Suiplement to the “ Tropical Agriculturist*' 
8;r 
May I, 1892.] 
the Journal of the Society of Arts for March 12th, 
an account of the process of the extraction 
of the oil is given. The cultivation of the sun- 
flower in Kus.sia is generally considered very 
profitable, and it is extending owing to the 
increased demand at home and abroad for the 
seed. At tlie average yield of l,;ioO lbs. of seed 
to the acre, and at the average price of fd. per lb., 
there is an income of about £4 an acre, and 
this can he increased where the grower expresses 
his own oil. Two kiuds of oil are obtained 
from the sunflower: the better kind is sw'eet 
and more expensive, the infeior having a bitter 
taste, and is Jd. cheaper. The oil not fit to be 
used ns food is used in certain industries. 
Professor Kinch of Cirencester, writing on 
plant food, in the Fanner and Utock-breeder, 
says, that the amount of water present in the 
atmosphere in the form of invisible vapour, 
is very varying, and may be from less than ^ 
to 3 per cent. Tlio higher the temperature, 
the more water vapour can be held in the 
air. In England the average amount of moisture 
in the air is about 1,“^, per cent. An immense 
amount of water is required by plants to carry 
on their life proces.ses and make up the loss 
by transpiration, it is estimated that to produce 
a bnshel of wheat, about lA tons of water are 
required. In England about 3,000 tons of water 
are annually deposited. There is about 21 tons 
of carbonic acid ga.s for each acre of the earth’s 
surface. The fact that carbonic acid was decom- 
po.sed by plants, with the fixation of carbon 
and the evolution of oxygen, seems to have 
been first shown by Sennebier about a century ago, 
though l’rie.stly and Ingelhousz had been very 
near it previously. 1 1 was however clearly proved 
to be the case by experiments of De Sanssure 
and Bou.ssingualt. 
The Indian Agrimltwist referring to the 
Bombay Veterinary School, to which one of the 
assistant masters of the School of Agriculture 
proceeds next month, for a course of training, 
says -.—“As a school of veterinary medicine it 
IS doing useful work, as is evidenced not only 
by the number of young men trained within 
Its walls, but also by the numher of animals 
sent there for treatment. In its inception 
the hospital was intended us a charitahle 
one for the assistance of those who were unable 
to pay the fees of high veterinary skill. But 
like other institutions of its kinds its benefits 
are more appreciated by the rich and intelligent 
classes than by the poor and the ignorant. It 
la only natural that the knowledge of such a 
hospital should spread more (piickly among the 
intelligent than among the ignorant ; hut when 
I'e find that its benefits are in danger of being 
monopolised by well-to-do clients it is necessary 
tnat some change shouhl be made to deter suc'h 
persons from using the hospital without adequate 
payment. At present the only charge is for 
iee<iing the animals, all the rest is free. The 
tune has comi- therefore to charge a suflicient 
eo for veterinary attendance. The fee, no doubt. 
Will be gladly^ fo,. iiQ^gya are sent there not 
o save money but to obtain the highest skill 
available, and these fees will permit the society 
to extend its usefulness ^ by providing largo 
accommodation for those who cannot afford to 
pay fees. If the horse stables are full the same 
cannot be said of the cattle sheds. There is 
accommodation for about two hundred beasts, 
of which not half is ordinarily occupied. The 
poor are ignorant and timid, and are naturally 
averse to sending their animals to a place where 
they aro not allowed to interfere with them. 
They have no idea of the treatment which will 
be followed, of the time they will be deprived 
of their beasts, or of the cost which will be 
incurred. It is, moreover, a novelty, and the 
poor are suspicious of novelties. Many of them 
shrink from using the public hospitals when they 
are sick, and they do not see the use of sending 
their bullocks to hospital. These prejudices 
have to be overcome, and the hospital authorities 
have, we maj' assume, been working qtiietly 
but surely in popularising the institution. But 
it is clear that in the beginning the poor must 
be dra-wn to the place by the most liberal and 
considerate treatment, and by fees which must 
be nominal. When it has once taken hold of 
the public the rush to the hospital will be 
noticeable, and it will be time to raise the 
fees to something like the real cost.” 
A gentleman, whose duties impose on him a 
good deal of travelling, and who often meets 
with our Agricultural Instructors about the 
countrj', urges upon us the great importance 
of a proper system of inspection over the students 
of the school who have been stationed in 
remote parts of the island. By this system of 
inspections, we are told, the Agricultural fii- 
structor will always have some one to consult 
in their difficulties, while the Agricultural 
Inspector will be able to personally (and that 
is the only satisfactory way) find out for himself 
what work is being done at each station, criti- 
cise and censure where necessary, approve 
and encourage where such action is warranted, 
and in fact give each Instructor such “ tips ” 
as in 0 cases out of 10 would never occur to 
his mind. Our informant spoke of these 
instnictors in a sympathising tone : “ I’oor 
fellows, ” he said, " it is too bad to leave them 
all alone in some dark place of the earth and 
expect them often to solve agricultural problems 
that would puzzle an export.” In some cases, 
we wore told, the Agricultural Instructors are 
under the sway and terror of some native pro- 
vincial grandee who poses as Agricultural Director 
in his district, against whose dictum it would 
be madness to proceed. Others, again, we are 
informed, are being misdirected by those who 
it might be expected would guide them. Much 
more of the difficulties and dangers that attend 
the agriculturist abroad wms poured into our 
oars, but our informant being a traveller, we 
maj' pardonably regard all we heard os "traveller's 
tales,” till wo can have the very best reason for 
believing it. Still, the fact remains that such 
things are possible, and while the possibility 
exists, the danger of the reality exists also. 
Ill every department the system of inspection 
has been found not only to be good but absolutely 
essential for the satisfactory progress of the 
work of that department, and though a distinct 
agricultural department does not exist per ee, 
it is most necessary that minor agricultural 
