March  1,  1897.]  Supplement  to  the  “ Tropical  Agriculturists 
659 
3.  The  disadvantages  of  tlie  mode  of  inocula- 
tion previously  adopted  are  avoided. 
4.  Manuring  with  nitrogen  in  the  form  of 
saltpetre,  ammonium  salts,  etc.,  is  absolutely  un- 
necessary. 
dihections  for  use. 
Every  bottle  contains  sufficient  for  inoculation 
of  2^  roods. 
If  the  contents  of  the  bottle  have  already  be- 
come liquid,  they  are  used  as  described  below  for 
the  direct  inoculation  of  the  seed.  If  solid,  the 
contents  can  be  easily  liquefied  by  warming  the 
bottle  gently  for  a few  minutes,  for  instance,  in 
the  trousers-pocket,  in  tepid  water,  or  in  a warm 
room.  Exposure  to  temperatures  above  the  heat 
of  the  body,  which  is  ample  sufficient  to  melt,  or 
to  direct  sunlight  must  under  all  circumstances  be 
strictly  avoided. 
The  liquid  contents  are  poured  into  a vessel 
containing  one  to  three  pints  of  clean  water  (care- 
fully washing  out  the  wliole  contents  of  the  bottle 
with  a little  water),  and  then  shaken  or  stirred 
until  the  Fertiliser  is  equally  distributed  through- 
out the  vessel  and  the  bacteria  are  well  mixed  in 
the  water. 
The  inoculated  water  th  us  prepared  is  poured 
over  the  seed  and  worked  with  the  hands  (or  the 
shove!)  until  every  .seed  has  been  moistened.  If 
the  quantity  of  water  is  insufficient  more  must  be 
added,  but  usually  for  small  seed  a pint  and  a half 
will  sufKce  and  for  large  seeds  two  or  three  quarts. 
The  moistened  seed  is  then  reduced  to  a condilicn 
suitable  for  sowing  by  mixing  with  some  dry  sand 
or  fine  earth  and  if  necessary  allowing  it  to  stand, 
turning  it  over  from  time  to  time  ; too  great  dry- 
ness is  deleterious.  The  sowing  and  turning  in  is 
carried  out  in  the  manner  usually  practised.  If 
possible  however  avoid  sowing  in  glaring  sunlight. 
Instead  of  inoculating  the  seed  the  same,  in 
some  cases,  better  results  are  obtained  by  inocu- 
lating the  soil  by  means  of  inoculated  earth.  For 
this  purpose  for  every  2^  roods  ^ cwt.  earth  is 
inoculated  in  the  above-described  manner,  using  a 
proportionately  larger  quantity  of  water  ; the  ino- 
culated earth  is  then  dried  in  the  air  or  mixed  with 
dry  earth,  scattered  equally  over  the  field,  and 
worked  in  3 or  4 inches  deep. 
For  larger  surfaces  than  2|  roods  a correspond- 
ing number  of  bottles  must  be  used  (8  bottles  to  o 
acres). 
At  the  bacteria  are  absolutely  innocuous,  there 
is  no  fear  of  danger  from  tlie  bottles  being  left 
about  or  employed  for  other  purpo.ses. 
Nitrngin  for  the  following  crops  are  now  obtain- 
able from  the  Faberwerke  Vorm.  iMeister  Lucius 
and  Bruning,  at  lldchst-on-Main  or  (i  and  7 Cross 
Lane,  St.  Mary’s  Hill,  London,  E.C.  : — 
Common  I’ca 
Sand  l*ea 
Common  Vetch 
Hairy  Vctcli 
Common  Field  Bean 
or  Hor.sebean 
White  Lupin 
Yellow  Lupin 
Blue  Lupin 
Clover 
White  Clover  or 
Dutch  Clover 
Alsike  Clover 
Visum  sativum. 
Visum  (irveiise. 
Vida  sativa. 
Vida  villosa. 
Vida  fahos. 
Lupinus  n.lbus. 
Lupinus  lufcus. 
Jj  up  in  ns  a tifjust  ifol  ius. 
Trifolium  pratcnse. 
Vrifolium  rcpcns. 
Trifolium  hijbvklam. 
