578 
Supplement  to  the  ^'Tropical  Agriculturist.'' 
OCCASIONAL  NOTES. 
Errata. — In  record  of  rainfall  for  November 
}?iven  in  our  last  issue,  for  TG  «,dven  on  the  20tli 
of  the  month  read  "IG,  the  mean  rainfall  should 
be  G7  in. 
The  present  issue  deals  larg^ely  with  the  subject 
of  cattle-plat>ue,  containing  l)oth  local  and  foreign 
contributions  with  reference  to  the  scourge,  its 
teirible  ravages  in  South  Africa  have  no  doubt 
been  the  cause  c '"  l)riiiging  it  to  f'.;  • notiee  f>f 
the  grei  t vlcrman  bi'.cjeno’.ogisc.  lu-.  I h,  as 
well  as,  it  is  said  oi  the  iluyal  Si.ca-iy.  We  can 
but  hope  that  some  good  will  come  of  the  fresh 
enquiries  as  to  the  possible  preventive  measures 
(for  treatmeni  of  any  sort  is  said  to  be  “j)lay- 
ing  with  lire’  ) against  a disease  which  causes 
so  much  loss  in  the  villages  of  Ceylon. 
The  present  number  brings  to  a clo.se  the 
account  of  “ Nitragin”  or  Pure  Cultivation  Bac- 
teria” for  the  inoculation  of  leguminous  crops. 
The  account  has  run  through  several  issues,  but 
we  doubt  not  that  many  of  our  readers 
have  been  glad  of  the  opportunity  of  becoming 
thoroughly  acciuainted  with  a subject  which  refers 
to  an  important  discovery  in  Agricultural  Science, 
that  has  been  much  written  about  and  discussed  in 
Agricultural  Journals,  and  may  possibly 
come  to  be  intimately  connected  with  the  everyday 
practice  of  agriculture.  AVe  may  mention  that  we 
have  placed  ourselves  in  communicaiion  with  the 
manufacturers  of  “ Nitragin”  at  lluclist-on-the- 
Maiii,  who  have  kindly  replied  to  our  enquiries 
through  their  local  agents,  Messrs.  Bdhringer. 
As  yet,  however,  there  are  but  few  purely  troj)- 
ical  leguminous  plants  for  which  the  special 
iunoculating  material  has  been  prepared,  but  we 
hope  before  long  to  receive  some  samples  of 
nitragin  for  trial  on  such  introduced  plants  as  we 
grow  here. 
The  Colonial  Veterinary  Surgeon,  Mr.  G.  AV. 
Sturgess,  returned  from  Karachi  on  the  19th 
January,  b inging  with  him  25  well-selected  cows 
for  the  Gov  crumeiit  Dairy  ; and  Mr.  lloole,  who 
was  doing  duty  for  Mr.  Sturge.-J.«,  in  Colombo,  has 
gone  back  to  .\nuradhapura.  At  the  end  ol  Janu- 
ary, the  dairy  herd,  after  having  been  augmented 
by  the  new  additions,  was  constituted  as  follows: — 
9G  cows,  7 bulls,  and  52  calves,  bringing  up  the 
total  of  all  classes  of  animals  to  155. 
Writing  under  date  of  24th  December  last,  the 
Secretary  of  “ Jadoo  Limited”  advises  us  that  he 
is  shipping  us  4 ton  of  the  fibre  packed  in  10  bales, 
lie  goes  on  to  ” say  that  from  numerous  reports 
which  have  reached  the  Company  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  Jadoo  is  eminently  suitable  for  bring- 
ing on  supplies,  and  the  matter  being  of  such 
public  interest  is  their  excuse  for  “ troubling”  us 
with  a consignment  for  distribution.  Jadoo,  he 
remarks,  is  in  no  sense  a forcmy  medium,  its  effect 
being  to  encourage  fibrous  root  action,  and  thus  to 
form  a sti’ong  healihy  ])lant.  It  is  said  to  have 
been  severely  tested  in  France  f(U'  " gi'owing  on” 
young  vines,  and  its  great  value  lor  this  purpose 
may  be  judged  from  the  facts  that  the  Company 
IS  selling  many  tons  to  wine  growers  at  Cognac 
and  in  the  Mddoc.  We  can  assimi  the  Company 
that  we  do  not  consider  ourselves  troubled  by 
[Feb.  1,  1897. 
