Nov.  I,  1895.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
331 
Step  down  “ O.C.”  from  tlie  lofty  lieiglit.s  of 
\'egeria  wliereyon  Jiave  conjured  up  .such  .strange 
and  gloomy  imaginings,  ami  accomjiany  me,  and 
I will  guide  you  tiirough  old  liakwaue,  aiul 
show  you  lields  of  as  line  tea  as  you  woulil  \\isli 
to  set  eyes  upon,  and  which,  for  general  aj)pear- 
ance  and  ]j:iying  cai»ahilities,  may  be  eijuailed, 
l)ut  not  .surpas.sed,  in  any  other  tlistrict  of  tliis 
sunny  Lsle.  Tlicii  lia\  ing  feasted  your  eyes  on  tlie 
luxuriant  lields  of  liana,  Stubton,  Hatherleigh 
and  Kangweltenne,  let  me  conduct  you  up  through 
old  “Everton,”  tliescene  of  your  labours  “in  days  of 
yor(',” — alas  now  so  changed — and  so  on. 
Into  the  heart  of  Kukulu  Korale  North.  I 
will  here  shew  you  lields  of  tea  which  have  given, 
and  are  still  gi\  ing  their  OUU  lb.  of  manufactured 
tea  per  acre.  Wliat  do  you  think  of  that  Y 
You  are  wi  ong  agmin  “ O.  C.”  when  you  say 
tliat  the  Kukulu  Korale  is  best  adapted  to  the 
cidti\atiou  of  cardamoms,  for  thej"  have  Ijeen 
tried  and  “found  wanting.” 
Your  most  correct  statement  concerning  the 
Kukulu  Korale  is  with  reference  to  the  leeches, 
f<u'  I heir  wicked  little  ways  seem  to  have  1 mule 
as  lasting  a,ji  im[tre.ssi(m  on  youi'  mind,  as  they 
d.inbtles>  did  on  your  liody,  on  the  occasion  of 
V tir.r  ever  memorable  visit  to  the  district  ol  gems. 
as  to  your  remarks  vtalling  in  cjnestion 
the  hos]dtality  of  the  present  generation  of 
^Kakwane  Planters, — well,  all  I can  say  is,  that 
*Vou  do  them  a cruel  injustice,  for  altliough  the 
ljungalows  are  not  now  so  numerous  as  in  days 
gone  by,  still  in  the  hearts  of  the  present  occu- 
]»ants  of  the  le.s.ser  number  of  bungalows  of 
toilay,  there  exists  the  same  love  of  shewing 
hospitality — be  he  stranger  or  A. — as  ever 
charactei'ised  the  planter  of  old,  with  his  hearty 
welcome,  and  oiler  of  good  cheer.  Ohl  Kakwane 
has  changed  in  many  way's  since  the  days  when 
coll’ee  was  King,  but  not  so  its  residents,  for  the 
hos]  itality  of  those  of-  today  is  like  that  of  their 
predecessors,  proverbi.al. 
With  these  few  remarks,  I bee'  to  subscribe 
myself,  ANOTHEIl  OLD  COLONIST. 
WEST  IIAPUTALE  AND  THE  MINOR 
ROAD  TO  THE  OHIYA  RAILW'AY 
STATION. 
Calhander,  Ohiya,  Oct.  7. 
Dkai!  Siu, — My  attention  having  been  called  to 
<a  ([uery  in  a leader  in  the  Observer  of  Oct.  3rd  on  the 
U va  roads,  whether  the  Ohiy'a  bridle-path  has 
been  finished,  1 have  the  pleasure  of  informing 
you  that  what  y'ou  are  pleased  to  designate  as 
our  “sma’  mercy”  has  been  completed  and 
taken  over  by  the  Provincial  Engineer  : and  I 
invite  you  next  time  you  visit  U va,  to  come  and 
have  a peep  at  our  ‘right  little  tight  little’ 
valley  and  its  “sma’  mercy,”  and  sniff  our 
Highland  breeze.  A rickshaw  could  bring  you 
down  at  racing  s))eed,  but  corners  might  be  in- 
convenient, and  ilon’t  be  alarmed  at  oui  ndle- 
stones  : they  are  made  big  and  heavy  that  the 
wind  can’t  blow'  them  out  1 — Yours, 
GEO:  H.  GREEN. 
[We  are  he.artily  pleased  to  have  Mr.  Green’s 
news  and  his  cordial  invitation  to  West  Haputale 
which  will  not  be  overlooked  ; but  surely  neither 
the  planters  there  nor  the  Raihvay  Managers 
will  long  be  content  to  have  the  traffic  carried 
on  coolies’  heads  (?),  in  rickshaws  or  single  bullock 
carts?  can  .a  double  bullock  cart  travel  on  the 
new  road  : if  not,  the  sooner  there  is  .another 
vote  the  better,  for  bumper  crops  of  leaf  over 
an  extended  area  must  be  looked  for  in  West 
Haputale.— Ed.  1\A.] 
VARIOUS  PLANTING  NOTES. 
SuGAK  feeding  of  Cattle.— Tho  results  of  some 
experiments  in  tho  use  of  molasse.s  and 
sugar  in  the  feeding  of  cattle  made  at  the 
sugar  factory  at  Libnowes,  Austria,  are  given 
by  Mons.  Vivien  in  Le  Fermier.  Tho  trials 
extended  over  HO  days.  Twelve  beasts  had  added 
to  their  usual  rations,  for  7 days,  2 lb.  3 oz.  of 
molasses  per  day;  for  the  following  l.>  days,  3 lb. 
