288 
Supplement  to  the  Tropical  Acjriculturist'' 
[On.  1,  1896. 
branches  which  again  snbdiTide  to  form  jn'i- 
iiiary  and  secondary  brandies. 
The  loaves  appear  on  the  stem  and  its  rami- 
lications ; and  through  tliem  le.spi ration  and  the 
absorption  of  gases  from  the  air  is  carried  on. 
Buds  are  formed  in  the  angles  of  leaf  and 
stem  or  branch,  and  in  some  cases  at  the  end 
of  shoots.  These  buds  contains  rudiments  of 
new  shoots  or  new  flowers.  Those  of  shoots 
are  thin  and  pointed,  (called  bj'  the  fruit  culturist 
buds  for  wood);  buds  containing  flowers  (buds 
for  fruit)  are  tliicker  and  of  a roundish  appear- 
ance.— Bruit  growers  make  use  of  buds  as 
reproducers  of  varieties  by  inserting  them  on 
plants  grown  from  seeds. — While  the  leaves  of 
the  plant  absorb  the  gases  and  moisture  con- 
tained in  tl.e  atmosphere,  the  roots  take  in 
water  and  dissolved  food  substances  from  the  soil 
which  are  necessary  to  vegetation.  This  disolved 
food  absorbed  by  the  roots,  ascends  by  the  stem 
up  to  the  leaves.  Once  arrived  at  the  leaves 
and  in  contact  with  the  gases  absorbed  by  them, 
and  under  the  influence  of  heat  and  particularly 
of  light,  it  undergoes  a semsible  change, 
becoming  more  concentrated  and  acquiring  new 
properties.  In  this  form  it  descends  from  the 
leaves  and  becomes  distributed  throughout  tlie 
plant.  This  liquid  is  the  one  which  essentially 
helps  in  the  nourishment  and  development  of 
plants  or  trees. 
Fruit  trees  are  pro]).agatedby  seed  or  by  division. 
Tlie  proiiagation  by  seed  is  the  natural  course 
by  which  all  plants  can  be  jiropagated,  but  through 
this  means  we  will  only  obtain  plants  true  to 
the  .«]iecies,  though  not  necessarilj'  true  to  the 
variety,  sineo  when  seed-grown  they  are  subject 
to  certain  modifications  of  character.  As  an  ex- 
amjile  a mango  tree  grown  simply  by  seed,  may 
not  turn  out  in  wood,  leaves,  flowers  and  fruit, 
identical  in  character  with  the  tree  from  which  the 
seed  was  obtained.  Propagation  by  division  is  an 
articfiial  course  adopted  by  man.  Its  object  and  re- 
sult is  to  exactly  reproduce  the  characters  of  the 
variety  iu  all  its  parts.  This  mode  of  propagation 
isenwed  on  by  meuisof  cuttings,  by  under  layers, 
or  by  the  method  of  budding  and  grafting.  From  the 
facts  above  mentioned  it  is  evident  that  the  fruit- 
grower will  dejiend  on  the  seed  only  to  reproduce 
good  healthy  subjects  on  which  to  graft  the  variety 
he  intends  to  cultivate. 
( To  he  continuefl.) 
THE  INSPECTION  OF  MEAT. 
By  fi.  W.  SruRGass,  m.u.c.v.s.,  &c..  Government 
Veterinary  Surgeon. 
111. 
Abnormal  Aj.pearanve  of  Flesh. — {continued.) 
Yellow  Flesh. — Is  generally  seen  as  the  result 
of  Jaundice. 
Dark  or  Maejenta  Coloured  Flesh. — A v’ery  dark 
appearance  of  the  flesh  is  usually  indicative  of  some 
grave  blood  disease,  and  it  becomes  more  marked 
after  exposure  to  air  for  a short  time,  ft  is  also 
.vieen  when  animals  h ive  died  from  strangulation 
or  suffocatiou,  or  severe  forms  of  fetter.  It  should 
lie  classed  a.s  unmai  liOtalde. 
fireen  Flesh.  Is  iudicalive,  in  most  cases,  of 
patrefaction  or  mortilicaldon  and  almost  always 
associated  with  a bad  odour.  Occasionally  the 
stomach  is  lacerated  by  the  butcher  whim  being 
removed  and  the  contents  escajte  and  stain  the 
surrounding  tissues  green — the  trick  of  stripping 
being  then  ]iractised  to  remove  it. 
