May 2, 1892.] THf^ TRdHCAL AQRIdULTURIST. 827 
I 
by improvement cuttings — and Jeiivc Nature to do tbo 
rest. Protection from fire, the Board of Kevenue 
observef, is r mere miittor of mouev nnd labour, 
but to combine protection from grazing with the necea- 
Bities of tbo ryot and tlie grazier is moro difficult. 
An itietunco of the good results of effective protection 
is given in the " marvollons growth." in the Ananta- 
pore reserves, which are Bi'ecinlly protected by strono 
walls. The question, thertfore, which arises for con- 
sideration ia should not moro be dono ia the way of 
fencing? The difficulty has been the matter of cost, 
but, as the Board remarks, if railway lines can afford 
to be effectually fenced, there would seem to be no 
reason why forosta should not, at any rate where tho 
forests lie in lar);e compact blocks. Such fencing," 
the Board continues, " wou'd assist most materially 
to protect both from fire and from Ihieves ; and with 
protection from the latter, all the obuoxions transit 
rules could bo abolished." 
To show tho effect of protection on natural 
growth, tho case ia metioned of the Ped- 
dapaleo forest in Vizignpatam, which has been 
under special protection for five years. In Nellore, 
in tho Srikarikot forett, experiments were made to 
increase reproduction by cutting the roots of the 
eugenia jambolana, and the result is reported to be 
satisfactory, many shoots having copae up. Experi- 
ments were also made in the felling of cusuariua 
trees in Nellore, and it was found that the best 
season for coppicing v/as from September to Novem- 
ber, and that the coppice was best when under 
shade and when the length of the stem left was not 
less than 4 feet. In Ouddapah, the growth of red 
Banders from seedlings ia reported to have been SU3- 
cessfnl ; the ordinary bamboo seeded in most parts 
of Cuddapah and in the Nallamalais of Kuruool. 
In the Nilgiris, the reprofuction in tho sholas and 
the growth of coppice shoots in the eu.calijptus plan- 
tation are reported to bo .satisfactory. The reproduc- 
tion from seed of bamboos in the Nagalapuram 
reserve in Ohiugieput, the germination of landal 
wood seeds in Salem, the reproduction from coppice 
in the Sholakarai, block in South Coimbatore, and 
the growth of kongoo seedlings in places whore clean 
cuttings have been made in the evergreen forests 
of Tinnevelly, are reported to bo noteworthy. In tho 
Tindivanam and Villupuram ranges in South Arcot 
reproduction by coppice is said to liave failed owing 
to the niifavourable character of the ssKSOn ; tho 
coppice from casuarina shoots in the Cuddalore range 
was aleo a failure. In North Arcot and Salem the 
growth in the open areas is said to have been very 
poor, chiefiy owing to over-grazing. In the mixed 
high forests of South Ooimbatoro, in several of the 
valleys and hill slopes in Maiara and in parts of 
North Blalabar, the unsuitable nature of the soil 
and the thick under growth of grass and thorny shrubs 
have retarded natural reproduction. — Madras Times. 
THE CEYLON MARGOSA : A HINT ! 
There are few people among the many English iu 
Ceylon who do not know the margosa tree (Por. 
inargos^ra, and Tamil verpum maram), but to many 
it is only known as a very fine " shade " tree, one 
that roared suooesBfully, and treated with common 
generosity, will fairly last a century, and even more. 
