95° 
Supplement to the "Tropical AgvicuUimsl''' 
[June I, iSpi. 
soft soap composifcious, and quassia and soft 
soap washes have been tried with advantage 
to prevent and check the onion fly (Antlwmyia 
ceparum), the celery fly {Tephritis ojiopordinis), 
the carrot fly {Psila rosce), all of which work 
great destruction in vegetable gardens. These 
remedies may be put on with garden engines 
fitted with nozzles like the Rily, the helmet spray, 
the Climax, and Stott nozzles, or with the 
"knapsack " machine, of which there are several 
patterns in use. The best of these seems to be 
the Eclair which is about 2 feet high, and con- 
sists of a copper reservoir, or vessel, holding 26 
pints, made to fit on to the operator's back, 
being fastened there with straps like a knapsack. 
A rod traverses the lower j^art of the reservoir 
inside, being worked by a lever with the operator's 
hand. This does not move a piston as in or- 
dinary pumps, but acts upon an Indiarubber 
diaphragm, by whose sucking action the liquid 
is forced through the delivery tube with great 
force. With the Vermorrel or Rily nozzle the 
liquid can be delivered in the finest spray, or 
almost in single jets, and in any direction. 
For high trees the delivery hose can be lengthened 
by being attached to a light wooden or cane 
pole and directed by a boy. The machine will 
throw a spray from 20 to 25 feet and a jet 
30 feet high. It weighs about 40 lbs. when 
full and costs 35 shillings. The Eclair is sold 
in London by Messrs. Clark & Co., Windsor Cham- 
bers, 20, Great St., Helens, E. C. 
The onion croj) — a source of much profit — also 
sufi'ers greatly from the onion mildew (Peronos- 
pora ScJileideninna). Sulphate of copper solutions 
will prevent this attack if put on just as the 
bulbs begin to swell. In preparing, dissolve the 
sulphate of coj)per (5 lbs.) in a wooden vessel 
in 3 gallons of boiling water ; in another vessel 
the lime (25 lbs. of quicklime) is put with 4 or 
5 pints of water, and when slaked 4 gallons of 
water are added and the whole well stirred. This 
is then jjoured into the tub containing the sul- 
phate of copper, being passed through a seive to 
keep back the particles of lime. The whole is well 
stirred and water to make up 22 gallons is added. 
Another and a weaker preparation is as fol- 
lows: — The sulphate of copper (3 lbs.) is dissolved 
in cold water liy hanging it in a coarse bag or 
basket in a tub. In a separate tank the quick-, 
lime (1 lb.) is slaked aiid passed through a sieve 
and put into the tub with tlie sulphate of copper, 
and the whole well-stirred. Water to make up 
20 gallons is added. The Tomato is much 
aifectod in some seasons by a fungus of the 
family Pfi-onofiporece, and sulphate of copper 
Ijreparations have been pro^'ed to be efficacious 
against this. The solutions may be put on 
with the JDclair macliinc. Sulphate of copper 
may be used in the form of a powder for 
mildews (fungi) of various kinds. A good 
pr€!paration of this consists of sulphur 50 parts, 
quir-kJime 3, sulphate of copper 10, coal dust 
very i'inely crushed 37 parts, 
Another' powder (the Skawinski, o))taina()le of 
the mnnufacturer of that name, at Lesparre, Me- 
doc. Franco, for about 10 sliillings per cwt.) active 
against fungoid attack, and used for yjne 
mildrew, is coin])osed of 40 lbs. Ku]])liat(! of 
copper, 0 Ib.s. quicklime, 151 lbs, coal dustfinely 
ground, Tliis juf y 'j<^ 1'"'' with a souillet or 
bellows which is a very useful means of 
distributing powders on a small scale for insect 
and fungoid attacks. A handy pail engine for 
small areas is Snow's patent universal garden 
engine, which may be fixed in any ordinary pail. 
The pump is very strong, forcing a powerful jet 
either in a single stream or in a thick fog. 
It is most easily worked. 
The helmet .spray before referred to, envelopes 
plants in the densest mist ; the delivery can be 
regulated by turning a screw, 
«. 
OCCASIONAL NOTES. 
The stud bull at the School of Agriculture is 
available for service ; charge E2'50 per head ; 
arrangements as to date &c. should be made 
by letter. 
We have received from the Lawes' Chemical 
Manure Company one bag each of their special 
manures for cotton, paddy and cereals, and for 
grass and leguminous crops, with the request that 
we will experiment with them on our grounds. 
We have also received from Messr.s. Sutton 
& Sons, the well-known seedsmen of Reading, 
a box containing samples of the following seed : 
Lucerne, Common Sainfoin, Kidney Vetch, Hun- 
garian I'orage grass, Bromus Schrcederi, Giant 
Caragua Maize, Sorghum Vulgare, and Sorghum 
Saccharatum, Permanent pasture grasses and 
clovers, and strong-growing grasses and clovers 
for 3 or 4 years lay. 
Mr. W. A. de Silva, Assistant Master at the 
School of Agriculture, left for Bombay on the 
12th of May, with a view to studying Veteri- 
nary Science at the Bombay Veterinary College. 
Mr. Silva, who holds a Government Scholarship, 
expects to be away for 3 years, at the end of 
which time he will return to the School. 
Mr. Mendis, an old boy of this school, who 
has been in the employ of Mr. Clovis de Silva 
of Moratuwa, on a coconut property in Kegalle 
district, has just been transferred to a tea estate 
belonging to the same proprietor in Alutgama. 
Mr. Lye, the Veterinary Surgeon, will com- 
mence his course of lectures to the Agricultural 
Students in July, after the vacation. Since his 
arrival, Mr. Lye has been enquiring into the 
epizootic disease commonly known as "Murrain," 
and for this purpose spent a few days in the 
Matale district, and has advised a course of 
medical treatment wliich, we believe, is being 
adopted at present in the district named. 
Some months ago a writer in the Ceylon 
Observer discussed the question of the protection 
of birds, and urged that singing birds and those 
useful to the agriculturist should be protected, 
while those which damage crops should among 
others be permitted to be destroyed. In the 
Indian Museum Notes an attempt has been made 
to classify Indian birds according to the diets 
which they affect. Under purely insectivorous 
birds fall the Cuckoos, Trogons, Rollers, Bee- 
eaters, Hoopotfs, Woodpeckers, Goatsuckers, 
Hwifts, Ground Thmshos, Wagtails, Swallows, 
Hcdge-sparrow.s, Pipits, Redstarts, Bobbins, 
Chats, Fly-catchers, Shrikes, Miuirets, Warhjars, 
