82 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Aug.  I,  1895. 
and  six  pence  per  bnnch.  A piece  of  land,  one 
hundred  and  twenty  square  yards  in  extent,  is  said 
to  bo  capable  of  yielding  four  thousand  pounds  of 
fruit  annually.  Should  this  ba  the  case,  at  the 
above  price,  the  returns  per  acre  would  bo  almost 
fabulous.  This  is  a minor  cuUivatio  t which  should 
commend  itself  to  the  attention  of  small  capitalists. 
There  are  otner  cultures  to  which  we  hope  to 
draw  the  attmtion  of  our  rea lers  in  a future  issue. 
Jiauritius  Planters  ini-:ette. 
SPRAYING  PRUrr  TREPS. 
It  is  generilly  understood  by  orahardists  having 
British  experience  that  quassia  chips  are  largely  used 
in  preparing  liquid  for  syringing  fruit  tre  s-  A recent 
issue  of  the  Lrardeners'  Chronicle  contains  a series 
of  reconiinsndalions  by  the  Board  of  Agriculture  for 
preparing  such  liquid^*.  1.  ihe  extract  of  71b.  of 
quassia,  obtained  by  boiling  quassia  in  water,  to  100 
gallons  of  water  with  .olb.  of  soft  soap.  ‘2.  The 
extract  of  51b.  of  quassia  to  iOO  gallons  of  wa’.er. 
with  51b.  of  soft  soap  and  five  pints  of  paraffin  (kero- 
sene) well  stirred.  3.  Extact  of  4lb.  of  quas  ia  to 
100  gallons  of  water  with  1 lo.  of  soft  soap^  and  four 
pints  of  Calvert’s  carbolic  acid,  No.  5.  4.  bix  pounds 
of  soft  soap  and  2 lb.  of  finely-grou  d uelleb;re  and 
a quart  of  kerosene,  boiled  and  we  1 scared  together. 
This  is  sulBcient  for  100  gallons  of  water. 
The  soft  soap  is  dissolved  in  a tub  with  hot  water. 
The  quassia  chips  are  boiled  in  water  and  put  into 
another  tub.  Wuere  paraffin  is  used  it  should  be 
well  stirred  up  with  boiling  soap  and  wat.r  before 
it  is  mixed  with  the  cold  water.  \\'’ator-carts  or 
ordinary  barrels  or  wine  casks  set  upon  frames  with 
wheels  should  be  brought  full  of  wator  to  Wiiete  the 
materials  are  being  prepared,  either  at  the  farm 
buildings  or  in  an  extemporised  shed  with  a copper 
in  it,  and  the  requisite  amount  of  dissolved  soap  and 
other  ingredients  added.  Kuapsack  and  other  ha;.d 
machines  can  be  used  for  small  apple  trees,  plum 
and  damson  tr^es,  and  for  filbert  and  cob-nut  tiees. 
It  is  important  that  sy  ringing  should  bo  commenced 
early  in  the  spring.  Directly  there  are  signs  of 
infestation  the  process  should  bo  begun.  As  ine 
hatchiu"  out  of  cat  rpillars  is  not  simultaneous,  but 
is  extended  over  some  days,  the  syringings  must  bo 
renewed  if  necessary. 
Some  fruitgrowers  in  several  parts  of  the  couutry 
have  tried  the  cheap  arsenical  insecticides  used  ex- 
tensively in  toe  United  btates  and  Canada.  Ilicse 
have  not  yet  been  generally  adopted  in  Groat  Britain 
on  account  of  their  intensely  poisonous  properties, 
although  from  experiments  made  with  them  they 
have  'oeen  proved  to  be  most  effective  there.— 
Australasian. 
THE  KAUAMBA  TREE. 
This  tree  is  indigenous  to  Ceylon,  and  is  kiioan 
among  botanists  as  A nth  race  ph  aim  Cudaina  (the  Iva- 
damba  of  the  Tamils).  It  has  an  erect  stem  with 
many  branches  ; the  flowers,  which  have  a peculiar 
sweet  smell,  forming  a small  globe,  ihe  Iruit  is 
about  the  size  of  an  orange:  ihis  is  oaten  by  the 
poor  natives  in  India,  while  the  leaves  are  given  to 
Lttle  as  fodder.  The  bark  is  considered  to  be  ot 
great  value  as  a febrifuge  and  tonic;  its  taste  is 
bitter  and  astringent.  The  fresh  jmee  ot  t.ie  bark 
is  applied  to  the  fonlaiiclles  ot  children  when  that 
soft  portion  of  the  head  sinks  ; at  tiie  same  time 
a small  quantity  mixed  with  cumin  and  sugar  is  given 
internally.  The  juice  of  the  bark  mixed  with  an 
equal  quantity  ot  lime  juice,  opium,  an  1 alum  has 
been  applied  with  great  benefit  round  the  oibit  or 
the  eye  to  subdue  iiillamniatiou.  The  tender  leaves, 
when  applied  in  the  form  of  a pa-te,  resolve  glan- 
dular swellings,  and  the  largo  leaves  prove  an  elh- 
cacious  remedy  for  eczema.  A decoction  ot  the  loaves 
is  used  as  a gargle  in  c ises  ol  aptiuu  and  stomatitis. 