them,  as  we  are  most  an.xious  to  test  the  valu 
ol  Jadoo  fibre,  and  afford  our  readers  an  opport 
nitj’  of  giving  it  a trial.  AV'e  shall,  therefore,  be  gla 
to  forward  samples  on  application,  and  also  sen 
copies  of  a circular  of  instructions  which  have 
been  supplied  us. 
AA'e  are  glad  to  find  that  the  editor  of  the  “ Cey- 
lon Forester”  has  determined  to  continue  the 
publication  of  the  Magazine,  and  M’e  heartily  wish 
it  all  .'success  in  (lie  fiitui'e. 
j.fie  ,'i: Lilt  ..ill  . t . o * ■ 't •' 
of  Agriculaav  h is  co’co  t ;•  ,, 
should  like  to  make  this  fact  public  owi.ig  to  l.he 
numerous  enquiries  we  are  receiving  with  refer- 
ence to  grape  growing.  The  termination  of  the 
experiment  we  should  state  is  not  due  to 
failure,  (lor  indeed  it  was  very  promising  as 
long  as  the  vineyard  was  attended  to). 
It  E a matter  of  disappointment  to  us,  as 
well  as  to  many  interested  in  vine-growing  that 
the  e.xperiment  could  not  have  been  carried  on  till 
the  vines  came  into  full  bearing  ; but  it  is  at  the 
same  time  satisfactory  to  know  that  the  trial  at 
the  school  has  made  more  than  one  person  ven- 
ture upon  vine-growing.  In  the  case  of  a “new 
plod  net  like  this  the  Ceylon  Government  might 
well  imitate  the  example  of  some  of  the  Austra- 
lian Colonies  and  offer  an  annual  bonus  for 
every  acre  of  vines  maintained  in  an  efficient 
condition  during  the  year,  so  as  to  encourage  the 
new  industry. 
THE  FOREST  LAAA'S  OF  CEYLON. 
( Continued). 
VILLAGE  FORESTS. 
Ihe  Governor  maj'  by  Proclamation  in  the 
Gazette  constitute  a portion  of  forest  a village- 
ferest  for  the  benefit  of  any  village  community 
or^group  of  village-communities.  (§  .34.) 
The  rights  of  any  person  in  or  over  any  village 
forest  was  not  affected,  but  power  is  given  to  the 
uovftiiior  to  direct  that  claims  to  any  such  rmhts 
other  than  the  rights  of  the  village-community  or 
group  of  village-communities  should  be  inquired 
into,  recorded  and  provided  for  in  the  manner 
prescribed  lor  settling  a Reserved  Forest.  (§  37.) 
Rules  may  be  made  for  the  management  of 
village-forests,  prescribing  the  conditions  under 
which  the  community  or  group  of  communities 
for  the  benefit  of  which  such  forest  is  constituted 
may  be  provided  with  timber  or  other  forest- 
jiroduce,  or  with  jiasture,  and  what  duties  the 
village  has  for  its  protection  and  improvement 
The  Government  is  thus  left  with  a w-ide  dis- 
cietion  either  to  assume  tlie  management  itself 
or  partly  manage  it;  or  keep  its  management 
muter  coiitiol  and  supervi  ion.  The  chapter  on 
V illage  l'cres:s  in  the  Ordinance  is  so  worded 
that  any  land  winch  is  at  the  di.spo.sal  of  the 
Crovvn  may  he  made  a v illage  fuiest ; rigliLs  already 
e.xisting  in  favour  of  the  village  would  be  no 
obstacle,  and  a setiieinent  of  rights*,  where  neces- 
sary, can  be  ordered  under  the  usual  procedure, 
feuch  settlement  may  he  made  in  the  interest  of 
t o village,  either  with  reference  to  rights  other 
than  tho,«e  oi  the  village,  or  with  reference  to  cer- 