Odours.  I’articular  kinds  of  food  impart  an 
odour  to  the  flesh.  Too  lilieral  feeding  with  tur- 
nips gives  to  the  flesh  a peculiar  smell— also  in 
cases  where  the  animal  has  been  choked  by  a tur- 
nip the  odour  is  especially  pronounced.  Medicines 
such  as  turpentine  or  ether  give  an  odour  to  the 
flesh.  The  odour  of  urine  is  given  to  the  meat  in 
cases  of  urine  poisoning.  Meat  may  contact  un- 
pe.isant  odours  from  some  bad  smelling  matter  or 
gas  being  present  in  or  near  to  the  slaughter-house 
esiiecially  those  odours  arising  from  the  close  prox- 
imity of  closets,  cesspools  or  latrines. 
Kffects  of  Cold  %ipon  Flesh. — Frozen  flesh  has  a 
damp,  cold  feel  and  is  generally  stained  a ligdit 
pink  colour  due  to  the  effect  upon  the  colouring 
matter  of  the  blood,  and  muscles.  Frozen  meat 
should  be  carefully  e.xamined  and  tbe  carcase  or 
joints  deeply  cut  into,  because  unless  a carcase  has 
become  quite  cold  at  the  time  of  freezing,  the 
cutside  becomes  frozen  and  the  interior  does  iiot, 
consequently  it  soon  putrefies  and  is  worthless. 
Frozen  mutton  is  generally  admitted  to  be  prefer- 
able to  frozen  beef — in  the  former  case  the  car- 
case is  frozen  whole  while  the  carcase  of  beef  is 
cut  into  a number  of  parts  thus  losing  more  of  its 
nutritive  qualities. 
SERICULTURE. 
The  Muga  silkworm,  Anthermt  ssama,  is  a wild 
form  next  in  commercial  importance  to  the  Tiis.ser. 
The  insect  is  met  with  chiefly  in  Assam,  but  is 
also  found  in  North  Burma.  It  is  to  a certain 
extent  domesticated  in  Assam,  as  it  is  often  reared 
in  houses  ; but  the  best  cocoons  are  obtained  only 
from  those  that  are  allowed  to  form  on  tbe  trees. 
The  Aluga  is  a multi voltine  worm  producing 
five  broods  a year.  The  full  grown  worm  is  nearly 
five  inches  in  length  and  is  as  thick  as  the  fore- 
finger. It  is  of  a green  colour,  the  under  part 
being  of  a darker  shade  ; while  the  back  is  of  a 
lighter  green.  The  body  is  composed  of  ten  rings 
each  with  four  hairy  red  moles;  a brown  and 
yellow  strijie  extends  midway  down  each  side 
from  the  tail  to  within  two  rings  of  the  head 
and  below  it  the  breathing  holes  are  marked  by  a 
row  of  seven  black  points;  the  head  and  claws  are 
light  brown  and  the  holders  dark  green  with  black 
prickles.  When  in  a wild  state  ami  feeding  on  the 
trunk  of  a tree,  the  worms  often  descend  by  the 
branch  when  they  have  exhausted  the  .-iqiply  of 
eaves  on  one  tree  and  resort  to  another.  They  always 
prefer  young  trees,  apparently  because  old  trees  are 
often  infested  by  ants.  They  feed  from  eight 
o’clock  in  the  morning  till  near  noon  and  from 
three  till  sunset.  A complete  cycle  of  the  Muga 
worm  lasts  for  about  54  days  in  warm  months  and 
81  days  in  the  cold  season. 
Hatching 
7 
10 
days. 
Worm 
26 
40 
Spinning  Cocoon 
4 
7 
ft 
In  the  Cocoon 
14 
21 
tf 
A.s  a Moth 
.‘1 
3 
ft 
The  cocoon  of  the 
M uga 
is  large  and  tl 
liiif  ad 
fawn  coloured  : it  is 
about 
1 inohes  long 
and  Olio 
inch  in  diameter. 
