5^4 
THE TROPICAL AQRI0ULTURI8T. 
[February t, 1892 . 
•nd of a week, the whole of the area Bprinkled was 
dead, with the exception of Ronie thick ntenis in the 
middle, which were protected iiy the leaves above 
them, and bo got iittU' of the Huid. All tlic leavuR 
were as dry as tinder, and the whole had an un- 
pleasant smell. I had no more of the chemical to 
complete the destruction of the thick stems and their 
roots; so decided to farnisii it by fire. The whole 
of the destroyed area was tlien act fire to with a 
little straw and rubbish; and all, including the thick 
stems, burnt freely. The whole patch was thus de- 
stroyed. A few sprouts have since appeared hero and 
there in the patcu ; but so few and so small, that 
they could be destroyed by a few ounces of the fluid, 
or a man could dig up tlie roots in a few miuutes 
and burn them. Bucli sprouts always uppee.r when 
prickly-pear has been nominally destroyed; and the 
ground has always to be gone over a second time. 
They are much fever than usually appear after de- 
struction by hand-labor. The extent of the patch 
destroyed was 274 square yards. The small clump of 
young pear on which the weak solution was thrown 
was found killed, and it was not necessary to burn it. 
7. The experiment thus proved — 
(rt) that tiie chemical thoroughly destroys all the 
leaves and all the parts of the pear that it 
gets at ; 
{h) that it destroys completely all young pear, 
even when used in a very w'eak solution ; 
( 0 ) that even old well-established pear, with thick 
stems, is destroyed by it so far that the 
destruction can be readily completed by fire ; 
(d) that, judging from the Australian reports, 
tlio cneiiiicHl acts a little more quickly in 
this country than in Australia ; and 
(^) that rain has no effect in checking the decay 
of the plant once it has begun. 
I believe also that the destruction is more complete 
than if done by manual labor. 
H. The only ouestion remaining is that of cost. 
1 have had to uelay this report to bo able to an- 
swer the question, as the manufactures gave me no 
information on the point when sending the sample. 
I have now received information from Messrs. OaKes 
& do. that they can supply the chemical at 
per box of IPO lb. Railway carriage would add a few 
rupees to this. Taking the total cost delivered in 
Tnchinopoly at Ri»(;, the cost per Ih. would be 
about As. 10-8. At this rate, the destruction of the 
274 square yards coats as follows: — 
12 lb. of the chemical at As. 10-8 
Cost of burning — 
6 Coolies . . ..120) 
Fuel 0 11 0 j 
ns. A. i». 
. H 0 0 
2 0 0 
Total.. 10 0 0 
Or just 7 pies nor square yard~a little more than 
the usual rate tor destruction by manual labor, viz., 
6 piea. 
y. So far, therefore, it would not pay to use the 
chemical. I believe, however, that the chemical could 
be used much more economically ; and that a 
fltrength of I lb. to 10 gallons of water would be just 
as destructive. It would bo slower in action, but 
that is of no consequoiiee. I could not unfortunately 
prove this, except on the clump of young pear, for 
the fire-engine was so large that I had to put all 
the remaining stuff in. The cost of burning too 
would, the Tansildar tells me, be only one-half tlio 
figure given in villages away from Trichinopoly town. 
Taking that as correct, the expense for 274 square 
yards w’ould be — 
us. A. P. 
51-5 lb. of the chemical at As. 10-8,, .H 7 0 
Cost of burning . . • • • • ..100 
Total . . 4 7 ii 
Or 3T5 pies per square yard ; or including a cooly 
to work tho pump, an item I have not taken into 
consideration, as the South Indian Railway Company 
have not charged me anything, the cost would be 
something under Hi pies per square yard. That rate 
would pay. Another item I have not considered is 
the initial cost, and occasional repairs, of one or 
more suitable pumps; but this would make very little 
difference in tJie cost per square yard when distri- 
buted over any considerable area. (Cartage to a long 
distance from tlie railway would, of course, raise the 
figure. 
