.Inly  1,  189.5,]  Snpplemmt  to  the  Tropical  Afjriculttirii^f.'' 
G7 
much  the  growing  of  any  ordinary  fruit  tree. 
Tlie  expensive  trellis  work  or  “pandal"  so 
inseparably  connected  with  the  ctdtuie  of 
grapes  in  .falfua  and  other  parts  of  Ceylon, 
wiis  absent;  and  the  vines  looked  almost 
like  bushes  of  .5  or  (5  feet  in  height.  There 
were  800  vines  in  one  garden,  planted  two 
in  each  hole,  thus  making  400  pairs;  and 
these  were  trained  for  support  on  to  400  trees 
of  Enphrina  Lidtca,  a plant  belonging  to  the 
natural  order  Lcyvmimmv,  and  well-known  in 
Ceylon  by  the  name  of  Eramufhi  in  Sinhalese 
and  Mi'dmnnil-u  in  Tamil.  This  tree,  the 
gardeners  say,  is  preculiarly  suited  for  the  purpose, 
as  their  growth  close  to  the  vines,  so  far  from 
injuring  ”he  latter,  seems  to  benefit  them.  Your 
readers”will  remember  that  this  is  one  of  those 
few  trees  that  are  held  in  high  favour  on  the 
estates  in  Ceyhin  for  growing  as  shade  trees  for 
Cacao  plants.'  The  nitrogen  theory  propounded 
with  regaial  to  plants  of  certain  genera  of  the 
Lemimiiroste  order  may  probably  account  for 
this  virtue  in  Erythrina  tree.s.  Besides,  these 
planrs  have  the  advantage  of  being  deep-feeder.s, 
sending  their  roots  down  into  the  subsoil 
and  abstracting  nourishment  which  is  beyond 
the  reach  of  the  roots  of  the  vine  and  many  other 
cultivated  plants.  Further,  judging  from  the 
nature  of  its  wood  and  the  very  small  amount 
of  ash  left  behind  after  burning  it,  the  Erythrina 
tree  does  not  seem  to  require  much  mineral 
matter  for  its  growth.  iVhether  owing_  to  these 
causes  or  any  ot-hers,  it  is  a fact  couhimed  by 
the  experience  of  grape-growers  in  India  that 
the  Erythrina  tree  is  admirably  suited  for  train- 
incr  vi'nes  upon  ; and  the  advantage  of  this 
method  of  training  consists  not  only  in  economy 
(the  expenses  of  putting  up  pandals  being  saved), 
but  also  in  the  trees  affording  a certain 
amount  of  shade  and  shelter  as  protection  against 
the  excessive  heat  of  the  sun  and  violent 
winds  at  certain  seasons  of  the  year. 
In  the  vineyard  under  notice,  each  pair  of 
vines  is  plante^l  six  feet  ajiart  either  way  ; but 
I should  think  6 teet  by  8 or  10  would  be  a better 
distance.  The  soil  approaches  a clay  loam  in 
nature  and  the  land  is  pretty  level.  Although 
the  vines  are  seven  years  old  now,  theii  main 
stems  are  not  thicker  than  a man’s  thumb, 
thus  showing  that  the  growth  of  wood  has  not 
been  unduly  encouraged,  which,  I should  think, 
is  an  important  point  to  be  kept  in  view  in 
graiie  culture  in  tbe  tropics: 
The  bushes  bear  two  crops  in  the  year,  one  season 
lasting  from  April  to  October,  and  the  other 
from  October  to  April  ; and  so  the  plants  are 
pruned  about  the  end  of  April  and  October 
respectively.  lu  pruning,  only  two  buds  or 
eyes  of  the  shoots  of  the  previous  season  are 
left.  The  vines  began  to  yield  a little  when 
two  years  old,  and  ever  since  the  crop  has  been 
increasing  steadily. 
Tht;  iiKUUire  tippliftfl  is  old  w^ll'TOttcd  night 
soil,  which  the  gardener,  who  is  a Hindu  called 
“ Municipal  Manure.  ” He  uses  twenty  carts 
of*  it  a year,  t,e.,  ten  carts  each  season.  He 
buys  the  manure  at  the  nominal  rate  of  four 
carts  for  a rupee. 
