876 
Supplement to the "Tropical Agncultnnst." 
[May 
plants, and another class called carnivorous, 
which feed on flesh, and the one can no :nore 
live on the food of the other than a flsh can 
live on the land, or a cow in the water. So with 
plants, we have three great families, reckoned 
from a manurial point of view, to which all 
plants belong ; and, as a rule, what is food for a 
crop of beans, poas, or clover, speaking roughly, 
is no more food for a cabbage or ryegrass than a 
bunch of clover is for a dog, or a pound of steak 
to a hull calf. In speaking of our own food, we 
have a proverb which says, ‘ That what i.s one 
man’.s meat is another man’s poison,' and al- 
though this is only true of the human race in 
extreme and isolated examples, it is an ever- 
present fact in the case of the food of plants. 
In the neighbourhood of don.se forests, the air 
near the ground i.s moister and t he dew heavier 
than in the open country. A guago jilaced upon 
the crowns of the trees in forests, oollect.s more 
rain than one outside at the same height. Well 
stocked forests are a perfect shelter against 
scorching wind.s. There is no doubt as to tlieir 
value in protecting the soil and regulating the 
natural drainage, while they diminish floods 
and control torrents. 
Tue Bepopulation op 1’ale.stink. — ITaoticnl 
steps have at last been taken towards foiniding a 
colony of Russian and Polish Jewish exile.s in 
Palestine. Finding that the funds at the disposal 
of the Chovevi Zion Association ami those! that 
are likely to come in !iro limited, and that it is not 
considered advisable to establish a colony with 
less than a hundred families, the commitiei! have 
negotiated with the New York and Oilcssa 
.societies, and arranged to purchase, through the 
intervention of Baron Kdmond do lloth.schihl a 
tract of land, forty miles oast of Bake Tiberias, 
which is described as e.xtremely fertile. Thoco-t 
of the land is two thousand pounds only, of which 
sum about two-thirds aro already in iiaml. The 
general emigration will, wo learn, bo preceded 
by a pioneer mission, for which also funds will 
be required. It will consist of ton or twelve 
young men, who must leave their families and go 
out prepared to ■' rough it,” to live in tents ami 
till the land, to make paths and roads and to 
sink wells. When this work is done the iirst 
1892. 
sot of families will bo sent out ; and from year 
to year others will follow as their resources 
increase. 
The Consul for Sweden and Norway at Bombay 
writes to say that a.s the seed of Wagner's improv cd 
l.nfhijnin i^ylreftris and that of the wild variety 
are very much alike, the latter is sold for the 
former, with the result that the properties in the 
former tlo not appear. The Consul offer.s to 
put correspondents in the way of getting the best 
and hardiest seed at a fair price, ami give any 
information about the plant. 
The total import of palm oil into England is 
about iiO, 000 tons valued nt over l;l,tX)0,000, but 
it is considered that this is an exceedingly small 
trade comj)ared to what might be the ease 
were the enormous resources fidly utilized. 
Besides being usihI in the manufacture of soap 
and candles, jtalm oil i.s used in tho process of 
preparing tin plates. Its non-drying qualities 
render it valuable as a preservative of the 
surface of the heated iron sheet from oxidation 
until the moment of dip])ing into tho bath 
of melted tin, tho sheets being rapidly transferred 
to that from the hot oil bath, wliich consists 
almost entirely of palm oil. 
The students of the School of Agriculture visited 
tho Royal Botanical (iar<ien.s, I’eradeniya, and the 
Beinatagoda slaughter-house, last term. 
At the last meeting of the School of Agriculture 
liuproveuient Society, Mr. Nalhitamby reda a 
paper on the 1‘almyra I’alm. 
.\lr. ,1. T. de Silva of Moral uwa (an old boy, 
now oiigaguil in work under the Fore.st Bepar't- 
m<!Ut) writes: — There i.s an enormous granitoid 
rock at the font of a hill in thi.s (I’asdum) Ivorale 
known as I’ahiugala by the villagers who hold it 
sacred, and have buill. near it a templa At one 
time wihl beasts sought shelter under it, but it is 
now believed by the villagers to be the abode of 
a very large bird oalloii by them “ ruja-kurulla” 
or royal bird, (ireat numbers of bats also seek 
shelter in tho hollows of this rock, and the 
e.xcrola of t hose birds have been collected by 
tho villagers for manuring their fields. 
