February i, i^gs ] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
547 
course urged. "Keeping the floor olean," says the 
author, "is an indespensible neoesBity. It must not 
only be swept oleiin morning and evening but be 
thoroughly sorubed and washed in the morning and 
Bwept every time it is soiled, whilo the droppings 
must not be allowed to remain on the floor, or drain, 
any length of time. The house be kept olean and 
sweet, and perfeotly dry, and phenjle and water 
or oarbolio powder shou'.d be sprinkled on the floor 
every day." This is certiiinly a very thorough 
and businesslike way of doing work, but if disease 
of oattle and through them human beings is to 
be prevented, such sanitary methods (substiiuting 
perhaps some oommoner and cheaper means of 
disinfeotion) might with advantage be insisted upon 
by the present Smitary Department till the 
contemplated Veterinary Department is founded. 
For the proper carrying out of such measures as 
above desoribrd it is calculate ! that six cows — or 
better, four — should be under the care of one man. 
The second p^vit of this useful work deals with 
diseases of oattle, goats and sheep — common 
complaints, dangerous but not serious diseases, 
contagious and fatal disorders. At the outset a list 
of preliminary rules for the care of animals is 
given. lu a rbview such as this it is not possible to 
do more than refer to a few of the useful hints with 
which the work teems, and cow-keepers in Ceylon 
— whether they keep cattle for convenience or 
profit, on a small or a large, scale— will not regret 
the purchase and perueal of Isa Tweed's simple and 
practical manual, which fully meets their own 
requirements. The reference to rinderpest (with 
which our cattle commissioners identified the 
disease commonly known amongst us as "murrain"), 
from the fact that it gives, in addition to the 
ordinary preventative measures as regards diet, 
disinfection and general managemont, distinct 
curative treatment is worthy cf quotation : — 
In ludia, treatment is often successful, acd this 
may be attributed to the die oase very oftea appearing 
in A mild form. Rinderpest belongs to a class of 
diseases which must run its course ; that is, the poi- 
sonous material contained in the system must gain 
exit to allow of the patient recovering. The grand 
aim of the treatment should be to aid nature in 
ridding the system of the poisonous matter, and to 
support the strength of the animal by food case, nurs- 
ing and proper diet. 
Ordinabt Treatment. — Immediately the first 
symptoms appear gives the animal 2 chittacks of 
Eno's Ftuit Salt or 4 chittacks of Epaom or half 
seer of common salt in warm water, and repeat the 
dose every hour until the bowels are relieved. 
When purging and passing of blood and mucus con- 
tinues for more than twenty-four hours, give the 
following draft, which has proved successful in Mr. 
Thjcker'd hands : — 
Camphors ... ... ... | tolah 
Nitre ... | tolah 
Datura Bfods... ... .„ J Kanoha 
Chiretta ... ... a tolah 
Arraok ... ... ... 2 chittacks 
But wheu the diarrlicea has existed above twenty- 
four hours, the following, finely powdered, may be 
nddod to the precodiuR proGoription :— Gal! nut j 
tolah. This should be repeated every 12 hours until 
tho purRiug oeaaes. For aheap and goato one-sixth 
of tho nhove dose should bo given. 
Nativh Tkeatment.— Fresh rcots of the oluchery 
plant, '1 tolahfl fresh roots of the Jokka plant, 4 
toliih^ ; lliorut of the sbiniul tree, four tolahs. Have 
tho whole puQudod or t'rounj tog>'thpr fino give a 
dose of twenty grains of this medicine every moru- 
iug for Ihrco (lays. Ten grains lor a dose t) a calf, 
and livogrniiiH to a goat or shoi p. All natives know 
tho first and his: nanud plant and tree, but jokka 
is the Siutali uamu fori plant t. it grows wild in 
their district. 
HoMOEOPATHio Treatment. — As soon as the symptoms 
are seen, give aconitum nay. Ix. andarsenicnm alb. 
Ix. ten drops alternately, every three hours ; when the 
eruption appears give antimonium part Ix. one grain 
every three hours. If the eruption is driven in give 
spirits of camphor ten to twenty drop doses every ten 
or fifteen minutes, until the skin gets warm and the 
eruption reappears. Sulphur is very good when the 
eruption is disappearing and there is great itching 
Ac. . . . When the disease is prevailing in the dis- 
trict, give all your cattle a dose of the native remedy, 
or else a does of tincture of sulphur, 20 drops every 
morning for three days . . I have found the native 
and homoeopathic treatment very effective. 
♦ 
CUEE FOR HEMILEIA VASTATEIX. 
In the struggle against Hemilda vastatrix 
12 years ago, many heroic steps were taken by 
planters, but probably none so heroic as those whiob 
I myself adopted. Amongst others, one plan I 
tried was boring a hole right down the centra of the 
stem of the tree filling the hole with sulphur and 
plugging it up. The result was that, the first season 
afterwards, the trees all but died, but the following 
season they flushed splendidly, bore a remarkably 
good crop, and apparently r howed no signs of leaf 
disease. What happened afterwards 1 do not know, 
as I sailed for England, home and beauty after 
that season, but the following cutting seems to 
support the idea which I appear to have originated, 
and I think it might be worth while trying it as a 
I cure for bug on coffee : — 
It has been frequently stated, says the weekly witer 
on practical gardening operations in the Leader, that 
insects and other fungus pest could be destroyed by 
boring holes in infested trees and filling them with 
sulphur. Reports to that effect a.re frequent in the 
United States, but there are few who believe in 
them. We have, however, had a well authenticated 
statement that an old settler tried the experiment 
with success on an apple tree badly infested with 
wooly blight, which presently disappeared and was 
not seen again, and when, many years after, the tree 
was cut down a very small portion of the sulphur 
remained. We do not see why the practice should be 
laughed at and the benefical action of the sulphur 
denied. It being a fact that gases exist in all parts 
of a tree or other plant, why should nor sulphui'ous 
acid gas he generated and circulate through every 
part of a tree in such volume as to poison any insect 
or fungus that subsisted on the sap? 
One would have thought that the sorrows of 
cinchona growers had got to the lowest stage of 
depression, but there would appear to be a lower 
stage still, judging by the following paragraph; — 
The Sunflower. — A Russinn physician. Dr. FlatoflE, 
is endeavourine to induce the medical world to make 
a larger use of the sunflower as a drug. It can, he 
asaeits, be advantageously use^i in place of quinine 
without having the drawbacks of this excellent medi- 
cine. The puuflower is already much used In Turkey 
and Southern Russia in cases of fever by the com- 
mon people, who find quinine too expensive. 
♦ 
The Burma Rice Chop.— Sixteen annas, the 
equivalent of a rupee, representing an average crop, 
a memorandum from the Revenue and Agricultural 
Department of India, dated Oaloutts, tho I5th Dec. 
1891, gives the estimates for various districts, 
thus : — • 
Akynb eighteen annas, Bassein, Thongwa, Amherst, 
and Shwcgyin sixteen annas, Hnnthawaddy fifteen 
annns, Pegu Tharrawaddy, and Prorae fnurteen annus, 
Ilenzada twelve annas. It is estimated that there 
will bo available for export 1,210,000 tons of cargo rioe 
equivalent to 20,508,500 cwt. of cleaned rioe, iuchuiing 
what is required for Upper Burma. 
