6G0 
Siqiplement  to  the  Tropical  Agriculturists  [March  1,  1897. 
The  areca  i'iiuu,ations  in  Mysore  are  inter- 
spersed with  coconut,  lime,  Jak,  and  other  trees, 
which  add  to  the  shade  and  to  the  freshness  of 
the  soil. 
In  Jvoi.a.ba. — In  Kolaba,  the  betel  palm  is  grown 
in  large  numbers  in  coconut  plantations  along 
the  Alibag  coast.  The  nuts  are  buried  two  inches 
deep  in  loosened  and  levelled  soil.  When  the 
seedlings  are  a year  old,  they  are  planted  out  in 
July  and  buried  about  two  leet  deep.  The  soil 
is  then  enriched  by  a ini.xture  of  salt  and  nachni, 
sometimes  with  the  addition  of  cowdung.  Now 
w’atering  is  required  at  first,  butafter  four  months 
the  plant  is  evatered  either  daily  or  at  intervals  of 
one  or  two  day.=.  If  water  is  not  stinted,  the 
betel  palm  yields  nuts  in  its  fifth  or  si.vth  year.  The 
tree  yields  twice  or  thrice  a year  about  250  nuts 
being  an  average  yearly  yield. 
In  Janjira  or  Shivardha. — In  Janjira,  the 
betel  palm  is  the  most  important  of  garden  croi>.«. 
Shivardlian  betel-nuts  are  known  over  the  whole 
of  the  Bombay  Presidency.  The  seed-nut  is  sown 
in  Fel)ruary  or  ilarch  about  half-foot  deep  and  is 
carefully  watered.  After  about  four  months  the 
plant  appears  and  is  watered  every  second  day. 
When  it  is  four  years  old  it  is  planted  out  about 
two  feet  and-a-half  below  the  surface,  a foot  and 
a quarter  of  the  seedling  being  buried  under  the 
ground,  while  a round  trcncli  of  the  same  depth 
is  left  for  the  -waler.  When  the  tree  is  nine  or 
ten  years  old,  it  begins  to  bear  fruit,  tlie  yearly 
yield  varying  from  25  to  400  nuts.  This  variety 
fetches,  relatively,  a much  higher  price  in  the 
market  than  any  of  the  others. 
[To  be  continued.) 
GENERAL  ITEMS. 
In  ISO."),  it  is  rcporte  I oflicially,  tlie  area  under 
arecanut  cultivation  in  the  Kegalla  District  wa.s 
24, (ISO  acres,  or  more  than  one-tliird  of  all  Ceylon. 
Tiie  i)alius  bear  best  in  that  district  where  the 
yield  has  at  all  tim  s been  famous,  and  whence 
in  all  historic  times  there  has  been  a consider- 
able import  to  Sotithern  India.  'The  area  in 
'I'lirec  Korales  tinder  cultivation  is  G.5'27  acres, 
with  an  average  yield  of  7S3.1:  million  nuts.  The 
yield  [ter  acre  on  unplantcd  (i.c.  naturally  grown) 
iind  over-crowded  gardens  is  120,UUO  nuts 
|)er  acre.  'I'he  nuts  are  measured  by  an 
amuimin  of  24,000  to  20,000  nuts.  Therefore, 
the  average  weittlit  equals  about  .5  amunams. 
An  amniiain  weighs  cwt.  Therefore  the  aver- 
.age  yield  jier  acre  repiesents  in  weight  12J  cwt 
(N.i;|_.\\'ell-cultivaleil  and  scientilically -plan ted 
Ki'ambrs  yield  nearly  a ton  an  acre,  statistics 
quote-d  from  a small  aeie.age  in  Madras  give 
nearly  two  tons.) 
To  .ascertain  the  weight  of  cattle,  measure  the 
girth  close  behind  the  shoulder  .and  the  length 
from  the  fore.p.art  ol  the  shoulder-blade  .along 
the  b.ack  to  the  bone  at  the  tail  which  is  in  a 
vertical  line  witli  the  buttock  both  in  feet. 
.Multiply  the  “(piare  of  the  girt,  exprc.ssed  in 
feet,  liy  live  times  the  leiiL'th,  .and  ilivide  the 
lirodiict  by  21  ; the  (piotient  is  the  weight,  nea.ly, 
of  the  four  (|uarters,  in  imiierial  stones  of  14  U). 
avoirdupois.  J'’or  ox.ample,  if  the  girt  be  0 ft., 
and  the  length  5.[-  ft.,  we  shall  have  0 (i=  30, 
and  .5]  y.  o =-  20];  then  .30  x 20]  4!)5,  and  thi-s 
divided  by  21  gives  45  stones  e.xactly.  It  is  to 
be  observed,  however,  that  in  very  fat  cattle  the 
ffiur  quarters  will  he  about  one  twentieth  more, 
while  m tho.se  in  a vci}'  le.an  state  they  wall  be 
one-twenlieth  less  than  the  weight  obtained  by 
the  rule. 
