Oct.  I,  1895.] 
Supplement  to  the  ‘^'Tropical  AgHcultu)  ist.'* 
289 
inauipul  ition  of  their  materials  in  a special  way 
ami  there!>y  gain  a sort  of  (lo.Kterity  wliicli  is  of 
great  importance,  in  that  work  is  done  expede- 
tioiisly.  The  few  vegetable  dyes  that  liave  been 
in  use  in  India  have  met  with  no  demand  owing 
to  the  want  of  a regular  .«npply  and  nni- 
tonnity  in  (piality.  These  two  important 
requisites  conld  be  met  only  by  a systematic 
proces.s  of  cultivation  and  preparation.  How- 
ever gloomy  the  future  may  be  for  indigenous 
dyestuffs,  there  is  some  consolation  in  the  fact, 
that  vegetable  dyes  are  superior  in  quality  to  any 
obtained  artificially.  The  former  are  extremely 
well  ad.apted  for  the  purpo.'e  of  dyeing  costly 
materials  and  they  are  devoid  of  the  poisonous 
pro[)erties  possessed  by  many  artificial  dyes.  If  a 
systematic  method  of  cultivation  be  adopted,  if 
technical  knowledge  which  at  the  present  day  is 
indispen.sable  in  every  walk  of  life  is  employed 
in  their  preparation,  and  if  the  chemist’s  aid  is 
cilled  in  at  the  proper  time,  there  is  no  reason 
why  the  vegetable  dyes  shouUI  not  hold  their 
own  and  pay  their  way. 
Cart/iamus  tinctorius  yields  the  cartlmmine 
dye  of  the  English.  It  is  called  by  the  (jlerraans 
safran,  and  by  the  Spanish  cartamo.  In  Russia 
the  dye  is  known  as po/ermand  in  India  kmumha. 
There  are  two  species  of  Cartharaus  known  to 
botanists,  one  a wild  species,  the  Carthamus 
oxyacantha,  met  with  in  the  North-Western  Pro- 
vinces and  the  Panjab,  and  other  C.  tinctorius  or 
the  true  Carthamin  grown  largely  in  India, 
Spain,  Germany,  Ilungarjq  Italy  and  Russia,  and 
even  in  South  America  and  the  Sunda  Islands. 
The  plant  is  also  cul  ivatod  to  a certain  extent 
in  China  and  Egypt. 
Cartkamus  tinctorius  is  an  annual  herbaceous 
plant  with  large  orange-coloured  flower  heads. 
The  history  of  the  plant  is  littleknown,  as  the  plant 
is  no  where  found  in  its  wild  state.  De  Candolle 
believes  that  the  grave  cl  athes  of  ancient  Egypt 
were  dyed  with  Carthamine.  It  is  said  the  plant 
was  introduced  to  China  in  the  second  centuy  B.C. 
Indians  at  one  time  were  not  aware  of  the  presence 
of  the  valuable  red  dye,  but  grew  it  for  its  evan- 
escent veflow  dve  and  for  the  oilv  seeds  it  gave. 
