800 
Supplement  to  the  “ Tropical  AgricuUuristT 
[May  1,  1896. 
ations  iu  Ceylon  have  no  record  to  be  t)roiu\  of,  but 
it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  interests  of  our  cultivators 
^vill  be  belter  looked  after  in  the  future,  and  the 
springing  up  ol  such  Societies  as  the  Grama  llaksha 
Samagama  of  Dalugama  and  the  Tissamaharama. 
Cultivator’s  Association  is  ceitainly  a good  sign. 
What  we  should  like  to  see  is  a n^presentaliv e 
Central  Agricultural  Society  with  headquarters  in 
Colombo  and  branches  all  over  the  Island.  The 
amount  of  work  before  such  a Society  is  prodigious; 
the  interchange  and  distribution  of  seed  alone 
being  sufhcient  to  give  it  something  to  do  that 
will  benelit  our  cultivators  beyond  measure. 
MAKSDKAIA  TKNACISSIMA. 
This  plant,  belonging  to  the  onler  Asclepiadeie,  is 
known  amoiig  the  natives  as  Aluruvadul.  Roylu 
referring  to  it,  states  that  it  is  remarkable  that  a 
plant  which  yields  so  valuable  a fibre  and  a 
caoutchouc  should  be  practically  unknown.  Mars- 
denia  tenacissima  is  a climber,  and  is  generally 
found  in  barren  localities  among  bushes  and  small 
trees.  A milky  juice  e.xudes  from  cuts  on  the 
stem,  which  thickens  into  an  elastic  substance  or 
caoutchouc,  whick  like  India-rubber  removes  black 
lead  marks.  The  fibre  is  got  from  the  bark,  and 
is  fine,  silky  and  of  great  strength-  a line  made  of 
it  breaking  at  248  lb.  dry  and  :548  lb.  wet,  as 
against  hemp  at  158  lb.  and  190  lb.  One  of  the 
chief  features  of  the  fibre  is  its  great  elasticity, 
and  is,  according  to  Royle,  the  second  best  of  all 
the  fibres  in  India.  The  samj)le  shown  at  the  In- 
dian and  Colonial  E.vhibition  is  said  to  have  been 
universally  admired,  and,  indeed,  some  of  the  e.x- 
perts  are  reported  to  have  considered  it  a very 
superior  (juality  of  rhea.  According  to  Messrs. 
Cro.ss,  Bevan  & Kings’  Chemico-microscoi)ic  e::- 
amination  of  the  fibre,  it  is  very  considerably 
superior  to  rhea.  When  compared  with  rhea, 
flax,  wara  and  sun-hemp,  it  headed  the  list  in 
percentage  of  cellulose,  ami  lost  considerably  less 
than  any  of  the  others  either  under  hydrolysis 
•with  caustic  soda  or  in  acid  purification,  while  it 
held  the  third  place  iu  increased  weight  by  nitra- 
tion. These  are  facts  the  value  of  which  cannot 
be  overestimated.  They  point  the  fibre  out  as  be- 
ing, from  a scientific  stand-point,  far  more  worthy 
of  experimental  cultivation  than  rhea  or  any  of 
the  other  fibres  with  -^vliich  it  has  been  compared 
' above.  The  one  jioint  of  uncertainty  regarding  it, 
which  practical  experiments  alone  can  solve,  is  its 
yield  of  fibre  per  acre  as  coin])ared  with  the  cost  of 
cultivation— in  other  words,  the  price  at  which  it 
can  be  put  down  in  the  textile  ma'kets.  The  ulti- 
mate fibres  are  5 to  20  mm.  in  length,  Le.,  nearly 
" as  long  as  tho-.e  of  flax,  and  two  or  three  times  as 
long  as  those  of  sun  hemp  or  of  jute,  though  of 
course  very  much  shorter  tluiu  the  fibres  of  rheti. 
But  from  this  point  of  view  rhea  stands  by  itself 
as  its  ultimate  fibres  (40  to  200  mm.;,  are  far  m 
excess  of  any  other  known  fibre.  Messrs.  Cross, 
■ Bevan  Jv  King  say  of  Marsdenia Next  to  rhea  it 
must  rank  iti  point  of  finene.ssand  durability,  and 
we  cannot  urge  its  claims  to  the  iittention  of 
Government  in  too  strong  terms.  If  it  can  he 
shown  that  the  fibre  could  be  cultivated  tit  till, 
it  might  th.en  become  a (piestion  whether  this  or 
rhea  could  be  produced  tlie  cheaper. 