4 oz. ; and  for  the  last  8 days,  5 lb.  ti  oz.  The 
averaige  rate  of  each  beast  before  the  experiment 
was  1,1‘2W  lb.,  and,  after  the  experiment  was  1,204 
lb.  being  a gain  of  84  lb.  per  head,  or  a total  of 
1,008  lb.  This  is  equivalent  to  a daily  gain  per 
head  of  over  2 lb.  0 oz.  Twelve  other  beasts  were 
experimented  upon  at  the  same  time,  and  fed  in 
the  same  way  as  the  former,  except  the  molasses. 
In  30  days  they  increased  784  lb.,  corresponding  to 
(J5i  lb.  per  head,  or  an  average  of  nearly  2 lb.  3 
oz.  i^er  head  per  day.  As  to  the  profits,  tho  net  gain 
was  calculated  as  equal  to  3s.  8d.  per  head  in  fa- 
vour of  the  niolas.ses-fed  animals.  A further  experi- 
ment is  said  to  have  denionstmted  that  even 
better  results  can  be  obtained  by  the  use  of  red 
crystallised  sugar  instead  of  molasses. 
Coffee  is,  of  course,  largely  adulterated — 
say.s  the  Daily  Chruiiirle  of  .Sei»tember  lUth  : — ■ 
Of  .'  number  of  sumpie . coliecteii  in  different  parts 
of  London,  43  in  all,  no  fewer  than  22  were  labelled 
“ French  coffee,”  and  nine  of  these  “ contained  from 
62  to  93  per  cent  of  chicory,  etc.,  averaging  70  per 
cent  of  otner  substances  than  coffee,”  and  in  the  43 
samples  the  average  amount  of  coffee  was  just  .'iO 
per  cent.  Ginger,  too,  is  sadly  adulterated.  “ The 
refuse  left  after  the  fermentation  of  ginger,  in 
ginger-beer  making,  ...  is  largely  used  to  be 
mixed  off  with  unexhausted  ginger,  and  ground  to- 
gether to  reduce  the  price.”  Exhausted  caraways 
are  similarly  mixed  with  fresh.  Pine  oatmeal  is 
adulterated  w'ith  barely  meal.  Beeswax  “ is  exten- 
sively sold  in  Mincing-lane  containing  as  much  as  50 
to  60  per  cent  of  paraffin  wax.”  Pepper  is  adulterated 
with  “ground  rice,  long  popper  (which  is  not  a pepper  at 
all),  olive  stones,”  and  other  things.  And  there  was  no 
way  of  stopping  the  sale  by  public  auction  of 
240,0001b.  of  pepper-salvage  from  a fire,  which  had 
been  soaking  in  Thames  w'ater  for  several  weeks, 
was  saturated  with  sewage,  and  had  become  most 
offensive.  So  it  was  duly  ground  and  sold  by  retail, 
though  “ quite  unfit  for  human  eonsumption.”  Even 
candied  peel  is  now  made  of  peel  from  which  the  es- 
sences have  been  abstracted.  Beetroot  sugar  coloured 
with  aniline  dyes  is  sold  as  Demerara  sugar.  But  we 
must  stop. 
Cotton  Cake. — “Advanced  Agriculture.”  Henry 
I.  Weljl;,  Ph.  U.,  B.  Sc.  (London).  Treating  on  oil 
cake  as  a stock-feeding  product,  he  advises  that 
all  cakes  be  stored  in  a dry  place,  and  packed  in 
layers  at  right  angles  to  each  other,  to  admit  the 
air  between;  this  prevents  them  from  becoming 
mouldy.  Mouldy  cakes  should  not  be  used  for 
feeding ; they  are  often  very  danyerous,  sometimes 
causing  blood  poisoning  and  such  diseases  as  anthrax. 
Decorticated  cotton  cake  is  a good  food  for  mixing 
with  others  for  cattle  in  winter  and  about  the  best 
concentrated  food  to  give  cattle  on  grass.  It  neu- 
tralises the  purgative  action  of  grass  ; it  is  very  high 
in  albuminoids,  and  contains  a higher  manurial  value 
than  any  other  food.  It  is  also  an  excellent  food 
to  mix  in  a ration  for  a milking  cow,  but  it  should 
not  be  given  too  near  her  calving  period,  either  be- 
fore or  after.  Neither  should  it  be  given  to  stock 
under  one  year  old,  unless  in  very  small  quantities 
mixed  with  other  foods  of  a more  carbonaceous  nature. 
The  reason  for  this  food  being  so  unsuited  to  young 
stock  seems  rather  difficult  to  explain,  but  it  has 
lately  been  considered  that  its  highly  nitrogenous 
nature  acts  prejudicially  on  the  liver.  Many  of  these 
cakes,  when  badly  manufactured,  contain  hard,  in- 
digestible lunips,  and  should  be  used  with  caution. 
Undecorticated  cotton  cake,  possessing  less  feeding 
and  manurial  value,  can  only  be  recommended  for  cattle 
out  at  grass,  though  it  is  often  used  for  mixing  with 
other  foods  for  cattle  in  the  wiuteri — Home  ^aper. 