EARTII-VELOS 
This  is  a preparation  patented  by  Strawsons 
Limited,  the  well-known  firm  who.se  name  has 
been  long  associated  with  insecticides  and 
machines  for  distributing  them.  The  preparation 
is  in  the  form  of  a j)owder,  and  special  form.s 
of  it  are  known  as  Mop-velos,  Vine-velos  and 
'I'ea-velos,  their  ii.se  being  intended  particularly 
for  ground  pests  of  whatever  nature.  Earth-velos 
is  said  to  be  suitable  for  all  crops,  requiring 
neither  skilled  labour  nor  expensive  machinery 
for  its  use.  It  is  sufficient  to  spread  it  evenly 
over  the  soil,  and  hoe  or  plough  in  at  the  time 
of  ordinary  cultivation.  It  destroys  wire-worms, 
leather-jackets,  grubs,  millepedes,  heetles,  aphides 
and  all  insect  life  in  the  soil — preventing  insects 
from  entering  the  soil  to  hibernate  or  change 
into  chrysalids  and  thence  into  grubs,  and 
destroying  those  already  there.  For  fruit  garden.^, 
I he  ground  m.iy  bi;  strewn  over  with  the  powder 
by  means  of  a distributor  such  as  Strawson’s 
Corouette  ” (specially  designed  for  dealing  with 
in.secticide  powders,  and  costing  only  30  shillings) 
at  tlie  rate  of  1 or  2 cwts.  per  acre.  About  three 
dre.a.sings  a year  are  advi.sed.  Where  the  roots 
of  trees  are  deep  and  difficult  of  access  a hole 
from  8 to  16  inches  deep  may  be  made  with  a 
stake  and  a teaspoonful  of  E.arth-velos  put  in, 
the  top  of  the  hole  being  closed  by  means  of 
the  heel.  Great  success  appears  to  have  attended 
the  use  of  this  i)reparation  against  phyloxera 
in  vines.  The  effect  is  in  some  respects  like 
Bisulphide  of  carbon,  but  the  preparation  is 
safer  and  cheaper,  being  non-poisonoii'<.  Further, 
it  c.in  be  kept  any  length  of  time  if  covered, 
but  should  be  preserved  dry  and  never  mixed 
with  water.  Being  combustible,  however,  no 
lire  or  artitieial  light  should  be  brought  in  contact 
with  it.  Earth-velos  is  sold  in  i)ackages  of  one 
shilling,  two  and  six  pence,  and  live  shillings, 
or  in  large  quantities  at  32  shillings  a cwt.  or 
£28  per  ton.  We  believe  that  the  Eastern 
Frodnce  and  Estates  Company  is  the  agency  fov 
-Messrs.  Strawson,  whose  London  address  is  77, 
Queen  Victoria  Street,  London,  fC.Q- 
INDIAN  CORN  AS  HUMAN  FOOD. 
Indian  corn— on  what  grounds,  it  is  difficult 
to  explain — is  little  fancied  ns  a human  food  in 
many  parts  of  the  world  where  it  could  be  cultL 
vated  with  success.  Frobably  there  is  a miscon-- 
cei)tion  as  to  its  proper  nutritive  value. 
In  a bulletin  issued  by  the  Department  of 
Agriculture,  Brisbane,  it  is  stated  that  excepting 
sugar  cane,  maize  is  the  most  important  crop 
grown  in  Queensland — .about  one-hnlf  of  all  the 
cultivated  land  of  the  colony  being  devoted  to  it, 
The  average  yield  per  acre  for  1894  is  given  ns 
2o"8  bushels,  which  is  higher  than  is  obtained  in 
the  United  States,  the  greatest  of  maize-growing 
countries.  Dr.  Wiley,  chemist  of  the  United 
States  Department  of  Agriculture  furnishes  a table 
of  analysis  of  leading  cereal  grains,  which  serves 
to  show  the  ciiemical  relations  that  maize  sustains 
to  other  bread  grains,  and  clearly  indicates  the 
value  of  the  different  food-',  based  upon  the 
digestible  food  elements  which  they  contain.  The 
tollowing  is  the  table 
Hulled 
Oats. 
Wheat. 
>5 
Barley, 
Maize. 
Water 
6-9.3 
10-27 
8-67 
6-53 
10-04 
-Ash  ... 
2-15 
1-84 
2-09 
2-89 
1-52 
Oil  or  Fat 
Digestible  carbo- 
814 
2-16 
1-94 
2-68 
5-20 
hyilrates 
67-09 
71-98  74-52 
72-77 
70-69 
Crude  carbo- 
hydrates 
1-38 
1-80 
1-46 
3-80 
2-09 
Albuminoids  ... 
14-31 
11-95 
U-32 
11-33 
10-46 
[We  might  liere  add  the  following  analysis  of 
rice'  for  purposes  of  comparison  : — Water  13'0, 
flesh-formers  6‘o,  starch  &c.  80'0.] 
D.'.  Wiley,  commenting  on  the  above  table,  says: 
“ As  indicated  by  the  above  analyses,  maize  is 
fully  equal  in  value  as  a food  to  any  of  the 
cereals,  making  up  in  its  contents  of  fat  any 
driflcieucy  which  might  be  noticed  in  its  nitro- 
ge:ious  matters  and  digestible  carbohydrates. 
This  conclusion,  however,  as  to  the  food  value 
of  maize,  does  not  rest  alone  upon  the  com- 
parison of  analytical  data.  The  long  years  of  use 
