troduced into many countries. It grows well 
in India, and the extension of its cultivation is 
contemplated by the Indian Forest Department. 
The tree is a very liandsome growth, attaining 
a height of from forty to sixty feet, and it 
thrives in dry stony soil, and in fact grows 
well in all soils at the sea-level and up to 
very high elevations. The flowers are used in 
distilling a spirit very much resembling arrack ; 
and a single tree bears from 200 to 400 lbs. 
of flowers in a season. On account of the large 
percentage of saccharine matter found in them, 
they are used as an article of food both for 
man and beast, apart from their value as pro- 
ducers of spirit. The seed, like our country 
Bassia, the Mi tree of the Sinhalese, contain 
a large percentage of oil, and this oil is used 
for lighting purposes and in the manufacture 
of candles and soap. The oil cake is also valued 
as a food for cattle and a, good fertilizer. 
The timber of this tree is hard and strong, and is 
used for carriage wheels, railway sleepers, &c., 
while a gum is obtainable from the bark. 
The cultivation of the plant presents no dif- 
ficulties, and it recommends itself for growth 
in any plantation. It would be well it our 
Forest Department also decided on planting the 
tree in the different districts of the Island. 
Not only will it be a means of adding to the 
food supplies of the villagers, but also as a means 
of adding to the revenue. Besides, the extension 
of the railway sj^stem in the Island necessitates 
the importation of timber, and this fact should 
weigh with the Forest Department authorities 
in deciding, on the cultivation of such useful 
exotic timber trees as the Mahawah tree. 
W. A. D. S. 
THE CULTIVATION OP THE COCONUT PALM. 
II. 
Having selected the seed nuts, they should be 
planted in rows in a horizontal position, sulficiently 
deep to properly cover the germinating side, 
in beds, wliich should be divided by narrow paths 
for convenience in watering. The nuts are gene- 
rally put down in the nurseries as close together 
as possible — say with a four finger breadtli space 
between two. The beds may advantageoulsy be 
repared between two rows jof palms, or in tlie 
