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THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



July 16, 1901. 



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GLEANINGS. 



Sea Island cotton seed is on sale at the Botanic Station, 

 Grenada, at 2},d. per Tt<. Aiiplication ff>r seed should be 

 made to the Curator. 



The annual local agricultural e.xhibition and show of 

 stock for peasants will lie held at Dunscombe iilantation, 

 St. Thomas, Barbados, on Tue.-day, -January 10, 190-"i. 



A cotton ginning jilant and baling press, capable of 

 handling a crop of 600 acres, will shortly be put up at 

 Stone Fort estate, St. Kitt's. The plant will lie ready for 

 work in October next. 



A total (jf 4,22.5 tt). of Sea Lrlaud cotton seed has been 

 distributed in .Jamaica. This should be sufficient to plant 

 aliout 700 acres. Cotton will be ginned and baled at 

 Hartlands at a charge of iic. per tt>. of clean eotten. 



In Jamaica the I.-.land Chemist has made arrangements 

 for supplying thymol, prepared as described iu the Ar/>-i- 

 ndtiiml Nevs, Vol. Ill, p. 157, which is recommended for 

 bots and worms in horses, at the small charge of 'Id. per dose. 



The second of the series of lectures on cotton growing in 

 Ijarliados was giyen at the Parry School, St Lucy, on 

 AVednesda}-, July 6. The lecturers were ^Ir. J. R. Boyell 

 arid Jlr. L. Lewton-Brain. Owing to unfayouiaT>le weather 

 the attendance was only fair. 



The Buard of Trade Journal of May 12 gives particulars 

 relating to the manufacture of cocaine in Peru. In 1901, 



610,000 kilos, of coca leayes and 10,6^8 kilos, of cocaine were 

 expcrted. The average price of cocaine in that year was 

 £30 per kilo. 



We are pleased to hear that Mr. E. M. Cutting, the 

 Barbados scholar of 1901, has obtained a First Class, in 

 Botany, in Part II of the Natural Sciences Tripos at 

 Cambridge. It will be remembered that in 1903 Mr. Cutting 

 obtained a First Class in Part I of this Tripos, at the end of 

 his second year at Cambridge. 



The British Bee Journal gives the apjiroximate numlier 

 cif colonies of bees in various countries as follows : — United 

 States, 4,500,000 ; Germany, 2.000,000 : xVustria, 1,800,000; 

 Spain, 1,700,000 ; France, 1,000,000 ; Great Britain, 500,000 ; 

 Holland, 250,000 ; Belgium, 200,000 ; Denmark. 100,000 ; 

 Greece, 50,000 ; Switzerland, 30,000. 



According to a United States Co?isiilar Beport, cedar 

 holds a high place among the woods of Columbia, one year's 

 exports of this wood from the two principal ports of the 

 Atlantic amounting to 2,481 metric tons. 'On the Vene- 

 zuelan border is found the red smelling cedar, called juniper, 

 largely used in the manufacture of lead pencils.' 



According to the Consular Bejyort, there is likely to be 

 a rapid development in the production of rubber in Indo- 

 China. 'The cjuantity exported rose from 53 tons in 1899 

 to 340 tons in 1900, but fell to 266 tons in 1901. The high 

 prices offering have led to a somewhat reckless draining of 

 the sources of supph" during the last few years, but regula- 

 tions are now being enforced to prevent wasteful destruction 

 of plants and to encourage replanting.' 



During the fortnight ended June 16, 301 bales of West 

 Indian cotton were imjiorted into the United Kingdom, sales 

 being effected at the following prices : We.->t Indian, 6'7.5(/. 

 to 6'79(/. ; West Indian Sea Island, medium fine, 14(/. ;fine, 

 15(7. : extra fine, 16(/. per lb. One bale of Barbabos cotton 

 realized as much as 18f?. per Iti. ( West India Committee 

 Circular.) 



A corresfiondent writes in the Natal A'jricultural 

 Journal : ' I should like to warn your readers of the absolute 

 necessity of providing bees with a regular supply of pure 

 water during dry weather, otherwise they are likely to .seek 

 water in the foulest places. I have found it a good plan to 

 float small pieces of wood in a pan of water, so that the bees 

 can sit on them and drink without danger of beins drowned.' 



The Rev. Canon Weymouth, writing in the Journal of 

 the Royal Horticultural Society on the Hawaiian Islands, 

 refers to the oily nuts of the Indian walnut or candleberry 

 tree {Aleurites nioluccana), which is not uncommon in the 

 West Indies. He states : 'The natives formerly strung the 

 kernels on bamboo splints and used them as torches. Blank 

 polished ornaments are made from the shells.' 



Among the recommendations contained in the report of 

 the Committee appointed by his Excellency the Governor-in- 

 Chief of the Windward Islands to consider the expenditure 

 of the balance of the St. Vincent Eruption Fund, we notice 

 the following: 'That a sum of £1,000 be granted to the 

 Imperial Dejiartment of Agriculture for the purchase of 

 stock to imiirove the present breed of animals in the colony 

 and for the housing and enclosure of such stock.' 



In his annual Report on the work of the Government 

 Laboratory, Jamaica, for 1903-4, Mr. Cousins reports a visit 

 to a coffee plantation where trees were djing out in certain 

 fields — a state of affairs attributed by the i>lanter to the use 

 of guano as a fertilizer. Mr. Cousins found, however, that 

 the trees were affected by a root fungus and that there was 

 a definite connexion between the roots of dead or deca3'ing 

 Avocado pear trees and the affected coffee. ' This apjiears 

 to confirm the opinion that the pears should not be grown on 

 any lands intended for subsequent cultivation.' 



The report of the Horticulturist of the Canadian 

 Experimental Farms contains a reference to experiments in 

 dust spraying. In dry districts spraying is sometimes 

 difficult owing to scarcity of water. Satisfaetorj- results have 

 been obtained from the use of various machines invented for 

 the purpose. Air-slaked lime has been used in the place of 

 water for carrying the fungicides and insecticides. As a rule 

 the nozzle of these machines is so far away that there is little 

 danger to the operator from the u*e of arsenical poisons, 

 provided the wcirk is carefully done. 



