66 
[July  1,  1896, 
Su])})lemenl  to  the  “ Troirical  Ag'ticuUunst. 
and  foot  and  mouth  disease  reported  from 
Kegalle  district. 
N.-AV,  I’noviNCB. — Kunmeyala IJi-ftrict.  f’addy 
— ploughing  and  sowing.  Want  of  rain  retarding 
operations  in  AVhvnni  llatpattu,  and  thi.s  cause  is 
interfering  with  crop  prospects  in  many  places. 
Health  fair,  e.\cept  in  Katugampola  and 
Dambadeni,  where  cases  of  miu’rain  are  rei)orted. 
R.-MNFALL  TAKEN  AT  THE  SCHOOL  OF 
AGRICULTURE  DURING  THE  MONTH 
OF 
JUNE, 
1896. 
1 
Monday 
Nil 
19 
Friday 
Nil 
2 
Tuesday 
•45 
20 
Saturday  . 
Nil 
3 
AVednesday  . . 
•17 
21 
Sunday 
Nil 
4 
Thursday  . . 
•3o 
22 
Monday 
•11 
6 
Friday 
1-77 
23 
Tuesday 
1-89 
6 
Saturday 
l^Ol 
24 
AVednesday  . 
*38 
7 
Sunday 
Nil 
25 
Thursday  . 
Nil 
8 
Monday 
•05 
26 
Friday 
•18 
9 
Tuesday 
Nil 
27 
Saturday 
Nil 
10 
AVednesday  . . 
Nil 
28 
Sunday 
Nil 
11 
Thursday  . . 
Nil 
29 
Monday 
•03 
12 
Friday 
•10 
30 
Tuesday 
Nil 
13 
Saturday 
3-2-2 
1 
AVednesday  . 
•02 
14 
Sunday 
108 
16 
Monday 
•13 
Total . 
11-32 
16 
Tuesday 
•25 
Mean. 
*37 
17 
AVednesday  . . 
•13 
— 
18 
Thursday 
Nil 
Greatest  amount  of  rainfall 
in  any  24  hours  on 
the  13th  June,  3-22  inches. 
Recorded  by  M.  W.  K.  Hanuara. 
OCCASIONAL  NOTES. 
In  our  next  issue  an  interesting  jiapcr  by 
Mr.  G.  AV.  Sturgess,  Colonial  A'eteinary  Surgeon 
w'ill  be  commenced  ; the  articles  on  Fruit  Culture 
by  M.  Zanetti,  and  on  Forest  Law  by  tlie  Law 
Lecturer  in  the  Forestry  School  will  be  continued  ; 
while  we  also  hope  to  publish  a communication 
from  Professor  AVallace. 
AVe  would  draw  special  attention  to  “ Facts  and 
Figures  re  Coconut  Cultivation,”  containing 
interesting  and  reliable  information  on  the  subject 
of  coconuts  and  the  products  of  tlie  jialui  generally. 
AVlien  w'e  published  the  letter  of  “ Cocopalraist" 
we  anticipated  that  there  would  be  some  discussion 
over  his  contribution,  and  if  our  correspondent’s 
estimates  were  rather  wide,  he  will  have  done 
good  service  to  the  cause  of  coconut  cultivation 
if  his  letter  leads  to  the  question  of  estimates 
in  connection  therewith  being  fully  threshed  out, 
by  calling  forth  more  valuable,  because  more 
accurate,  information  with  reference  to  coconut 
planting,  which  is  beginning  to  be  looked  up — to 
judge  from  the  present  tendency  in  planting 
affairs — as  our  safest  and  most  stable  agricultural 
enterprize. 
