G52 
Supplement  la  the  “ Tropical  AgricuUurist'  [March  2,  1896. 
While  dairy  farming  is  to  the  front,  the  atten- 
tion of  our  renders  may  he  drawn  to  what  was, 
perhaps,  the  first  private  institution  of  the  kind  in 
India,  'lliis  is  tlie  Chowkooree  Dairy  Farm  at 
Bereiing,  Kumaon,  which  was  opened  some  twelve 
or  fourteen  years  ago,  with  the  object  of  supply- 
6ig  good  milk  and  butter  to  the  British  regiment 
stationed  in  Kumaon.  Since  then  the  farm  has 
steadily  prospered,  the  conditions  being  all  in 
favour  of  such  an  enterprise.  Labour  is  cheap, 
and  so  is  grain.  To  consume  the  butter  milk, 
Berkshire  pigs  are  kept,  and  the  farm  manure  goes 
on  to  the  plantations,  and  SJ-5  acres  of  ground  which 
are  under  oats,  barley,  potatoes,  &c.  Tlie  pro- 
]ierietor  has  cart  roads  all  over  the  estate  to  cart 
the  manure  to  the  fields,  which  is  done  by  Knglish 
pattern  carts  on  Marshall  & Son’s  iron  wheels, 
carrying  2o  to  30  maunds  a-piece  and  drawn  by 
four  buffaloes.  An  Knglish  dairy-maid  looks 
after  the  cream  and  butter-making,  and  the  pro- 
prietor is  now  arranging  to  get  out  a Salenius 
Butter-Maker,  which  is  said  to  “pasteurise”  the 
milk,  separate  the  milk,  and  churn  it  into  butter 
— all  in  one  operation. 
The  following  is  another  description  of  ti  e 
same  institution  : — Some  40  miles  from  Almora 
and  60  miles  from  Hanikhet  stands  the  Chow- 
kooree Dairy  Farm  at  an  elevation  of  7,000  ft.  It 
possesses  2,000  or  3,0  0 acres  of  fee-simple  undu- 
lating land  covered  over  with  as  rich  grass  as  grows 
anywhere  in  Kumaon  and  plentifully  supplied 
with  springs  of  cool,  clear  water.  This  magnificent 
area  is  grazed  by  the  Cliowkooree  cattle.  No 
village  cattle  are  permitted  to  enter,  and  pensioned 
Gurkhas  are  employed  as  rangers  to  enforce  this 
rule.  Thus,  while  rinderpest  and  foot-and-mouth 
disease  yearly  ravage  village  herds  in  Kumaon, 
often  appearing  in  the  vicinity  of  Chowkooree,  tlie 
farm  has  been  singularly  fortunate  in  keeping  its 
cattle  free  from  infectious  diseases.  The  Chow- 
kooree Dairy  Farm  has  now  about  300  head  of 
cattle,  mostly  of  a breed  of  its  own,  obtained  by 
judicious  crossing  of  hill  and  plains  cattle.  Tliey 
stand  remarkably  well  tlie  extremes  of  climate, 
and  are  none  the  worse  for  100''  of  rain  or  a 1 2"  fall 
of  snow.  Timber,  stones,  and  labour  being  cheap 
and  plentiful,  large  airy  cattle  sheds  are  suitably 
located  on  the  estate.  The  dairy  is  fitted  up  with 
the  usual  modern  appliance.s,  and  being  in  charge 
of  an  English  dairymaid,  is  kept  scrupulously 
clean.  All  the  milk  is  made  into  butter  only,  and 
finds  a ready  sale  in  Kumaon.  Besides  the  dairy 
there  is  a poultry  yard  containing  well-known  im- 
ported breeds  of  English  fowls,  and  also  a small 
piggery  of  Berkshire  breed.  The  manure  helps  to 
cultivate  large  crops  of  Cape  oats,  barley,  and  rye, 
all  of  which  is  consumed  on  the  farm.  Chow- 
kooree is  not  the  outcome  of  separators,  but  was 
in  existence  as  a farm  long  before  the  public  out 
he"e  began  to  take  an  interest  in  dairy  farming.  I 
may  add,  in  conclusion,  that  all  those  little  trifles 
which  are  e.ssential  to  success  in  most  concerns 
are  kept  in  view,  and  that  the  Chowkooree  Dairy 
Farm  is  conducted  with  no  little  industry  and 
economy,  directed  by  intelligence. 
