580 
RupfleyAeni to tha “ Tropical Agriculturist. 
[Fkb. 1, 1898. 
ADIIATODA. 
No. 10 of the Handbooks of Commercial 
Ptoiiiicts (Imperial Institute Series) published by 
the Clovernment of India, deals wirh Adhatodcc 
vasica (known in Ceyloii by the various names 
of Adathoda, Agaladara, Wanepala and I’avettai). 
It will be remembered that this is the plant 
concerning the insecticidal properties of which so 
muchwas written some years ago. These properties 
have now been fully discu.ssed, and the various 
ex])erinients made ^vith the leares to test their 
action on insects are referred to in the publi- 
cation under notice. It will suffice, however, to 
{(note the “conclu.-ions” given at the end of 
the Handbook ; — 
The leaves of adhatoda are insecticidal in the 
same way as tobacco, but being a vegetable its 
effects are not to powerful as the alkalis and 
arsenites of the inorganic kingdom. Tobacco 
and its lu-eparatinns decomp (! w hen e.vposed to 
the air, and their i)oisonou.s effects pn.s.s off after 
they have served their puipose in killing the 
blights. This is a great advantage over the use 
of such substances as London purple which are 
poisonous as long as they remain in a concentiated 
form, and, if left upon them, are lifvely^ to 
injure, sometimes fatally, the trees or shrubs. 
Tobacco is now' almost abandoned as an insect 
destroyer by horticulturists, but it is feared 
adhatoda is not in a po.sition to be a substitute 
for it. The experiments have shown that the 
plant is disiinctly jioisonous to certain forms 
of insect life, but the results so far as they' 
have gone may be held as very possibly not 
justifying its extended use in tea gardens. In 
fact it is questionable how far in.^ecticides of 
any kind are jiracticable. 
The chemical analy.ses have revealed the 
presence of an alkaloid va.=cine as the active 
principle, and this result has been confirmed 
by the physiological as well as chemical tests 
of Dr. Boonnua, of Java. A tartrate of 
vascine is now an article of commerce on the 
Continent and future possibilities may be expected 
of it, in medical .■science. 
The abundance of nitrogen in the plant shows 
it to be worthy of the confidence placed in it by 
the native cultivators ns a manure, and its 
fertilising properties are not confined to the 
organic matter, but are also due to the large 
quantity of mineral salts. 
The opportunity is taken of thanking the 
numerous contributoi’s who have assisted with 
iui’ormation and expeiinicni.^^, and in elucidating 
certain features of one of the most ancieiU drugs 
employed in Hindu medicine. 
Dr. Trimen thus refers to the plant in Ins 
(’eyion Flvra-.— V.ach cultivated by the natives 
ns a fence. Laj-gely grown al'out Jaffna as green 
manure for tobacco gardens. The T;anil name 
means that goal.s will iiot touch it. The juice 
of the leave.', also the flowers and bark, are 
used medicinally in children’s coughs; the leaves 
are bitter, but have no scent when bnii.^ed. 
Hermann states that the bark was used to 
procure abortion, wheiue it.s name Ecbolium. 
The name “Malal>ar nut” is applied to it hy 
the English in India — a name i have never 
heard here. 
THE AGEICULTUEAL SCHOOL. 
PRIZE DISTRIBUTION. 
The prize distribution at the Agricultural School 
took place last evening, when the Acting Mayor 
and Chairman of the Municipal Council, Mr. 
W. E. Davidson, presided. The Hall where the 
prize distribution took place, and the passage 
to it from the entrance, were x'ery nicely 
decorated with flowers, ferns and flags. At the 
entrance to the premises a pandal had been put 
up with an inscription welcoming the Mayor. 
Among those pre.^ent were IMessrs. J. B. Cull, 
S. C. Obeysekera, Dr. and Mrs. J. B. Drieberg, 
Mr. and Mrs. J. Drieberg, Mr. .\. Drieberg, Advo- 
cate and Miss Drieberg, Mr. Jacob De Mel, and 
Misses De Mel, Mr. and Mrs. James Deris, Mr. 
Charles Peris, Mrs. Human, Dr. and Mrs Asserappa, 
and Miss Asserappa, Mr. and Mrs. E. C. Davies, 
Mr. and Mrs. A. Y. Daniel, Mr. O. JV. Sturgess, &c. 
THE REPORT. 
Mr. Drieberg, the Principal of the School, read 
the follcwing report : — 
It was only recently that a detailed report 
of the working of this Institution was made by 
me for the Director’s Administration Eeport, and 
as there is little that I can now add to that 
document, 1 have not much to give you in the 
way of a report today. 
1 am frequently asked the question, “ How 
many boys have you here?” and the enquirer 
generally takes it for granted that the spacious 
accommodation afforded hy this building, which 
someone has remarked is the only site worthy 
of the future Univ|ersity of Ceylon, that all this 
luxury of .vpace was monopolised by a iiandful 
of agricultural students. 1 would then explain 
to the visitor that the building known as the 
School of Agriculture harboured no les.s than 
four Schools, viz., the Agricultural School, the 
Forestry School and the Training School — the three 
working more or less independentlj’ of each other 
■ — and the Practising School which is affiliated 
to the last mentioned ; while a large section of 
the grounds is in the occupation of the Govein- 
ment Dairy, i am glad to be. able to say that 
the building itself which some three years ago 
was pronounced by the Public IVorks’ Officer in 
charge to be in a dangerous condition, has been 
gradually renovated block by block. 
The students of the Training and Forestry 
Schools have a more or less definite prospect of 
emjiloyinent under Government, as teachers and 
Eoiebt Officeis respectively, hut the boys of the 
School of Agricultuie liave not that advantage. 
It may be said that they are expected to 23ursue 
knowledge for its own sake; but that lias not 
proved to he a sufficiently strong inducement 
in technical instruction in Ceylon. It was on 
this account no doubt that Government generously 
decided to jirovide students who go in for a 
course of training in mechanical euginee.'ing 
and the allied subjects, with certain openings 
for admission into its scientific departments, and 
it is to lie hoped some such inducemeuts, will 
also be held out to those who choose to study 
agricultural science, seeing that it underlies an 
art wliich so widely and deeply affects the welfare 
of the country. This is all the more to be desired, 
as the superior prospects of the present students 
