596 
The following, besides many others, are names 
applied to rice, in its different stages of growth 
and preparation : paddee, original name of the seed : 
oo.isai/, grain of last season ; huiince, the rice-plants 
before transplantation ; bras, or hrai/, rice stripped of 
its husk; charroop, rice cleaned for boiling; tiassee, 
boiled rice, &c. 
If any reader oan give ua a reference to paddy 
by any writer on Oeylon earlier than those we hava 
referred to we shall be obliged. 
-♦■ — 
THE FISH LEAF. 
As no one has answered my questions: (1) ihe 
lEei'.uiDg and derivation of this name. (2) the uause, 
or nature, of this "abortive leaf," I will say what 
I think about it myself. Standing before a recently 
pruned tree the other day it occurred to me for the 
first time to give myself a scientific lesson in the 
growth of the flush, and, consequently, in " pluck- 
ing." This proved to bo as Binaple as it was interestini?, 
and, in an instant, to make the whole art of " pluck- 
ii)(?" as clear as till then it had been obscure, and 
followed only by rule of thumb. But, as in many 
other things, this useful rule is often a very sate one, 
as witness the absolutely perfect praotico carried on 
by mopt Ceylon planters. 
First, then, what is the "fish-leaf"? Anyone who 
will take the trouble to examine a new "shoot"-- 
whether upon a newly-pruned branch, or from the flush- 
ing wood of a tree ready for the knife — it will be seen that, 
the bud itself being too tender to pierce the bark 
or skin of its parent stem, nature has provided a 
stronger and coarser gimlet for this purpase. This 
gimlet is, in fact, a hollow case composed of two 
sides, and when once through resolves itself in a 
smooth orifice, or matrix for the passage of the new 
shoot. Once horra into the light, the shoot, or flush, 
g-ows without further aid, each bud in turn devo- 
lopiog itself into a true leaf. In the case of the tea 
plant this case, or mntrix, or vagina, does not wither 
and fall off, but attaches itself to the root of the 
new ehoo^, which carries its birthcase with it, aud thus 
forms two abortive leaves, One (the smallest side 
not always developed) simply ourls round ne-ir the 
root of the shoot like a tioy whitish fin, while the 
other side of the case (the true tish leaf) is carried 
further up the shoct and assumes more tha appear- 
ance of a true leaf. I need not moralize on what 
this teaohes in regard to plucking, as that is self-evi- 
dent. To duly nourish a new sh ;ot thus formed, either 
a full flow of sap is necessary, as in the esse of new 
growth from bare old wood, or a matured leaf on 
g eener wood, to feed the new sboot growing under 
its protection. 
Now as to the first question, viz., the name ''fishlaaf"? 
All planters know that this is called by the coolies 
" Toppil Elei," but not many know that bein;; tr.ius- 
latfd this means the "Navel" leaf, the navel" of 
each new shoot. Now this name in its absolute 
correctu' ss is highly scientific, so much so as to be 
amiiz^ng, and I for oae shtuld verj' much like to know 
whence it ca'ue. We are npt to look upon our humble 
workers as tbe opposite of observant and scieutitic, aud 
yet here is u name iu common use amoDgst them moY» 
scientific than anytliiiig we have invented for the samb 
purpose. Not that Raruasamy and Miuatcby ever think 
of its real siguificition unless their attention is called 
to it, 80 far even as the mere nime is concerned, and 
of coarse all are ignoraiit alike of the facts nb've, 
given. Still there is this proper ami cuiious name in 
every-day use, aud whit I ask is, whence came it? 
Aud now I come to its designation by the 
Europpan planters, viz. "fish-leaf"! Wtiy "fish- 
leal"!' This seems a poser, and though I .-im 
going to give a good guess (so fur as Tiimil is eou- 
cen.Oil), 1 do not overlook two important considerations; 
first, vliat a clost r ncqaaintance with thi; soieuoe of 
botany than I poiHtssniay furnish an aiiswr to this 
question, aud Hi comi, i hat — if tljo tiam(! oriijina^ed in 
Asbam— Tamil could huve had nothing to do with it, 
though it may be,, for all that I know to the contrary,' 
^hat tho coiucidenoe of language may ovon then ao- 
f count for it. Well, then, I do not think it is called 
I the " fish-leaf," because it bears ranch resemblance to 
J a fish — though the smaller half of it does look finnisb. 