Carnation  Clover 
or  Trifolum. 
Bokhara  Clover 
Black  Medick 
Lucerne 
Kidney  Vetch 
Sainfoin 
Serradella 
Wild  Everlasting 
Pea 
Trifolium  incarnatum. 
M dilotus  alba. 
Medica(]o  lnj)ulina. 
M eclicago  sativa. 
Antlnjllis  vidneraria. 
Onobrydiis  saliva. 
Oniithopus  sativus. 
Lathyrns  sylvestris. 
ARECANUT  CULTIVATION  IN  INDIA. 
The  Arecanut  is  described  by  Dr.  Watt  as  a 
native  of  Cochin  Chinn,  Malayan  Peninsula  and 
Islands.  It  is  cultivated  throughout  tropical 
India;  in  Bengal,  Assam,  Sylhet ; but  will  not 
grow  in  Manipur,  and  only  indifferently  in  Cachar, 
Burmah,  and  Siam  ; in  Western  India  below  and 
above  the  Ghauts.  It  does  not  grow  at  any  dis- 
tance from  the  sea  and  will  not  succeed  above 
3,000  feet  in  altitude.  Most  villages  in  Burma, 
Bengal  and  South  India  have  their  clumps  or 
avenues  of  betel  palm.  The  betel  palm  groves 
and  pepper  betel-leaf  houses  are  perhaps  the  most 
characteristic  features  of  the  river-banks  in  Sylhet, 
and  from  these  plantations  the  inhabitants  of 
Cachar  and  Manipur  obtain  their  supplies. 
Mysore. — The  following  facts  relative  to  the 
cultivation  and  yield  of  Arecanuts  in  Mysore  are 
given  in  the  Mysore  Gazetteer : — There  are  two 
varieties  of  the  Areca  in  Mysore,  the  one  bearing 
large  and  the  other  small  nuts,  the  produce  of  both 
kinds  being  nearly  equal  in  value  and  quantity. 
The  manner  of  arecanut  cultivation  is  different  in 
dift’erent  districts  of  Mysore.  The  method  followed 
in  Channapatna  is  as  follows  : — The  seed  is  ripe 
about  the  middle  of  January  to  February,  and  is 
first  planted  in  a nursery.  Trenches  are  dug  and 
half-filled  up  with  sand,  on  the  surface  of  which 
is  placed  a row  of  the  ripe  nuts.  These  are  again 
covered  with  sand  and  rich  black  mould,  and  are 
watered  once  in  three  days  for  four  months.  The 
young  palms  are  then  transplanted  to  the  garden, 
wdiich  had  been  previously  planted  with  rows  of 
plantain  trees  at  the  distance  of  about  four  feet. 
Two  young  arecas  are  set  in  one  hole  between 
every  two  plantain  trees. 
When  there  is  no  rain,  the  plants  are  watered 
every  third  day.  In  the  rainy  season,  a trench  is 
dug  betw'een  every  third  row  of  trees  to  carry  off 
superfluous  water,  and  to  bring  a supply  from  the 
reservoir  when  wanted.  At  the  end  of  three 
years  the  original  plantain  trees  are  removed  and 
a row  planted  in  the  middle  of  each  bed  and  kept 
up  ever  afterwards  in  order  to  preserve  a coolness 
at  the  roots  of  the  areca.  The  trees  are  five  feet 
high  in  five  year.s,  and  begin  to  xmoduce  fruit. 
The  plantation  requires  no  more  watering  except 
twice  a month  during  the  dry  weather. 
The  methods  followed  in  other  parts  of  Mysore 
differ  in  some  respects  from  the  one  above,  but  they 
agree  in  the  essential  point,  namely,  plantain 
trees  are  planted  with  the  areca  palms,  and  in 
most  districts  trenches  are  dug  to  carry  off  super- 
fluous water.  The  seedlings,  e.vcept  in  one  dis- 
trict, are  first  raised  in  a nursery  and  thence  trans- 
planted. Manure  is  used  in  some  districts,  but 
watering  is  resorted  to  everywhere.  A rich  black 
mould  or  a black  soil  containing  calcareous  ucdules 
is  prefeiel  for  arecanut  cultivation. 
