888 
Sujjjdement  to  the  “ Tropical  Agriculturists 
[June  1,  1897. 
and  ultimately  dying  out.  And  this  indispen- 
sable skilled  care  is  orchard  work  or  fruit  culture 
— a special  branch  of  cultivation  wliich  requires 
a special  knowledge  of  principles  and  practice. 
{To  he  continued.) 
DE.  IvOCirS  RINDERPEST  CURE. 
The  following  is  a reprint  of  a report  (for  which 
we  are  indebted  to  the  Agricultural  .Tournal  pub- 
lished by  the  Department  of  Agriculture  of  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope)  by  Mr.  Otto  Henning,  who 
assisted  Dr.  Kech  during  bis  investigations  into 
ritrderpest.  Mr.  Henning  has  lost  no  time  in  ascer- 
taining the  proper  method  of  applying  Dr.  Koch’s 
system  of  inoculation,  and  his  report  gives  a very 
clear  idea  of  the  manner  of  operating,  and  we 
are  sure  our  readers  will  be  glad  of  the  information 
with  which  we  are  able  to  supply  them  ; — 
Inoculation. — When  rinderpest  breaks  out 
amongst  a herd,  the  best  plan  is  to  inoculate  with 
the  bile  at  once. 
Description  of  Inoculation. — The  bile  must  be 
taken  from  an  animal  that  has  suffered  severely  or 
died  from  rinderpest.  The  latter  is  better,  but 
then  the  bile  should  be  taken  as  soon  as  the  animal 
dies,  and,  above  all,  before  decomposition  has  set 
in. 
Removal  of  the  Rile. — To  remove  the  bile  the 
animal  must  be  laid  on  its  left  side.  Afterwards 
the  skin  and  llesh  uleng  tlm  left  side  must  be  cut 
through  with  a clean,  siiavp  knife.  A man  sitting 
across  t!>e  chest  of  the  animal  must  now  hold  and 
raise  the  ribs  witK  his  right  hand.  By  doing  this 
the  gall  bladder,  which  is  located  immediately 
under  the  right  ribs,  becomes  visible.  After  this 
the  same  man  must,  with  his  left  hand  (which 
must  be  clean),  take  hold  of  the  gall-bladder  at  the 
bottom  and  raise  it  si'glitly. 
A second  man,  with  a small  clean  knife  in  his 
right  hand,  and  in  his  left  a clean  cup  or  glass, 
now  removes  the  bile  in  the  following  manner; 
Putting  the  cup  againt  the  gall-bladder,  let  a 
small  incision  be  made  with  the  knife,  so  that  (fie 
fluid  can  flow  into  the  receptacle.  Great  care 
must  be  taken  that  no  blood  or  yellow  water,  that 
may  perhaps  be  among  the  diseased  intestines, 
runs  along  with  the  bile.  The  man  who  cuts 
through  the  skin  and  flesh  to  get  at  the  bladder 
must  also  take  care  that  he  does  not  cut  into  the 
stomach  or  intestines,  otherwise  the  fluid  in  the 
gall-bladder  will  becomes  unfit  for  use. 
Bile  suitable  for  inoculation  should  be  dark  or 
dark-green,  and  must  not  have  an  offensive  smell. 
Yellow  or  dark-brown  bile,  and  which  contains 
shreds  of  the  gall-bladder,  is  poisonous  and  unsuit- 
able. Bile  which  gets  mi.ved  with  the  intestines 
on  removal  can  naturally  not  be  used. 
The  quantity  of  bile  necessary  for  inoculation 
is  10  cubic  centimetres — that  is,  one-third  of  an 
ounce,  or  about  a third  of  a tablespoonful.  If  less 
than  this  quantity  is  used  the  result  is  uncertain. 
The  following  day  there  is  a swelling  on  the 
spot  where  the  injection  has  taken  place,  which 
gradually  di.snppears  in  the  cour.'^e  of  a week  or 
two.  This  is  sometimes  bigger  than  a man’s  fi.st. 
Sores  only  occur  when  the  hands  or  instruments 
of  the  operators  are  dirty,  or  wlieii  the  bile  smells 
badly. 
