May 2, 1898. 
Supplement to the ^'•Tropical Agriculturist." 
798 
tliis fibre over jute. Wliile tlie fine silk-like fabrics 
of jute can be distinguished from pure silk, it is 
impossible to do so in the case of ramie. As to 
the price quoted for ramie — £30 per ton for clean 
fibre — that was absurd. £30 per ton meant about 
3jd. per lb., whilst the fibre commanded at least 
6d. per lb. in the open market, or £o6 per ton. 
The improved machinery would even have the 
effect of increasing the price, Eamie was a fibre 
that lent itself to the most delicate fabrics, os 
well ns to the coai ser ones. For his knowledge of 
the trade, and from what he had learnt whilst in the 
Colonies on the subject of the adaptability of the 
soiland climate of Wales and Queensland to the 
cultivation of the plant, he came to the con- 
clusion that it was eminently worthy of attention. 
The following cure for mange is from the Queens- 
latid Affrioultural Journal : — Boiled linseed oil, 
sulphur, and kerosene equal jiarts. First mix the 
oil and sulphur, then add the kerosene, and mix 
well. Applied with a hard stubby brush. A tea 
.cpoonfull of carbolic acid to a pint of lard, stirred 
in and well mixed is also a good remedy. 
Papaws are largely grown for fruit in Ceylon 
where it is also now being considerably used as I a 
vegetable. The demand for the fruit, especially 
for the shipping, is great. There are three distinct 
varieties in cultivation, two of which produce 
huge fruits weighing^ up to 9 lbs. each. Lately, 
another variety referred to as the Singapore 
papaw, which is not large hut has a characteristic 
flavour of its ow'ii, and turns golden when ripe, 
has been introduced ; it was first grown by Mr. 
J, W. Ebert, who is well known as a cultivator 
of flowers and fruits in Colombo. It does not 
appear necessary to keep “ male trees” in gardens, 
and these are generally destroyed, but sometimes 
these unsatisfactory specimens are topped — the 
operation requiring as a rule to be repeated often 
— till they become transformed into good fruiting 
trees. Papaw trees may be dioecious, monoecious, 
and even hermaphrodite. 
Papaw juice is now worth 5s. per lb. The 
Chemist and Druggist says that it is best prepared 
by pressing it out of the unripe fruit, clarifying 
by filtration through a twill bag and ferment- 
ing the precipitate by alcohol. It is then dried 
and some purified by treatment with water. 
The simplest w’ay, says the Queensland Agricul- 
tural Journal, to tell the ago of a fowl, and one 
which is adopted by the London poultry dealer, is 
to feel the breastbone, of the live bird. If the 
bone feels tender and supple like gristle, the bird 
is young.- If, on the other hand, the bone feels 
hard and ridgy, the bird is fully matured, and 
very much so. 
Paris Green or London Purple solution is an 
effective remedy against white ants. When they 
occur in walls, on the floor of buildings, on tennis 
courts or . such places the stronger the solution 
the better, but care must be exercised in using 
the poi«on in the neighbourhood of plants. 
The question has just cropped up in Scotland of 
the riglifs of women to study, obtain diplomas, 
and practice as veterinary surgeons in Great 
Britain. It arose peculiarly. The Principal of 
the new Veterinary College, Edinburgh, raised an 
action in that city for damages against the Eoyal 
College of Veteri.iary Surgeons, London, in respect 
that the latter refu.«ed to admit to the college ex- 
aminations a lady student who had attended the 
requisite classes and obtained the necessary 
certificates. The action was dismissed, on tlie 
ground that it should not have been raised in the 
Scottish court.s, so that it remains undecided 
whether or not a lady is eligible to become a 
veterinary surgeon. Surely there “ is something 
rotten in the State of Denmark,” when old-time 
prejudice blocks the paths of intellectual and 
social freedom in that way ! If a woman is eligible 
by mental qualifications and physical fitness to 
follow the profession of veterinary surgeon, surely 
she should “ be let.” The mere question of sex 
in the matter of admission to the college should 
have no more to do with the Council of the Eoyal 
College of Veterinary Surgeons than whether the 
applicant wears tweeds or moleskins. It is not 
a question of pants or bloomers, but whether the 
applicant is, by virtue of his or her special attain- 
ments, sufficiently qualified to practice as a 
veterinary surgeon. Upon that issue, and that 
alone, the decition should be given. 
The apple has been recommended far and near 
as the food of life. Now it will probably be the 
turn of the baked banana, which is being exiolled 
in America as tlie ideal food for rlie nervous, the 
anaemic, and the brain vrork"". Bananas, it will 
be remerabe ed, occupied a high place i;i the diet 
of the late Sir Isaac Holdeii, and wii.hoiit going 
so far as to say they are a panacea for all ills, it 
is asserted that their great power te sustain men- 
tal effort is recognised in India, and that pale, 
thin, poor-blooded people rapidly improve on 
adopting this diet- Whatever the value of the 
banana as an artical of diet, it is worth noticing 
that in the West Indian islands the cooked plan- 
tain, which is first cousin to the banana, forms one 
of the staple articles of the food of all classes of the 
community — baked, roasted, fried, or, if green 
boiled. — Australian Tropiculturist. 
From the Meat Trades Journal we learn that a 
ca.se came on before the Warwdck (England) 
County Bench against a farmer for “ ill-treating 
twenty-one bullocks by dishorning them.” The 
solicitor who prosecuted described dishorning as 
“ a suvival of a barbarous age,” and the veterinary 
surgeon declared the operation to be a most pain- 
ful one. It is news to be informed that dishorn- 
ing was even pr.actised before the present century, 
and we have sufficient acquaintance with the 
latest methods to know that the operation can be 
performed without pain, and eveu were there a 
slight pain, the work is done so quickly and 
faultlessly ns to class it as painless. No doubt it 
would appear more humane to dishorn when the- 
animals were young, but we must not ignore the 
fact that painless dishorning can be performed at 
any age;— /inf; 
