28-1 
Supplement  to  the  Tropical  Agriculturist.  [O^t.  1,  1895. 
exclusion  ot'  nil  hedge  ])lants,  for  boundaries,  with 
a view  to  suppleinenliug  their  income  from  tea, 
cocao,  and  coconuts  by  growing  these  fibres,  and 
at  the  same  time  checking  cattle  trespass  and 
solving  the  difflcnlty  about  suppressing  theft  of 
])rtedial  ])rodncts ! But  some  ente-ii'i/.ing  person 
should  set  up  a central  factory  f > extracting  the 
fibre  by  means  of  the  most  approved  machi- 
nery. 
^V  e direct  attention  to  an  interestitig  extract 
referring  to  Weeds  taken  over  from  the  Agri- 
cultural Gazette  of  New  South  Wales.  We  have 
ourselves  written  much  on  the  subject  of  utilizing 
weeds  to  the  best  advantage  by  judicious  treat- 
ment, instead  of  completely  suppressing  their 
giowth  under  all  circumstances.  We  know  of 
sOrae  planters  who  have  been  bold  enough  to 
adopt  the  latter  alternative  and  that  with  satis- 
factory results,  but  they  are  few  in  number. 
We  commend  the  article  referri'd  to,  to  all  agricul- 
turists, and  regret  that  owing  to  the  limited  space 
at  our  disposal  we  are  unable  to  reproduce  it  in 
extenso. 
It  is  satisfactory  to  be  able  to  report  that  the 
experiment  in  Grape  Culture  at  the  School  of 
Agriculture  bids  fair  to  be  a success.  About  750 
rooted  vines  are  now  thriving  well,  and  there  are 
about  ns  many  Cuttings  making  healthy  growth. 
The  following  are  the  varieties  being  tried  : — 
Gordo  Blanco,  Lady’s  Finger,  Black  Prince,  Cham- 
pion Muscat,  Chassehis  D’Or.  Gross  Colman,  Snow' 
Muscat  Marillion,  Black  Ambro,  Muscat  of  Alex- 
andra, Black  Manbro,  and  White,  !^^arillion. 
It  is  not  tw'o  montlis  yet  since  the  vines  were 
planted  out,  and  many  of  the  Gordo  Blanco 
variety  are  already  in  fruit. 
We  learn  througli  vi.«itors  and  correspondents 
that  vines  are  to  be  found  nearly  in  all  parts  of 
the  Island.  Wo  lately  had  the  opportunity  of 
inspecting  two  splendid  vinca  in  Matale,  a very 
wet  district,  and  on  one  of  these  counted  over  a 
hundred  full  bunches.  A correspondent  from 
llangurankette  writes  us  that  he  is  growing 
purple  grapes  there.  In  Colombo,  the  owner  of  a 
vine  in  the  heart  of  the  town  reckons  on  his 
RloO  worth  of  grapes  a year.  All  this  must 
make  M.  Zanetti  very  hopeful  about  his  experi- 
ment. 
A small  plantation  of  rhea  fibre  has  been 
succes.sfully  established  at  the  Colombo  School  of 
Agriculture,  and  the  plants  have  stood  out  well 
against  the  late  long  and  trying  drouglit  without 
any  special  attention  given  to  them.  Some  de- 
mand has  sprung  up  for  cuttings,  and  it  is  likely 
that  a few  of  our  lowcountry  landowmers  will 
give  rhea  a trial  on  a fairly  extensive  scale.  The 
great  advantage  about  rhea  cultivation  is  that  the 
grower  has  nothing  more  to  do  than  to  harvest  his 
sticks  once  in  two  or  three  months  and  strip  off 
the  bark  (which  can  be  soM  in  (Jolombo)  for  ship- 
ment to  London,  where  the  extraction  of  the  valu- 
able fibre  is  now  f.acilitnte<l  Iiy  chemical 
treatment,  which,  how'ever,  is  a close  secret.  On 
making  enquiries  as  to  j)rices  in  Colombo,  we  were 
informed  by  one  firm  that  they  weie  prepared  to 
buy  rhei  bark  in  any  quantities  of  not  less  than 
o tons  in  pressed  hales  at  R9  or  RIO  per  cwt,  free 
oil  board.  From  another  source  the  offer  came  of 
RL30  per  ton,  nothing  being  said  as  to  baling  or 
placing  on  board. 