The  quantity  necessary  to  inoculate  a beast 
effectively  being  so  great,  .syringes  must,be  used. 
And,  therefore,  1 am  sorry  to  say  that  these  must 
be  first  imported.  The  Free  State  Government 
has  cable<l  to  Germany  for  some  thousands,  and 
their  arrival  will  immediately  be  made  known,  so 
that  farmers  can  carry  out  the  inoculation  in  the 
proper  manner. 
How  to  Make  the  Injection, — The  animal  must 
be  thrown  upon  the  ground  and  its  legs  tied.  The 
best  place  to  inject  is  between  the  front  legs,  ns 
there  the  skin  is  thin  and  loose. 
The  syringe  is  filled  with  gall,  and  the  needle  is 
then  stuck  deep  into  the  skin,  so  that  the  point  lies 
loosely  between  the  skin  and  the  flesh.  The  bile 
is  then  slowly  injected  and  the  hole  made  by  the 
needle  iwessed  together  by  the  thumb  and  .second 
finger  of  the  left  hand.  The  needle  is  then  with- 
drawn and  the  fluid  under  the  skin  well  rubbed 
in,  so  that  it  cannot  escape  through  the  incision 
in  the  skin,  wliich  would  make  the  inoculation 
ineffective. 
I have  to  add  that  this  mode  of  inoculation  will 
only  prove  effective  in  the  ca.se  of  animals  which 
have  not  yet  had  the  disease.  It  is  useless  for 
infected  animals. 
Professor  Koch  has  not  yet  concluded  his 
e.vperiments,  and  he  hojies  in  about  a mouth’s 
time  to  make  known  other  methods  of  salting 
animals.  By  that  time  syringes  will  probably  have 
arrived,  and  it  will  afford  me  much  pleasure  to 
jirepare  the  inoculating  fluid  and  personally 
instruct  framers  how  to  use  it. 
N.B. — It  is  of  great  importance  that  all  sick 
animals,  whether  they  show  symptoms  of  infection 
before  or  after  inoculation,  shall  be  immediately 
isolated  from  healthy  animals,  as  animals  inocu- 
lated with  the  bile  are  not  immune  until  after 
about  ten  days. 
SOME  CROP  NOTES. 
Tobacco. — There  is  no  crop  grown  which  varies 
so  much  in  quality,  because  of  the  soil  upon  which 
it  is  grown  and  the  fertilizers  used,  as  tobacco. 
For  a leaf  of  high  quality  for  smoking  purposes 
it  is  essential  that  the  soil  be  light  and  rich  in 
vegetable  matter.  A low,  rich  clayey  soil  will 
produce  a rank  and  heavy  crop,  but  will  not  pro- 
duce tobacco  of  fine  quality.  The  fine  gold-leaf 
tobacco  of  North  Carolina,  so  highly  prized  for 
cigarettes,  is  grown  upon  a light  gravelly  soil.  A 
red  clay  produces  sometimes  a fine,  rich  mahogany- 
coloured  leaf  of  high  value.  Limestone  soiD, 
too,  will  produce  tobacco  of  high  grade. 
The  heaviest  crops,  though  not  the  highest  in 
quality,  are  grown  after  a leguminous  crop  such 
as  beans.  The  next  year  with  proper  fertilizing 
the  same  land  will  bring  a crop  of  higher  value. 
Potash  is  of  the  utmost  importance  to  tobacco, 
wlich  consumes  large  quantities  of  it;  but  in 
order  to  obtain  a leaf  that  will  burn  well,  all  the 
forms  of  potash  sails  which  contain  chlorine,  such 
as  the  muriate  (chloride)  and  kainit,  must  be 
avoided.  The  sulphate  of  potash  istheformiii 
which  potash  should  be  provided.  Stable  manure 
is  preferably  applied  to  the  crop  preceding  to- 
bacco, rather  than  directly  to  the  latter.  The 
most  suitable  fertilizer  for  tobacco  should  contain 
of  available  phosphoric  acid,  7 per  cent ; potash, 