The  uncertain  weather  which  characterised  the 
advent  of  the  S.AV.  jAIonsoon  rather  interfered 
with  calculations  for  the  pruning  of  the  grape 
vines  at  the  School  of  Agriculture,  as  it 
no  doubt  also  put  out  the  calculations  of  most 
persons  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits.  After 
mature  consideration,  however,  M.  Zanetti  decided 
on  doing  the  i)runiug  on  Ihe  3Ht  Ajuil,  on  which 
date  the  vineyard  was  operated  on,  and  the  whole 
area  pruned  within  half  a day  with  the  help  of 
some  of  the  students,  to  whom  the  work  has 
proved  a valuable  lesson. 
M.  Zanetti's  contribution  on  j)runing  wdll,  w'e 
anticipate,  be  much  a]>preciated  by  many,  who  for 
want  of  a proper  knowledge  of  the  principles 
w’hich  guide  this  important  j)rocess — the  value  of 
which  is  practically  unknown  to  the  native 
cultivator — have  carried  on  their  fruit  culture  at 
a great  disadvantage.  AA"e  tru.st  M.  Zanetti  will 
continue  to  favour  us  with  further  contributions 
with  leferenco  to  wdiat  is  a much  neglected  industrj' 
in  Ceylon,  and  about  which,  from  his  long  practical 
experience  with  cultivation  of  fruit  trees,  our 
correspondent  is  ably  qualified  to  write. 
Mr.  D.  Chinniah,  a successful  student  of  the 
School  of  Agriculture,  has  been  awarded  the  Ceylon 
Government  Scholarship  for  the  study  of  veteri- 
nary sceince  in  India,  and  left  for  Bombay,  to 
join  the  A'eterinary  College  there  on  the  20th  May. 
Mr.  Chinniahshow’ed  special  aptitude  for  veterinary 
work,  and  we  shall  expect,  as  w'e  hope,  that  ho  will 
go  through  his  course  of  veterinary  studies  witli 
much  credit.  The  policy  of  Government  in 
training  up  natives  to  the  veterinary  profession, 
so  as  to  reach  the  masses  in  Ceylon  through  their 
own  countrymen,  is  a most  commendable  one. 
A correspondent  desires  to  be  informed  wdiether 
there  is  any  known  and  reliable  method  of 
judging  of  til*  age  of  tree.s,  “such  as  ordinary 
timber  trees  or  coconut  trees.”  He  refers  to  the 
method  of  living  the  age  of  trees  in  England 
by  the  annual  rings  in  the  wood  of  the  stem,  and 
asks  if  this  is  a reliable  w’ay,  and  whether  there 
are  any  analogous  indications  of  age  in  forest- 
trees  in  the  East.  The  ipiestion  is  one  which 
is  for  the  Forester  to  deal  with,  and  rather  than 
reply  to  our  correspondent  ourselves,  we  would 
bespeak  the  aid  of  some  one  versed  in  the 
Science  of  Foresti-y,  and  therefore  more  qualified 
than  ourselves  to  supply  the  information  asked  for. 
AA'e  have  been  applied  to  for  some  definite  in- 
formation regarding  the  quantity  of  milk  required 
to  make  a jmund  of  butter.  W'e  hope  to  bo  able 
to  deal  fully  with  the  subject  in  our  next  issue. 
♦ 
FACTS  AND  FIGURES  HE  COCONUT 
CULTIA^ATION. 
A correspondent  writes  to  us  with  reference  to 
“Cocopalmist’s”  facts  and  figures  regarding  coconut 
cultivation  : “ I note  on  pages  111  and  112  of  your 
current  number,  figures  concerning  the  weight  of 
coconut  products.  The  information  is  not  valu- 
able, because  it  only  deals  in  outside  estimates, 
and  the  range  (|noto<l  is  almost  ridiculously  great. 
If  your  infoniniut  will  quote  average  yields  and 
weights,  his  figures  will  be  of  value  to'  u.s.”  Our 
correspondent  who  stales  that  ho  himself  has 
collected  much  valuable  information  on  the  same 
subject  from  time  to  time,  refers  us  to  pages 41- 1(5 
of  Sessional  I’aper  XII.  1893.  This  ollicial 
ilocument  is  the  second  report  of  the  Commissioners 