As  a general  rule  2^  gallons  of  milk  are  required 
to  produce  one  pound  of  butter.  The  market 
value  of  good  cow’.s  milk  in  Colombo  is  about 
20  cts.  per  bottle  of  26  oz.  (“  guaranteed”  pure 
milk  generally  fetches  22  cents  and  sometimes 
more),  so  that  it  would  take  about  R3  w'orth  of 
milk  to  produce  one  pound  of  butter ; but  the 
prices  of  butter  is  about  Rl'oO  per  lb.,  and 
to  cover  cost  of  production  (including  labour)  and 
leave  a small  profit — sufficient  to  give  a fair 
interest  on  out  lay— the  separated  milk  should 
fetch  at  least  12  cents  per  bottle.  And  if  house- 
holders are  w’ise  they  should  gladly  pay  that 
price  f.)r  milk  separated  by  a machine  than  give  lo 
and  16  cents  for  the  ordinary  milk  vendor’s  stuff. 
B It,  unfortunately,  .separated  milk  has  no  recog- 
nised value  with  us  yet. 
RAINFALL  TANI3N  AT  TllE  SCHOOL  OF 
AGRICULTURE  DURING  THE  MONTH 
OF  SEPTEMBER,  1895. 
Gre.alest  amo 
1 
Sunday 
•02 
19 
Thunsday  . , 
Nil 
2 
Monday 
•12 
20 
Friday 
•29 
3 
Tue.sday 
Nil 
21 
Saturday  • • 
•03 
4 
Wednesday. , 
Nil 
22 
Sunday 
•11 
5 
Thursday  . . 
•07 
23 
Monday 
•07 
6 
Friday 
•25 
24 
Tuesday 
•02 
7 
Saturday  . . 
•43 
25 
Wednesday.  . 
•01 
8 
Sunday 
Nil 
26 
Thursday  , . 
Nil 
9 
Monday 
Nil 
27 
Friday 
•25 
10 
Tuesday  . , 
Nil 
28 
Saturday  . , 
•80 
11 
Wednesday. , 
Nil 
29 
Sunday 
•05 
12 
Thursday  . . 
Nil 
30 
Monday 
•88 
13 
Friday 
•09 
1 
Tuesday 
•34 
14 
Saturday  . . 
•26 

15 
Sunday 
•38 
Total . . 
4-60 
16 
Monday 
•15 
— 
17 
Tuesday 
Nil 
Mean. . 
•15 
18 
Wednesday.  . 
Nil 
on  the  30th 
int  of  rainfall  in 
instant,  ’88  inches. 
Recorded  by  W.  0. 
any  24  hours 
Rowlands. 
THE  SAFFLOWER. 
( Carthanius  Tinctorius. ) 
There  are  many’phmts  cultivated  in  in  India 
which  yield  valuable  dyestuffs,  but  there  are  also 
others  growing  wild  wdiich,  if  taken  in  hand,  are 
capable  of  producing  irseful  dyes.  It  cannot  be 
denied  that  vegetable  dyes  are  being  to  a 
great  extent  replaced  by  the  atialine  dyes, 
the  products  of  coal  tar.  This  is  mainly 
due  to  the  cheapness  of  the  dye.s  and  the 
regularity  of  suj)ply  which  cati  always  be  depended 
upon.  A manufacturer  who  uses  a parti- 
cular substance  is  put  to  a.  deal  of  trouble  and 
expenses  if  after  a time  there  is  any  interru|)tion  in 
the  supply  of  that  substance.  He  adopts  Ids  mahei- 
nery  and  appliances  to  the  product  which  he  is 
using.  His  workmen  get  used  to  the  handling  and 
