12 



THE AGEICULTUEAL NEWS. 



January 2, 1904. 



GLEANINGS. 



Information i.s desire<l 

 Georgetown, British Guiana, 

 taring cocoa-nut oil into lard, 

 of the Agricultural Neux 

 information. 



by Mr. Herbert Barclay, of 



a.s to the method of manufac- 



Possibly some of the readers 



will be able to supply this 



According to a despatch from Havanna to the Fruit and 

 Produce News of New York, numerous experiments are 

 being conducted in cotton growing in Cuba. It is claimed 

 that the experiments are entirely successful and that a yield 

 of 2 bales of long, fine. Sea Island cotton per acre will be 

 obtained. 



The Comptroller of Customs, British Guiana, states in 

 his annual report that the total value of exports of colonial 

 produce, other than sugar, rum and mc>lasses, e.\ceeds the 

 average of the previous five years by S127,806'89 aiul 

 amounted to 29 per cent, of the total value of the exports of 

 the colony. 



It may not be generally known that ramie is used in 

 the manufacture of mantles for incandescent lamps. Indian 

 Plauiinif and Gardening quotes the Journal of (ias Light- 

 ing to the effect that ' the demand for ramie mantles has 

 grown enormously of late, and most large buyers are 

 specifying ramie mantles in their orders.' 



The Mexican cotton lioll weevil is steadily spreading in 

 the I'nited States. It has, however, not yet reached the 

 eastern cotton-growing States. It is probable that Congress 

 will be recommended to appropriate a sum of !?-5,000,000, to 

 be expended by a commission under the direction of the 

 Secretary of Agriculture in combating this pest. 



A sample liox of sliced cassava tuber has been received 

 at the office of the Imperial Department of Agriculture from 

 St. Lucia. This sample was pre]>ared at the Dennery Sugar 

 Factory where the slicing is done bj- a machine invented by 

 Mr. A. J. Pollonais. Dried cassava is .shipped from several 

 of the West Indian Islands to be used in the manufacture of 

 glucose. 



Mr. Antoine Polimeni, of 12, Mark Lane, London, 

 E.C, is desirous of opening correspondence with growers or 

 merchants, dealing with concentrated lime juice, raw lime 

 juice and oil of lime in the West Indies. 



The new molasses food, molaseuit, originating in Denier- 

 ara, is gaining ground rapidly. As we have previou.sly stated 

 in these columns, its success lies in the fact that sufficient of 

 the cane celUdose is mixed with the molasses to permit its 

 transportation as dry material, and this cane cellulose is found 

 to be very largely digestible. Contracts for its delivery are 

 now making in England on the basis of 4.5 i)er cent, saccharine 

 matter, and the Argentine government is reported to be using 

 molaseuit for its cavalry horses with successful results. 

 [Louisiana Planter.) 



According to the Jamaica Gleaner of December 9, the 

 experiment in growing rice at the Prison Farm is an entire 

 success. There are upwards of 3 acres in rice laden with 

 grain. The yield is expected to be about 70 bushels to the 

 acre. Good results have also been obtained in the cotton 

 experiment plot, from which a large quantity of cotton has 

 already been gathered. 



Colonel H. W. Feilden, C.B., of Burwash, Sussex, writes 

 to the Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture : 



' ltol>inson Crusoe was quite correct when he described 

 the Caribs landing on Tobago as cannibals. I worked at a 

 kitchen " midden " on the shore, several times, and found in 

 it human bones fractured and charred, along with those of 

 a seal, shells of course, and broken implements.' 



The Board of Agriculture of Briti.sh Guiana has issued 

 a notice that with a view to encourage the cultivation of 

 cotton in the colony his Excellency the Governor otTers a 

 jirize of §.50 to the grower of the largest area in cotton, 

 cultivated and reaped before June 30, 1904. Only those 

 possessing or controlling less than 51 acres of land will be 

 eligible for this prize. A second prize of $10 will be given 

 to the next best competitor. 



!Mr. A. K. Agar, Honorary Secretary of the Dominica 

 Agricultural Societ)-, has contributed the following note : — 

 ' At a general meeting of the Dominica Agricultural Society, 

 held on December 16, the Hon'ble F. Watts gave a very 

 interesting address to a large number of members. He 

 described in full the testing of both raw and concentrated 

 lime juice, and advocated the planting of hedges of pois 

 doux {Inga laurina) through lime i)lantations, as is done in 

 Guadeloupe, as a means of protecting the soil.' 



In reference to the note in the Agricultural News 

 (Vol. II, p 412) on the fruiting of the 'Traveller's Tree' 

 {Ravenala madagascarieusis), ilr. J. B. Dopwell, Foreman 

 at the St. Vincent Botanic Station, writes that one of these 

 trees at the Station fruited in 1901, and a few plants were 

 raised from the seed. Although none of the eighteen trees at 

 the Station fruited in 1902, fruits were this year observed on 

 the same tree that fruited in 1901. A few plants have 

 again been raised from seed. 



lieference has been made in the Agricultural Neivs 

 (Vol. II, p. 283) to the export of monazite .sand from Bahia 

 in Brazil. According to the Consular Pejiort on the Trade 

 of Bahia for 1902 there is a considerable decline in the 

 value of this sand. The following extract is of interest : — 



' This article continues to be a monopoly in the hands of 

 the one firm which secured valuable concessions in the Prado 

 district of this State in 1899. Various attcnqits are made 

 from time to time to develoi) other new sand-bearing 

 districts, but hitherto the percentage of thorium discovered 

 has not proved sufficiently high to enable the .sand to be put 

 on European markets at a profit, after the exi>ort and State 

 duties (in all about £8 per ton) have been paid.' 



