January i, iJ'92.] 
Supplement to the “ Tropical Agriculturist:' 
521 
A sherbet is also made from the Ilemidesmiis, 
and is sold under the name of Nannari flierbet. 
The plant is said to be largely used as a sub- 
stitute for Sarsaparilla, and there is some demand 
for the roots in the Ijondon market. 
67. Itreyia Voluhilis, IJenth., 
is called by the Sinhalese Kirianguna. This 
plant grows in the warmer parts of the Island, 
and when found in the vicinity of dwelling- 
houses generally receives attentioir. It i.s a 
large perennial creeper, much branched, with 
light green, cordate leaves of rather a hard 
texture. The leaves of this plant are >ised ns 
a food in the form of a dry curry, and is much 
relished, though it possesses a ratlier bitterish 
taste. The curry made of Dregia is con.sidered 
to be a very whoh'some food, and is given to 
women after childbirth to increase the secre- 
tion of milk. A large creeper of Dregia is 
found growing in the premises of the llendela 
Leper Asylum, whore it is freely partaken of by 
the patients and is much relished. The native 
medical practitioners use this plant as a febri- 
fuge, and it is ahso said to cure asthma. 
ConKolvulaceae. 
58. Aryyreia ropulifolia, Chris. Sin, fiiritilla. 
This is a perimnial creeper with a rather suc- 
culent but bardy stem found growing in low 
Jungles and the’ uncultivated places in various 
parts of the Island. The leaves are cordate and 
large in size, with prominent veins, which give 
a freckled api)enranco to the leaves which are 
thick and succulent. The fruits are borne in 
clusters, and are about the size of small marbles, 
round and smooth, and green \Yhen young, but 
iHJComing an orange colour when ripe. The peri- 
carp is fleshy. The young shoots of A. jMpulifuUa 
are used in making a dry curry, and the ijericarj) 
of the fruit is also made into curries and eaten. 
There is a slight peculiarity in the taste of the 
fruits, and hence the curry is not in general favour. 
•W. Ij)ome/t Unijlurn, 
called Potujmla in Sinhnlose, i.s a cn^eper found 
in uncultivated places. This ])lant grows abun- 
dantly along the hedges of paddy-fields. It is 
a small perennial creeper with pale, green fleshy 
leaves of a small size and oval in shape. The 
leaves of the I. nniflora are made into a dry 
curry and eaten. It is also much relished when 
fried in oil. 
tiik cultivation of the coconut palm. 
Constant and careful watching both by night 
anil day is most necessary on all young cooonnt 
estates. On a property of frfmfi 80 to UK) 
acres, fine permanent huts for watchers 
should be built and fires kept burning before 
them during the night. One hut in each corner 
and one in the centre are absolutely necessary. 
The watchers themselves should make ns much 
noise with their voices and by other means, such 
as empty kerosiue tins which are struck wdth a 
stick, to' keep off deer, pigs and porcupines, and by 
day to alarm the parrots which do an incredible 
amount of mischief and damage. In addition. 
the firing of guns by one or two watchers is 
advisable. The flesh of parrots and wild pigs 
are, hy the way, by no means to bo looked down 
on. The salary of a watcher on a coconut estate 
in the Eastern Province is generally It7’60 per 
mensem. This seems little, but it must be re- 
membered that the watcher, though he keeps 
off raarnuder.s, is not above stocking his pantry 
with Indian corn and manioc. 
Under favourable condition.s each Indian corn 
plant will yield from .3 to 5 and sometimes 6 
cobs each, and a manioc plant give a return of 
from 10 to 20 large tubers. It sometimes hap- 
pens that only one tuber of the latter is found, 
but when this occurs too frei|uently it will be 
found on examination that the rest of the tubers 
have been prigged, and this cun always be 
detected by the appearance of the broken part. 
The shooting-man gets about the same pay as 
the watcher, and generally has .something that 
has fallen to his gun to .send to the bungalow, 
such as deer, ducks, pigeons and jungle fowls. 
The enemies of the coconut tree at all stages 
of its growth are many. When the tree is young, 
either in the nursery or after being just pilanted, 
the villagers will, if they have an opportunity, 
pull up the plants to sell, to rejilant them in 
their own land, or to eat the spongy substance 
into which the liipiid in the coconut becomes 
transformed. Cuttle and buffaloes will destroy 
the fronds and young shoots, often pulling the 
plants out of the ground in doing so ; while 
porcujiines and pigs will dig up and devour the 
nuts. Again, coconut beetles will boro into the 
shoots or stems, and will, if not dicovertnl and 
killed in time, utterly ruin the trees. Thus the 
need arises for engaging men or boys to destroy 
the beetles which are turned out of the orirtce.s 
in which they imbed themselves, by means of 
sharp-pointed sticks. It is not uncommon for a 
boy to bring in 16 or 60 beetles of an evening to 
the bungalow for in.spectiou and unventual des- 
truction by fire. There are two kinds ot beetles 
which attack the coconut plant : one is the black 
beetle which commonly attacks the young 
shoots and soft tissue generally ; and the other 
the red beetle, which bores into the body of the 
plant and discovers its presence by the lading of 
the tender leaves and shoots. These latter have 
to be literally dug out, and the resulting cavity 
filled up with a mixture of earth and lime. 
Beetles will attack even trees in full bearing 
at any stage of their existence. When the 
trees are in flower they are particularly 
attractive owing to the scent of the 
blossoms. Thus it must follow that there is 
great loss by beetle attack, and endless trouble 
results, as every plant killed by beetles has to 
l>e replaced, and the process of fencing and 
watering (that i.s, where the system of supplying 
is followed) kept up. On many e.stntos, how- 
ever, the supplying of “ failures ” is never 
attended to. 
BY HIGHWAYS AND HEDGES. 
Drury mentions the fact that many species of 
Drosera (especially Dronera Peltata) yield a 
dye which however is yet Unrecognised for any 
economic uses. The leaves bruised and mixed 
with salt and applied to the skin are said to 