G.  F.  Plunkett,  whocontributes  the  Poultry  Note.s 
to  the  Au.<itriilian  7Vo/)if«/D/)‘isMor  December,  ad- 
vises poultry  keepers,  if  they  wish  to  prevent 
lO.ss  of  chickens,  (1)  to  keej)  their  jioultry  houses 
clean  and  free  from  lice,  by  regular  cleaning  out, 
white-washing  and  sprinkling  the  floor  with  lime; 
(2)  by  kee|iing  the  chickens  off  the  wet  grass 
in  the  early  morning  ; (3)  by  preventing  in- 
breeding  by  introducing  fresli  blood  into  the  broods. 
The  Manning  River  correspondent  of  the  Sydney 
Mail  writes;— At  a meeting  of  the  committee 
of  the  Agiicultural  .and  Horticultural  Associa- 
tion, held  here  recently,  Mr.  W.  Allen,  of  Du- 
maresque  Island,  detailed  the  result  of  his  ex- 
perience in  the  adoiition  of  the  treatment  of  seed 
oats  by  iinmersicn  in  hot  water,  as  recommended 
by  Dr.  Jansen.  Half  of  the  seeil  required  for 
sowing  was  treated  for  a few  minutes  with  water 
at  .a  temperature  of  145  deg.  F.  ; it  was  then 
placed  in  cold  waiter  .and  .sowm  immediately.  The 
remainder  of  the  seed  untreated  w.as  also  sown 
.afterwards.  The  two  jilots  of  soil  used  were  of 
the  same  quality,  and  every  endeavour  was  made 
to  give  the  same  care  and  attention  to  the  treat- 
ment and  cultivation  of  each  seed.  The  final 
result  proved  unquestionably  that,  although  no 
u})parent  ilifl'erence  could  be  noticed  in  the  growth 
of  the  two  loti  of  seed,  the  portion  of  tlie  seed 
treated  with  hot  water  w.as  absolutely  free  from 
any  trace  of  smut  or  other  imperfection.  Of  the 
untreated  seed  it  was  found  that  at  least  15 
per  cent,  of  the  heads  of  oats  ivere  destroyed 
by  dise.ase.  IMuch  interest  has  been  taken  in 
the  district  in  Mr.  Allen’s  experiment,  and  ar- 
r.ingemeats  are  being  made  for  further  trills  with 
scalded  seed  at  various  tenqieratures  of  waater. 
On  the  subject  of  selection  ol  seeds  Dr.  Cobb, 
of  the  Agricultural  Department,  New  South 
W.ales,  .s.ays: — “The  grading  of  seeds  is  almost 
wholly  neglected  by  farmers  in  most  of  the  great 
•agiicultural  countries,  and  this  very  fact  is  one 
that  IS  sometimes  jiointed  out  in  defence 
of  not  grading  the  seed.  I have  heard  it  said 
in  sulistance  I'.y  .a  well-known  teiicher  of  .agri- 
culture—a man  whose  word  is  res])ectfully  lis- 
teneil  to  by  thousands  of  farmers — that  there 
could  not  be  inmdi  in  gr.aded  seed,  or  fanners 
wouhl  not  so  generally  neglect  the  matter.  . , 
One  might  peitiiiently  ask  this  te.acher  of 
agiicul  urc  how,  if  a practice  is  to  be  its  own 
snllicient  defence,  any  improvement  is  ever  to 
take  place,  and  enquire  of  the  advocates  of 
l)incheil  seed  why  Dame  Nature  does  not  pro- 
vide .all  her  plants  with  iiinchcd  and  puny  seed,  if 
they  are  so  much  better.  The  truth  is  that, 
other  things  being  equal,  plump  seed  is  much 
better  than  shrivelled  seed,  and  that  where  the 
results  obtained  from  shrivelled  seeil  are  better 
than  those  obtained  from  plump  seed,  the  result 
is  due  to  other  factors  than  the  ijuality  of  the 
seed.  . . . The  vitality  ot  seed  diminishes 
with  age,  hence  it  is  necessary  in  comparative 
experiments  (except  such  .as  are  devoted  to  as- 
certaining the  rate  of  decrease  in  vitality  due 
to  age)  to  make  sure  that  the  seed  used  in  the 
diilerent  plots  and  rows  is  of  the  same  age.” 
