Supplement  to  the  “ Tropical  Agriculturist." 
[Feb.  1,  1897. 
Before  the  claimant  can  recover  possession  of 
any  timber  collected  or  delivered,  he  must  pay 
to  the  forest  otticer  or  other  person  entitled  to 
receive  it,  such  sum  as  may  be  due  for  collecting, 
moving,  storing  and  disposing  of  the  same. 
PECULIARITIES  OP  COCONUT  CULTIVA- 
TION IN  lADIA. 
III. — Mysore  {contd.) 
Every  year  the  garden  is  cultivated  with  ragi 
(S.  Kurakkan)  and  other  field  crops  the  soil  is 
fitted  for,  and  is  well  manured  with  cattle  dung. 
At  the  same  time  four  loads  of  red  mud  are 
laid  on  the  garden  for  every  tree  that  it  con- 
tains, while  a little  fresh  earth  is  gathered  up 
towards  the  roots  of  the  palms.  The  crop  of 
grain  is  but  poor,  and  injures  the  palms  ; it  is, 
always  taken,  however,  as  in  order  to  keep 
down  the  weeds,  the  ground  must  at  any  rate  be 
ploughed,  the  manure  must  be  given,  and  no  rent 
is  paid  for  the  grain. 
On  tliis  kind  of  ground  the  coconut  palm  begins 
to  bear  iu  12  or  13  years,  and  continues  in 
perfection  about  60  years.  It  dies  altogether 
after  bearing  for  about  100  years.  They  are  al  ways 
allowed  to  die,  and  when  they  begin  to  decay  a 
young  one  is  planted  near  the  old  one  to  sup- 
ply its  place. 
In  Mysore  toddy  is  never  extracted  from  the 
palm,  for  that  operation  destroys  the  fruit.  Sime 
of  the  young  nuts  are  plucked  in  tlie  hot 
season  for  the  refreshing  water  wliicli  they  con- 
tain, and  to  make  coir-rope,  but  this  is  con- 
sidered to  injure  the  crop.  The  coir  made  from 
ripe  nuts  is  considered  to  be  very  bad,  and  the 
husks  are  generally  burnt  for  fuel. 
The  crop  begins  in  the  second  month  after  the 
summer  solstice  and  goes  on  for  4 months.  A 
bunch  is  known  to  be  ripe  when  a nut  falls  dowm, 
and  it  is  then  cut.  Each  palm  produces  from 
3 to  6 bunches  whicli  ripen  successively.  A 
middling  palm  produces  from  60  to  70  nut.s. 
As  the  nuts  are  gathered  they  are  collected  in 
small  huts  raised  from  tlie  ground  on  posts. 
When  any  one  purchases  them  they  are  husked 
at  the  e.xpense  of  the  purchaser.  The  man  who 
husks  the  nuts  also  breaks  the  shell  by  giving 
each  a .single  blow  with  a crooked  knife,  leaving 
the  kernel  intact.  Tlie  kernel  in  this  form  is 
called  kojipari,  and  is  now  ready  for  the  market. 
A man  can  daily  clean  1,300  nuts.  From  20  to 
30  i.er  cent  of  them  are  found  to  be  rotten. 
IV. — Nicobar  Islands. 
On  these  Islands  the  jialm  is  very  abundant, 
although  it  exists  only  under  recent  cultivation  on 
the  Andaman  Islands,  but  ro-appears  still  further 
north  on  the  Cocos  Islamls.  ISir  W.  iV.  Hunter 
gives  an  interesting  account  of  the  Nicobar 
trade  in  coconut. s,  which  may  here  be  quoted  : 
At  ])resent  the  priiici]'-'!  products  of  the.se 
lelands  is  the  cocoiiul  palm,  and  its  rijie  nuts 
form  the  chief  e.xports.  The  Northern  Islands 
arc  said  to  yield  annually  ten  million  coconuts, 
of  which  about  half  are  exjiorted.  The  estim- 
ated number  exported  in  1861-82  wa.s  -J, 750, 000. 
