February 2, 1891.] 
THE TR0P5CAL AQRIOULTURIST. 
603 
other dam into the sea again. There is a similar 
antiquated dam on a very small scale at Woodbridge, 
in Suffolk, only it turns a mill-vrheel instead of working 
a dynamo. .... 
A new and ingenious milking machine is being tried 
at the Duke of Portland’s dairy farm. It is a simple 
contrivance, being merely an iron pipe and a hand-pump. 
Connected with the pipe is a length of^ indiarubber 
tubing. The latter has teat-cups for clasping the cow’s 
teats in such a manner as to be air-tight. “When 
the cups are applied to the “ coo,” the pump can be 
worked by a lad, the air exhausted, and the milk 
drawn from the animal, all four teals giving out. at 
hte same lime. The cow is thus milked dry in about 
eight minutes, and is said to behave herself decently 
during the operation. — Australasian, 
Japan is about to enter the field as a producer of 
indigo. The soil and climate of parts of the island 
are stated to be favorable to the cultivation of the 
shrub. — AmericcM (irocev. 
Twenty or thirty Europeans and about two thousand 
Africans are working on the Congo railway to Stanley 
Pool. It is thpughs that the railroad vtili suppress the 
slave trade hotter than the army.— /Wd. 
Rev. Dr. E. E, Hale, in the Commonwealth, suggests 
that cheap sugar may drive out the taste tor whiskey. 
It supplies the byuro-carbon needed to take the place 
of whiskey. He says that the Sp miarJs are addicted 
to the use, almost every hour, of sugar and water 
as a beverage. — Ibid. 
OuK Exp JUTS. — As much as 892,9841b. of tea, 
661 cwt. eoffte. 111 owt. cocoa, 12,446 lb. cinchona 
bark, 3,353 cwt. coconut oil, 1,601 cwt. plumbago, 
14,720 lb. cardamoms and no cinnamon (nor 
“ chips ”) sum up the week’s exports in Ceylon 
products. We suppose there must he some further 
additions to be made before 1890 season is closed : 
we ask because Messrs. Forbes & Walker in their 
circular the other day gave 46,310,295 lb. as the 
total export of tea for 1890, whereas the Chamber 
today only ni- ko up 45 948,469 lb. 
RiNQiNe Trees.— H urt g ^ivea tue following account 
of his (ixperim i.us in ringing the bark from treen 
Trees from wliioli a ring of bark has been taken are 
attVeted differently, according to the kind of tree, 
and the thickuess of iho trunks. Some die rapidly, 
while others remain alive a long time. The author haa 
already expressed his opinion that most likely root- 
structure has cousiderable influence on plants sub- 
mitted to this operation, and any prognostications as 
to the probable effects must be guided by the fusions 
or inosculations which may have taken place between 
the roots of the tree under treatment and those of the 
untouched trees nrounJ, If the roots, alter the 
cessation of nourishment, and of growth,^ and the 
formation of new rootlets, soon lose the faculty of 
absorbing water and mineral substances (Pine, Sirruce 
Fir, &c.) from the soil, the death of the plant must be 
the direct coiisequenoo of the operation, unle-is there 
are underground nuions with the root.s of neighbour- 
ing trees by which life is sustained until the dead part 
of the trunk becomes impermeable to water. But if 
the roots do not entirely lose the power of absorbing 
water even in their oldest parts — as in the case of 
Maples, Lime trees, &c. — the trees ooutinue to thrive 
without underground union so long as the denuded 
truuk is in a fit state to allow of the passage of water. 
The following interesting example will therefore be 
easily nudorstood. A Spruce Pir tree a hundred years 
old, divided at a height of about twenty-three feet 
from the ground into two almost equal trnnks. In 1871 
a complete ring of bark was removed from one of these 
trnnks. Tho tree was cut down in the winter of 1888 
9 ; the two crowns were quite green, those of the 
ring side being rather less abnndautly provided with 
leaves. 'The roots of the injured side had ceased to 
grow but in spite of that, tho i ingod branch continue to 
grow for seventeen years, nourished by tho roots of 
the uninjured side.—" Art/ia/r-s Agronomiques,” Nov. 25, 
1890, p. 526.— Oflfrfv/iers’ Chronicle, 
Save all the Wood Ashes made on the farm 
and buy more from the neighbours- They willmako 
an excellent fertilizer for onions, and are beneficial 
to all fruit trees, no matter on what soil they may 
be growing. Coal ashes, also, are said to be valuable, 
not only for walks, but to mix with hard, stiff 
soils, to which they give a softer and more porous 
nature . — Indian Agriculturist. 
A Canadian Dairyman describes a plan by which 
ha gives his calves fresh new milk, and yet manages 
to have a good supply of butter from his milk. 
The idea is simple enough, and well worth considera- 
tion, The plan adopted is as follows : At milking 
time two large vessels are put outside the byre 
door, one marked “ dairy ” and the other “calves.” 
One half of the milk given by each cow, viz., 
that first drawn, is put into the vessel marked 
“calves,” end the other half, viz., that last drawn, 
is put into the vessel marked “ dairy.” ’This latter 
half is iound, on being tested, to contain from two 
thirds to ihrea fourths of the create. The calves 
have the advantage of being fed with milk warm 
from the cow; at the same time they are reared at 
a moderate cost, as their allowance of milk 
does not contain much cream , — Indian Agriculturist , 
CEYLON EXPORTS AND DISTRIBUTION 1891 
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