We hive already seen that Tamil is not to be despised 
as an authority, aud, if the term had originated here, 
I should say "fish-leaf" was notbinf? but a corrupt 
Enalish rendering of Mun elei, or first, fore, front, pro- 
ceeding, advance leaf. Either of these words will 
render lliin (going before) in Englicb, and also cor- 
I rectly describe tbe growth aud position of the "fish-leaf." 
But, query, how do we get " fish " out of " miia" ? 
Answer, by the corruolion I have already hinted at 
— " miin," with a (\ sound, is by Europeans nearly always 
called and whereas " MiiN " means first, or before, 
" Mi.v " means fish I K. W. J. 
( Note by K^b^ly FiiHDo. — The above learned dis- 
course on the " Fish-leaf " is full of most interestinii 
and eiijoyable reading, aud will no doubt lead us all 
to study with greater pleasure and profit the life- 
history of our flush. But I must take exception to 
tho derivation of the Tamil name " miu elei " from 
mun, before: for the i of min is long (ns the very 
n.ime Min;idchi,_//sA-^ved, quoted by R. W. J., proves), 
though derived from a root min, to shine, from 
which come minmini puchchi, a glo^-worm, and 
minaal, lightning. The Tamils call stars van min, the 
sky fish, and when the sky is spanieled with them 
they say the stars minnv.hirathu, are in shoals ! That 
the germ-leaf is like a fi-h both in shape and colour I 
never heard anyone before deny -. but it should seldom, 
if ever, be allowed to come to the scales. Thoppul 
elei, navel leaf, is certainly extraordinarily scientific, 
and it would be worth while finding out what the 
North Indian labourers call it.] 
Some interesting statistics of agriculture have recently 
been published, from which it appears that the largest 
natural hive in the world is the mammoth cave of 
Kentucky, which has been taken possession of by 
myriads of bees. The great bee-master is Mr. Harbison, 
of California, who owns 6,000 hives. In Greece there 
are .30,000 hives, in Denmark 90,000, in Russia 110,000, 
in Belgium 200,000, in Holland 240,000, in France 
950,000, in Germany 1,450,000, in Austria 1,550,000, 
and in the United States 2,800,000 hives. It is cal- 
culated that a bee sucks 218,750 flowers for every ounce 
of honey. — Glohe. 
The Deliveries of Ceylon Tea in London 
for 11 months ended November were, iu 1889 
28,443.0001b.; in 18S0 34,880,000 lb., an increase of 
'0,337,000 lb.; in 1891 49,362,000 lb., an excess over 
the previous year of no less than 14,482,0001b. This 
was, no doubt, largely the result of low prices ; but 
the priofs of Indian were also low without leading 
to a proportionate increase, while in China there 
has been a large decroaBe. With due oare in prepa- 
ration, there seems no fear that Ceylon will preserve 
its leading position in the markets. The deliveries 
of our teas for 1891 in iondon must have been 
about 5?h millions of lb ; and counting exports to 
Australia and other places direct the world's oon- 
Bumption of Cejlon tea must have been 67 mil- 
lions of lb. 
The Rice Chop in Burma — The report received 
from the local admiLislratiou on the prospects of the 
crop ou Slst December is as follows: — "The area 
under paddy cultivation in the ten chief rice-prbduciog 
districts of Lower Bnrma is now estimated at 4,107,663 
acre.", or 191,374 nores more than tbe actuals of last 
year and 34,222 acres Ics than the area reported last 
month. The nreas reported from Akjab and Shwesyin 
are uncbauted, while there sm 11 decresses in Han- 
thawaddy, Tharawaddy, Prome, Bassein, Henzads, and 
Amherst. Pegu reports a further decrease of 16,453 
acres duo to destruc ion by floods; Tbe crop esti- 
mates are the same as last mouth excepted in the case 
of Thnrrawaddy where a sixteen-anua crop is now 
(xpoeted. It is eHmiated that th. re will be available 
for GJtport 1,215,500 tous of cargo rice, equivalent 
to 20,601,690 cwt. of cleaned rice, iucludiog what is 
\ required for Upper Burma." 