As  this  important  jiroduct  is  .six  times  cheaper 
here  than  in  the  coast  of  Bengal,  or  in  the 
Straits  of  Malacca,  the  number  of  English  and 
Malay  vessels  that  come  to  the  Nicobars  is  every 
year  increasing.  The  trade  in  coconuts  is  carried 
on  chieffy  by  native  craft  from  Burma,  the 
Straits  Settlements,  Ceylon,  &c.  Forty  ve.ssels 
of  an  aggregate  tonnage  of  6,270  tons  visited 
the  Islands  for  coconuts  in  1881-82.”  The  Adminis- 
tration Rejiorts  for  1885-86  gives  the  exports  as 
4,510,000  nuts,  and  5,730  bags  of  copra.  In  that 
year  49  vessels  wdth  an  aggregate  tonnage  of 
8,218  tons,  obtained  permission  to  trade  with 
the  Nicobars  for  coconuts,  &c.  The  same  report 
states  that  there  are  now  112,000  coconut 
palms  under  cultivation  at  Port  Blair. 
V. — Burma. 
Of  Burma  it  is  reported  that  the  coconut  is 
“ largely  cultivated  and  might  be  much  more  so 
in  many  places  along  the  Arakan  Coast  as  it 
is  in  Ceylon,  and  ns  doubtless  it  would  be  but 
for  the  sparseuess  of  the  population,  the  diffi- 
culties of  approaching  the  coast  except  at  a few 
spots,  and  the  absence  of  the  means  of  land 
communication  between  the  ports  and  the  sites 
fitted  for  tlie  production  of  the  trees.” 
In  the  Bassein  district  of  Pegu  it  has  been 
stated  that  there  are  10,000  acres  under  coco- 
nuts. 
AH. — Bengal. 
In  Bengal,  while  the  palm  is  plentiful  along 
the  lower  Gangetic  basin,  it  exists  only  in 
garden  cultivation,  and  the  produce  is  not  much 
in  excess  of  the  total  demand.  There  are  no 
large  pi  intations  such  as  have  been  described 
in  Madras,  Mysore  and  Bombay,  because  in 
Bengal  the  date  palm  is  used  as  the  source  of 
toddy.  It  Ls,  however,  fairly  abundant  in 
Noakkally,  Backergauj,  Jessore  and  the  24-Par- 
gan  nas. 
Further  North  (iu  Upper  India)  the  coconut 
is  not  cultivated  at  all. 
^ 
CATTLE. 
We  r *ad  in  the  Af/ricultural  Journal  of  the 
Cape  tliat  hypo.sulphite  of  .soda  is  the  best 
agent  for  getting  sulphur  into  cattle.  It  h.as 
no  bad  taste  or  smell,  and  it  can  be  conveni- 
ently used  for  satin  ating  the  system  of  an 
animal  and  rendering  it  obnoxious  to  ticks. 
For  external  treatment  the  common  lime  and 
sulphur  dip  made  by  bailing  will  be  the  best 
against  ticks  and  the  damage  caused  by  their 
bite.  But  for  internal  use  the  hyposulphite  of 
soda  which  is  a form  in  which  this  soluble  sul- 
phur can  always  be  had  at  a low  price,  will 
recommend  itself  *.o  stockowners.  It  can  be 
given  as  a drench — three  ounces  to  the  quart 
of  water  ; or  it  can  be  dissolved  in  the  xvater 
xvhich  cattle  drink  when  it  will  be  inimical 
to  all  parasitic  worms  as  well.  Considering 
how  great  a trouble  ticks  are  to  cattle-breeders 
in  Ceylon,  the  remedy  recommended  above  is  well 
worth  a t rial,  being  cheap  and  easily  administered. 
An  American  corre.spondent  to  the  Pai^toral- 
ists  Iteview  referring  to  the  tick  pi‘st  says 
that  internal  treatment  with  sulphur  is  the 
only  sure  cure.  “Hipping,”  he  says,  “ may  kill 
all  the  pests  on  a cow,  but  how  about  those 
which  are  waiting  their  turn.  You  will  have 