The  only  station  in  which  a Commissariat  Dairy 
Farm  was  maintained  in  India  during  the  past 
otlicial  year,  says  a Kangoon  paper,  was  Bernard- 
myo,  which  worked  at  a profit  of  over  B360 
against  a loss  of  eome  K2/100  iu  the  previous  year. 
This  favourable  result  is  attributable  to  a consider- 
able reduction  iu  the  expenditure  on  account  of 
the  supply  of  food  to  caffle,  which  were  sent  to 
graze,  and  ahso  in  tlm  cost  of  the  establishment 
for  its  upkeep.  The  Government  of  India  in 
December  last,  on  the  very  strong  recommendation 
of  the  local  military  authorities,  sanctioned  tlie 
continuance  of  tlie  farm  in  super.session  of  their 
previous  order,  in  which  it  was  decided  that 
the  farm  should  be  closed  on  account  of  its  con- 
tinued unprofitable  working.  The  stock  consisted 
of  25  cows  and  42  calves  on  the  31st  March  last. 
During  the  year  there  was  an  addition  to  the  stock 
by  the  birth  of  29  calves  and  by  the  purchase  of 
cows  and  cow-calves.  The  produce  of  the  farm 
amounted  to  over  10,000  jiints  of  milk,  of  which 
only  3,000  pints  were  issued  to  the  hospitals  at 
Bernard myo  and  the  rest  sold  as  surplus,  realizing 
some  IU,300. 
FADDY  BESTS. 
Calandm  Oryree. — This  small  beetle  attacks 
wheat,  barley,  Indian  corn  and  rice.  The  weevil  is 
a purely  granary  pest,  and  grain  can  therefore  be 
preserved  by  isolation  and  other  precautions 
against  infection  after  it  leaves  the  fields — hardy 
grains  being  more  easily  protected  than  the  softer 
kinds.  The  wandering  propensities  of  the  weevil 
make  isolation  a difficult  matter  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  infected  localities.  It  would  appear  that 
the  husk  of  rice  is  sufficient  to  protect  it  from 
the  attack  of  the  insect. 
Chcetocnema  basilis. — This  beetie  is  said  to  da 
much  damage  to  the  young  rice  in  parts  of 
Burmah&c.,  appearing  when  the  plants  are  about 
6 inches  high,  and  after  first  attacking  the  leaves 
])assing  on  to  the  stem  and  roots.  Some  of  the 
following  means  which  have  been  found  effectual 
with  other  members  of  the  Halticidae  have  been 
suggested  as  remedities  against  this  beetle : — (1) 
Sprinkling  the  i)lants  with  any  Htiely-divided  mat* 
ter  such  as  lime,  soot,  road  du.«t,  ashes  ikc.  (2) 
Syringing  or  sprinkling  with  whale-oil,  soap-solu- 
tion, or  an  extract  of  wormwood.  (3)  Taking  great 
care  to  keej)  the  land  clean.  (4)  Deeper  cultiva- 
tion. {.5)  Collecting  the  insects  in  kerosine  or 
cloths  soaked  in  kerosine. 
Injuries  to  rice  are  also  caused  by  insects  which 
are  probably  “Cut- worms”  (Ayrostis  suffasa),  And 
Mr.  Coates  of  the  Indian  Museum  thinks  that  it  is 
not  improbable  that  much  of  the  damage  reported 
as  due  to  obscure  lepidopterous  larvic  may  also  be 
done  by  insects  belonging  to  this  group.  Tho.se 
larvae  attack  the  young  crop  just  as  it  shows 
above  ground,  and  not  only  feed  on  the  young 
leaves,  but  cut  through  the  stems,  dragging  the 
tender  plants  into  their  underground  burrows 
where  they  feed  on  them  at  night.  The  following 
method  of  destroying  the  larvm  has  been  found 
effectual  by  Dr.  Ililey  in  America; — “ Bundles  of 
cabbages,  turnip  or  clover  are  sprinkled  with  Baris 
green  water,  and  laid  at  intervals  between  the 
rows  of  the  crop  to  be  protected.  Before  the 
plants  come  up  these  poison  the  cut-worms,  which 
are  thus  got  rid  of  before  the  appearance  of  the 
crop  which  they  would  otherwise  attack.’’ 
The  rice-sapper  {Leptocorisa  acuta)  is  an  insect 
which  does  considerable  damage  to  rice.  By  the 
Sinhalese  it  is  called  goyan-messa.  The  insect  is 
most  destructive  iu  the  larval  state,  suckiug  out 