10. The most suitable pump, I think, would be a 
garden watering pump, on wheels, to hold about 12 
gallons. One iiuui could easily wheel about and use 
a pump of that size without assistance. 
11. On tlie whole, the chemical is not, I fear, 
cheap enough to supersede destruction by manual 
labor altogetlier; but I think it may be used with 
advantage, oven at its present price, in places near 
tlie railway. T propose a.sking tlie Local Fund Hoard 
to put a small sum of HlnO or so at my disposal 
for the purpose of making furtlier experiments with 
weak solutions when the dry weather comes. I shall 
report the result. 
12. I shall also aok Messrs. Oakes A Co. whether 
they cannot reduce the price. 
Jit'HolntiQu — dated 28tli November 1890, No. HfiO. 
The Hoard is much indebted to Mr. Fawcett for 
the care w'ith which he lias carried out the experi- 
ments described above. They leave no doubt that 
the chemical is most efficacious in destroying prickly- 
pear in all stages of its growth; but, as Mr. Fawcett 
points, out, its present cost is too groat to allow of 
its being extensively introduced into a country whevo 
labor is generally cheap. He states that taking the 
price of the chemical alone at the figure given by 
ftlcssrs. Oakes & Co., viz., llffO per box of l(jb 
11)., and excluding tlie cost of pump, Ac., which are 
essential to the success of tlie experiment, the cost 
of destroying the pvickly-pear came to 7 pies per 
square yard as against only fi pies, which is tlio 
usual cost of destroying it by manual labor. It 
would seem, however, from the report printed in G.O., 
dated fith September 1889, No. 7i)4, that the quantity 
of the chemical used by Mr. Faw'cett, viz., 12 11). 
in 52 gallons of water for 274 square yards, was 
somewhat excessive. Mr. F. Piper, Head of the 
I*'orests Branch, Department of Lands, Victoria, con- 
sidered an application of the chemical hy Mr. Hrodie, 
Prickly-pear Inspector, at the rate of 210 gallons of 
the solution (containing 80 lb. of tho chemical) per 
acre, to be fttrlre times a-! much as the quantity 
named by the proprietors ^ f the patent as sufficient, 
viz., OS Ih. dissolved in 20 gallons of water. Tlie 
quantity of tho chemical applied per acre in tlio ex- 
periments in Trichinopoly was about 212 lb., that is 
nearly times as much as the quantity named 
hy tho proprietors as sufficient. Hoth in Australia and 
in Trichinopoly, it has been found that a solution 
of 1 Ih, of tho chemical in G gallniiH of w'ater was as 
good as a solution of I 11). of the chemical in H gallons 
of water. For destroying young chimps of piickly- 
pear, Mr. Fiiwcett found a solution of I lb. in 20 gallons 
of W’ater quite aufficiont. What the weakest solution 
callable of killing prickly-peur in thiscomitrv is has 
yet to ho determined. 
2. In Australia, prickly-peai of a spccicR which 
attains a far larger size tlinn tliat usually found in 
this country was found to be completely killed in 
from 8 to 10 days after the application of the chemi- 
cal, and it was found that it acted tliere much more 
speedily during hot weather than in cold, weather. 
The (Collector of Tricliiuopoly found an old clump of 
prickly-pear completely kitlea in about a week after 
the application. 
It appears from the Trade (Circular issued about 
the chemical, that its cost in Melbourne is .t‘2-10-0 
per 100 lb. which, at the current rate of exchange, 
is equivalent to about The cost might pro- 
bably not exceed Rio per lOO lb. delivered at 
Madras. Even if the chemical be applied at the rate 
considered very excessive, at which Mr. Hrodie, 
Prickly-poar Inspector, effected the destruction of 
old clumps on 1 acre of land, tlie cost per square 
yard on account of the chemical would probably not 
exceed Ij pies. Of course, if lb, of the chemical 