As  to  watering:  during  the  rainy  season 
there  is  no  need  at  all  for  any  artificial  irri- 
gation, but  in  dry  weather  the  vineyard  is 
watered  from  wells  once  a week, 
Another  particular  f elicited  from  the  man 
is,  that  the  only  di.«ease  the  vines  are  attacked 
with  is  mildew,  which  he  called  “ White  Disea.se  ”; 
and  this  they  get  very  seldom,  and  as  it  does 
not  do  any  .serious  damage,  little  notice  is  taken 
of  it.  As  regards  the  longevity  of  the  vine  at 
Nasik,  he  said  that  vineyards  planted  when  one 
is  a little  boy,  last,  if  carefully^  managed,  till 
he  becomes  an  old  man,  thus  assigning  to  them 
about  fifty  year’s  lease  of  life. 
I have  been  taking  some  interest  in  grape  culture, 
because  I have  an  idea  that  it  can  be  made  a 
very  p.ayiug  concern  when  carried  on  on  an  exten- 
sive scale  in  the  North  and  several  other  parts 
of  Ceylon  ; and  the  Indian  vineyard  which  I 
have  here  described,  although  not  a very  exten- 
sive one,  is  suliiciently  large  to  give  us  .some 
idea  of  grape  culture  on  a fairly' extensive  scale, 
for  it  is  worked  on  a system  that  can  be 
applied  to  much  larger  acreages, — a fact  that 
can  hardly  be  said  of  the  small  grape  gardens 
in  Ceylon,  though  indeed  they'  are  good  in  their 
own  way'. 
E.  T.  HOOLE. 
P.S.—I  shall  on  some  future  occasion  send 
you  a detailed  statement  as  to  the  yield,  ex- 
penditure, profit,  &c. — E.  T.  H. 
MAEKS  ON  LIVE  STOCK. 
Certain  marks,  both  artificial  and  natural,  are 
met  with  in  the  bodies  of  our  domestic  animals. 
These  we  seldom  notice,  but  they  are  often 
found  to  be  of  the  greatest  importance  when  such 
animals  are  intended  for  the  market.  The  arti- 
ficial  marks  which  are  v'eiy  frequently',  or  one 
may'  say'  alway's  found  on  the  bodies  of  cattle  in 
this  island,  are  made  by  branding  them  w'ith  a 
hot  pointed  iron.  Branding  is  generally  done  for 
the  purpose  of  indicating  ownership.  The 
usual  practice  in  villages  is  to  have  three  letters 
branded  on  the  side  of  the  animal.  These  letters 
being  th  j initial  letters  of  the  name  of  the  village 
where  the  owner  resides,  that  of  his  family',  and 
his  individual  name.  This  system  is  very  often 
useful  in  preventing  cattledifting  which  unfor- 
tunately' was  very  common  at  one  time.  The 
practice  of  forming  as  large  characters  as  possible 
on  the  bodies  of  animals  i.s  not  only  unnecessary' 
but  causes  a great  deal  of  suffering  to  the  animals. 
The  branding  of  distinguishing  marks  nece.ssitated 
under  existing  circumstances  can  hardly  be  put  a 
stop  to  now,  without  revolutionizing  a sy.stem  that 
has  existed  so  long,  and  that  is  believed  to  have 
proved  useful:  but  there  is  nothing  against  modi- 
fying it  and  enforcing  the  necessity  of  making 
such  distinguishing  marks  as  small  as  possible, 
thereby  reducing  the  area  of  irritation  which 
the  animal  has  to  suffer.  But  there  is  another 
form  of  branding,  a practice  which  is  not  only 
heartless,  but  extremely  cruel  and  deserving 
of  punishment.  This  is  the  use  of  the  hot  iron 
to  make  so-called  ornamental  lines  upon  the  skin  of 
a beast.  These  artistic  designs  often  extend 
from  one  end  of  the  body  to  the  other,  and  are 
generally  of  a very'  complicated  nature.  Some 
carry  on  this  practice  quite  thoughtlessly,  without 
considering  how  unnecessary  it  is,  and  what  an 
amount  of  suffering  it  causes  the  animal.  There 
are  others,  however,  who  are  foolish  enough  to  be- 
lieve that  this  mode  of  branding  improves  the 
