Aug. 2, 1897.] Supidement to the “ Tropical Agriculturist. 
U7 
your public library. The formula is about as 
follows : — 
Water ... . . 7 gallons. 
Potassium Nitrate (Nitre) . . 1 oz. 
Sodium Chloride (Common Salt) 5 oz. 
Calcium Sulphate (Gypsum) | oz. 
Magnesium Sulphate (Epsom Salts) ^ oz. 
Calcium Phosphate, finely pulverised | oz. 
Here you have every mineral constituent 
required by a healthy plant, and it is fair to expect 
that a judicious treatment of your potting fibre 
with this solution, before use, will result in vigo- 
rous growth of the plants it carries. The only 
danger in these trials is that of being too liberal 
with the chemical ingredients. Remember a very 
little is food, a little more is medicine, and more 
still is poison and sudden death. — P.M O. 
his forefathers aie not necessaiily the best or 
wisest, though they have been sanctified by the 
custom cf centuries. So says the Indian Agricul- 
turist. "When, we ask, is tlie Ceylon Government 
going to give our goyiyas a fair chance of adopting 
improved implements in their cultivation ? 
As a result of experiments made with the “Baby 
Separator” at the Saidipat Farm, it was found 
that the amount of butter fat in the milk of cows 
kept on the College farm a-eraged 4-68 and 3 93 
for the morning and evening milk respectively, as 
against 7‘34 and 4’82 per cent for buffaloe.s’ milk. 
The percentage of butter fat found in the sepa- 
rated milk was— morning yield, cows - 1 . 3 , buffaloes 
•12 ; evening yield, cows -13, buffaloes -17. In 
separating the cream the “Baby Separator” was 
found to act exceedingly well even with buffalo’s 
milk, the separation, as in the case cf cow’s milk 
being, to all intents and purposes, complete. 
GENERAL ITEMS. 
The development of the coconut industry out 
of the Island must in time be expected to, if it is 
not already doing so, affect the local trade. The 
Sydney Mail of May 8 th records the first shipment 
of coconut oil manufactured in Australia, the event 
being calculated by a luncheon given by the manu- 
facturers. The mill which is turning out the coco- 
nut oil is said to have cost £60,000. Owing to the 
deficient supply the mill only worked 10 weeks 
since January when it commenced work, but 
during that time 1,600 tons of copra were crushed 
which yielded, besides a large quantity of oil, 700 
tons 01 coconut cake, or, as we called it locally, 
poonac. The mill is about to be extendetl, and the 
orders for cake are said to be so great, that night 
and day work will not overtake them. The coco- 
nut cake industry is apparently a phenomenal suc- 
cess, owing to the patronage from dairy fsirmers by 
whom it is much sought after. The oil is being 
principally utilized for “sunlight” soap-making. 
The attempt to introduce improved implements 
amongst the agriculturists of India is meeting with 
some success, says the Lahore paper. A new form 
of plough called the Baldeo plough, alter Baldeo, 
the head mechanic of the Cawnpore Farm Work- 
shop, is being bought throughout Northern India; 
it is cheap and efficient and turns out better work 
than the old plough. For harrows, water-lifts, and 
chaff-cutters, of a better type, a demand is com- 
mencini.i'; and gradually the farmer of Northern 
India is awakening to the fact that the methods of 
The proceedings of the Agri-Horticultural So- 
ciety of India for the months, January to March, 
1897, contain some interesting correspondence 
relative to the Rush-nut (known to botanists 
under the names of Cyperm bulbosus and Cyperus 
escnlentus), a very common article of consump- 
tion among natives of India, to whom it is known 
by the name of naseru. It comes into season 
during the hot months, and is then much valued 
^or its cooling and nutiitious qualities. The 
little black, hairy bulb, a'oout the size of a pigeon’s 
egg, is not pleasant to look upon ; but when the 
outer skin is removed, theie is < isclosed a crisp, 
creamy nut, luscious, cool, and sweetish to the 
taste, with a pleasant flavour all its own. These 
nuts are rich in albumen, gum, oil, saline matters, 
and oxide of iron, and our Yankee friends, more 
appreciative of these virtues than our.^elves, cul- 
tivate it on a large scale, and manufacture from 
it the “ Chufas ” coffee and “Chufas” chocolate. 
Cyperusbulbosush theChilanthi ari.si of theNorthern 
Province which is there used after grinding into 
a meal in times of scarcity and at other times 
also eaten roasted or boiled. The sedge grows 
freel.y in the Island of Delft. Its close ally is 
C. rotundus, the Sinhalese Kalanduru, which is 
a common weed in most parts. 
The fibre of Hibiscus Tdiaceus (Sinhalese Beli- 
patta), referred to in the last report of the Di- 
rector of the Botanic Gardens, is one of the oldest 
and best known of fibres among the natives, 
who use it both in the rough and prepared cou- 
dition as rope. 