The  shortness  of  the  fibre  ribbons,  ns  usually 
met  with,  would.  Dr.  Watt  presumes,  be  view'ed 
ns  unfavourable,  but  since  this  is  by  no  means  a 
neces‘-ity,  it  might  be  well  to  ado])t  some  process 
of  decortication  (such  as  that  the  Favier)  that 
would  produce  ribbons  the  full  length  of  the  twigs. 
The  plant  in  M'att’s  ojdnion  is  too  scarce  and 
unimportant — looking  for  its  merits  to  come  by  the 
usual  “ private  enterprize  " means  to  be  recognised 
by  the  manufacturer.  “ It  must  be  cultivated,  and 
that  too  perhaps  for  a good  many  years,  before  a 
final  ojiinion  can  be  pronounced.  It  is  a climber 
and  does  not  appear  to  grow  either  rapidly  or  pro- 
fusely, but  there  is  no  knowing  'what  it  might  do 
under  careful  management.  Very  likely  the  allied 
sj)ecies  M.  lioijlei  might  be  found  a more  suitable 
species  for  expei-imental  cultivation,  but  of  course 
iu  warm  regions  only.  Marsdenia  is  however  too 
valuable  a fibre  to  be  longer  ignored,  ai\d  it  would 
serve  a jmblic  good  were  the  various  Botanic 
Gardens  and  Agri-IIorticultural  Societies  to  take 
its  experimental  cultivation  under  their  special 
chaige.  M'ere  the  cultivation  of  Marsilenia  tena- 
cissima to  prove  temunerative,  the  idant  might 
be  reared  in  every  hedgerow  in  India,  but  being 
a climber  difficulties  exist  with  which  the  Indian 
. cultivator  of  fibre  croj)s  has  not  yet  attempted  to 
deal.  In  order  to  avoid  these  difficulties— the 
expenses  and  trouble  of  constructing  sup])orts  fur 
a climbing  plant — it  would  be  as  well  rtr.^t  to  ascer- 
t.ain  whether  it  could  be  induced  to  crawl  over  the 
ground  instead  ot  requiring  S'lj  port.  ’ 

COCONUT,  GINGELLY  AND  CASTOR  CAKE. 
Coconut  Cake. — Prof.  A’celcker  in  his  Essay 
on  I he  h\flucnce  of  Chemical  discoveries  on  Agri- 
culture remarks  that  Coconut  Cake  is  better  adap- 
ted for  fattenning  stock  than  for  young  growing 
animals  or  store,  stock.  The  analysis  of  palm- 
kernel  cake  is  given  as  follows:  Water  9 50;  oil 
8'43;  albuminous  bodies  80-40  (containing  nitro- 
gen 4’50, ; mucilage,  sugar,  fibre,  Ac.  40  95; 
mineral  matter  (ash  ) 10'72. 
Gingellu  (Til  or  Sescanum)  Cake. — According  to 
Soubeiran  and  Giradin’s  analysis  this  cake  con- 
tains of  water  11  per  cent ; oil  13  per  cent;  pro- 
tein comiiouiids  34'81  (containing  nitrogen  eipial 
to  o 57) ; ash  9'5  per  cent.  Prof.  Anderson  gives 
the  following  as  the  re.suKs  of  his  analysis  of  the 
cake  which  he  includes  in  a List  of  the  principal 
Varieties  of  Cattle  Food : IVater  10  38  ; oil  12  80  ; 
nitrogeneous  compounds  8193;  mucilage,  sugar 
Ac.  21'92;  fibre  9'06;  ash  13  85.  The  article  oil- 
cake in  the  b'.ncyclopoedia  Britannica  shows  the 
chemical  composition  of  gingelly  cake  .as  follows  : 
AVater  8'06  ; oilll'34;  albuminous  bodies  8G‘87 
(containing  nitrogen  5 ‘90);  mucilage,  sugar,  dige.s- 
tible  fibre  Ac.  25 'Oo;  woody  fibre  814;  ash  10-54. 
Dr.  AA'att  referring  to  the  cake  says:  As  a manure 
this  cake  would  appear  to  be  far  less  valuable 
than  rape,  castor  or  hemp,  but  as  an  article  of  cattle 
food  it  is  probably  very  wholesome  since  the  rela- 
tion of  oil  to  nitrogonised  compounds  is  less  arbi- 
trary than  in  most  oil-cakes.  The  seed  also  is  very 
small,  contains  no  indigestible  husk,  and  is  largely 
eaten  in  India  as  an  article  of  human  food— facts 
which  all  tend  to  confirm  the  opinion  that  sesu- 
mum  cake  is  perhaps  one  of  the  most  wholesome 
of  all.  The  exports  from  India  of  the  seed  whicli 
yields  this  cake  have  year  after  year  for  some  time 