The  fruit  is  considered  to  bo  cooling,  a destroyer 
of  phlegm  and  impurities  of  the  blood,  ibe  wood 
pf  the  Wdamba  tree  is  of  gieat  econtmui;  import- 
ance, is  soft,  ycllow-colonrod,  and  oven-grained, 
weighing  about  40  lb.  per  cubic  foot.  It  is  used  for 
building  purposes  in  Assam,  and  may  be  used  as 
material  for  beams  and  raftots,  being  also  good  for 
joiner’s  work.  In  Calcutta  it  is  one-third  as  cheap 
as  mango  wood.  Kadaniba  trees  grow  wild  through- 
out India,  and  are  principally  used  for  fuel.  The 
closely  allied  Manjal-Kadamha,  the  JmIoii  of  the 
Sinhalese  {Adina  Cordifolia),  and  Nir-Kadamba  or 
Chelembe,  tbe  Holamba  of  the  Sinhalese  /^fephefpjne 
parrifolia),  are  sometimes  used  by  cirpenters  in 
Oelyon.  The  wood  of  the  former  is  extremely  fine 
and  like  that  of  the  box  tree  being  light  and  dur- 
able, though  it  does  not  stand  damp  well ; it  is  use  1 
in  Bombay  for  p'anting  for  tho  floors  of  houses.  The 
former,  which  is  of  a light  chestnut  colour,  fine  and 
close-graiued,  has  (also  been  used  , for  flooring-planks, 
packing  boxes,  and  similar  purposes. — Indian  .{.<jri- 
cidturist. 
VARIOUS  PLANTING  NOTES. 
Anthu.-vcite  Goal  v Soot  As  A M.anuue.— Will 
you  allow  me  to  ask  your  readers’  opinions  as  to 
the  value  of  small  anthracite  coal  instead  of  slot 
f ir  agiicultural  use.  I am  in  a position  to  get 
quantities  of  anthracite  “ duff,”  i.e.,  coal  not  much 
coarser  than  sand,  at  a very  small  cost ; and  as  it 
contains  over  DO  per  cent,  of  carbon,  it  has  occurred 
to  me  that  £ might  use  it  as  a substitute  for  soot. 
There  will,  of  course,  be  many  of  your  readers  who 
will  be  able  to  advise  me  oii  this  matter.  G.S.H. 
— Gardeners'  Chronicle. 
Big  Oucii.vkd. — Tho  largest  orchard  in  the  world 
is  siiil  to  be  that  belonging  to  Elvvood  Cooper,  of 
Barbara,  California.  It  is  a tract  of  1700  acres, 
ant  contains  10,000  Olive  trees,  8,100  in  full  bearing, 
the  remainder  being  young  trees  set  out  during 
the  past  year  and  a half.  Besides  the  Olive  trees 
thero  are  3000  English  Walnut  trees,  4,500  Japanese 
Persimmon  trees,  10,000  Almond  trees,  and  about 
4000  other  fruit  a d nut  treoi.  The  10,000  Oiive 
trees  yielded  40,000  quart  b ittles  of  olive  oil  last 
year,  wnicU  found  a road/  inirkoL  at  l.v  a bottlo. 
'Tlie  nut  trees  boro  thousands  of  Inishols  of  nuts, 
to  say  nothing  of  tho  Japanese  Porsimnions.  ’Taken 
in  all,  it  has  been  calculate  i that  iMr.  Cooper's 
oichard  brings  him  in  an  income  of  not  less  than 
750  dels,  per  acre  every  year.  The  People. — ibid. 
AoiucuLTUiiAi,  I'lnccATioN  i.N  Ahekdehn  U.niveu- 
srrv. — Rov.  Dr.  yinith,  Newiiills,  Aberdeenshire, 
convener  of  the  Committee  on  Education  in  Agri- 
culture of  the  Aberdoeu  Univer-ity  Court,  has 
issued  a circular  on  the  sul  joct  to  County  Councils. 
He  points  out  that  the  Ordinance  of  tbe  Scottish 
Universities  Commission,  which  is  expected  to  re- 
ceive the  Royal  assent,  and  so  become  law  in  the 
course  of  a few  weeks  from  this  date,  lays  down 
a system! lie  coiuso  of  study  for  the  B.Sc.  degree 
in  Agriculture,  extending  over  not  less  tliaii  tree 
academical  years,  and  embracing,  in  addition  such 
residence  and  practical  work  at  a farm  as  sliall  be 
required,  at  least  twelve  cour.scs  of  instnicliou  in 
llio  following  subjects,  viz.  : — 1,  Mathematics  or 
biology  (i.e.,  zool  )gy  and  botany);  2,  Natural 
Philosophy  ; :i,  t bcinistry  ; 4 Principles  of  Agri- 
culture (i.e.,  Agriculture  and  Rural  Economy);  .5, 
Agricultural  Chemistry;  (I,  GeoUgy;  7,  Veterinary 
hygiene  ; 8,  Agricultural  Botany  ; D,  Agricultural 
ciiiomology  ; lU,  Economic  Science  as  applied  to 
Agriculture;  11,  A coiir.se  iu  one  of  tho  following— 
(a)  Eorestry,  (b),  cxpcrimcnta  physics,  (c)cnginecriug; 
£•2,  Engiaeoritig  Hold  work.  The  above  eniimeratioii 
of  subjects  presents  an  adequate  field  out  of  which 
to  construct  various  iisoful  curricula  of  study,  aud 
it  will  bo  tho  duty  of  iho  University  Court,  wliou 
matters  are  more  advanced,  and  when  tho  views  of 
the  County  Councils  have  boon  ascerliiiucd,  to 
organiso  such  courses  so  as  t)  suit  tho  ugicultural 
needs  of  the  northern  province.  A coiiforenco  of 
public  bodies  interested  will  take  place  iu  Aberdeen 
University  Buildings  ou  July  12  next.— Ibid, 