It yields first a rough bark or outer bark which 
Tamils have only lately begun to value as a rival 
to quinihio, in fever cases,* though administered very 
sparingly and in small quantities its taste being in- 
tensely nauseous and bitter. Its leaves also are 
medicinal and when burnt fjreen on a fire in a brazier 
or earthenware chattie (as " well as the dead bark) 
will, if placed in any room, drive away or kill the 
most obstinate and bloodthirsty of mosquitoes. Tbo 
tjrccn bark is also successfully used as a " vermifuge" 
in the treatment of buffaloes and country cattle, 
and pounded and applied to a sore will kill "olf every 
\vorm in it. Tho timber sawn from this treo is noted 
* Trees in Colombo were barked to death forty 
years ago, just as C'lssiaJisHda arc being des- 
troyed now.— Ed, T. A. 
for keeping off white-ante. A valuable and parti- 
cularly clear gum exudes from the bark, naturally 
in small quantities, but when bruised in large sheets 
and yellow drops like icicles ! Books bound with 
this gum are never bored or eaten by worms, and 
" painted" on an abrasion or skin wound will take off 
all pain. The yield of the tree iu the shape of [fruit 
is marvellous, and these furnish food to crows, goats and 
hundreds of the smaller of the feathered tribe, and the 
ground under margosa in fruit is daily and nightly 
carpeted with fruit. The leaf or seed of the margosa 
contain a valuable, rich and clear oil, sometimes burnt in 
earthen lamps, but specially valuable for fly blown 
sores in horses, elephants and cattle.* It ia also 
used medicinally in verij minute doses. It smells 
atrooiouslij, but is very valuable as a lubricant for 
steel, iron, &c., from which it keeps rust, and would 
doubtless answer well as a lubricant for machinery 
and rolling gear. It is generally sold in the markets 
at 75 cents a quart bottle {Cei/lon quart), being 
expressed in rough wooden mills, chekkus or by 
pounding, but when treated in a superior oil mill 
nnglit be worked cheaply ; but once a mill has worked 
for margosa oil it becomes practically useless for 
anything else. R. A. 
PACKING ORANGES BY STEAM. 
Bditok "Farmer and Fruit-Grower." 
If one wishes to see systematic orange packing it 
will repay him to look in and see Mr. Sampson, at 
Boardman , with all his practical methods. He uses 
a steam motor to propel a three-bank Ayer's Sizer 
and many wrapping machines. One man is constantly 
and easily turning trays of oranges into the Iropper 
of the sizer. Two men, one standing on each side 
of the liopper, assort the oranges. The seconds all 
go to the sizer on the left, the firsts to the two on 
the right. He has no russets, and hardly more than 
10 per cent, are seconds. Here you can see a 
machine which comes near to a living, moving being, 
which responds promptly to the will of the operator 
and supplements his intelligence. Under such a 
man as Mr. Sampson, who has the genius to know 
a good thing when he see it and get the best work 
out of it, wlio actually compels it to do only the 
best work, give me the Ring Chain Sizer. From the 
sizer, like drilled soldiers on the parade, the oranges 
steadily move on to where tlie wrapping machine 
picks them up, prints on each wrapper the brand of 
the grove, neatly and securely twists the wrapper 
around the orange and then deposists it in the bins 
where the packers are arranging them in the clean 
cases. This machine wrapping is done with such 
care that eggs would go through the same process 
uninjured. 
- - ->s^ - 
TEA IN EOOCHOW. 
We have been forestalled in a rejoinder 
we intended to publish to Merchant's letter of 
29th ult,, by the writer of a 'communicated' 
article on tho subject of the letter. As he hap- 
pily hits upon the points we purposed bringing 
forward, there is no oooasion for us to write 
at length about them. The points are simply 
these : First, that the real reason of manure not 
having been u.sod on the tea gardens is, that it was 
not procurable in sufficient quantity. We gave this 
aa a reason on the Kith January in an article hoaded 
' Tea Prospects,' on the information obtained from 
upoouutry teamen in an interview we had had with 
them, and it should be noted that thoy did not 
oppose tho use of manure ; thoy merely stated it was 
not procurable. Second. The idea of using chemical 
manures had never occurred to them. They had 
never hoard of them. But we have to ask, who 
knows what they would do if the advantages were 
* And in lieu for merciuy for kilUug maggots in 
woumlg or sprcs ia the huiuau subject.— Ed, T, J., 
