V9L. III. No. 62. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



281 



Rubber Exports from Mozambique. 



The C(iv.<iu{ar Report on the trade of Mozambique, 

 referring to the great increase in the amount and vahie 

 of the exports, states that the chief cause of this lies in 

 the largely augmented output of rubber, the total 

 value of which, in 1903, was £3.5,290, as against £12,05S 

 in the previous year. 



It is stated that the rubber is of inferior quality, 

 being extracted by what is known as the 'cooking' 

 process. Thei'e are three recognized grades of rubber, 

 viz., (") pure rubber extracted by incision, (h) impure 

 rubber extracted by incision, and (<■) rubber extracted 

 by ' cooking and crushing.' 



Only 100 kilos, of the value of £20, of the first 

 grade were exported. The exports of impure rubber 

 extracted by incision amounted to 70,4.52 kilos, valued 

 at £2,348, the remaining 278,878 kilos being ' cooked' 

 rubbei'. In all throe grades there was an increased 

 export. 



The other exports irom Mozambique are ground 

 nuts and mealies. The exports of the former, which 

 were shipped to Bombay, Germany, and France, were 

 of the value of £6,0.5.5 during the year 1903. 



A New Cacao Disease. 



Specimens of twigs and leaves of cacao have 

 recently been received at the Head Office of the 

 Imperial Department of Agriculture from St. Lucia for 

 examination. It was found that they were attacked 

 by a fungoid disease which appears to be new, at least 

 in the West Indies. 



The external appearance of the twigs attacked is 

 quite characteristic. The hyphae of the fungus are 

 joined together into dark-coloured threads, about the 

 thickness of a horse-hair. Sometimes a number of 

 these threads hang quite loosely about the cacao twigs, 

 and then resemble very closely a bunch of horse-hair ; 

 closer examination reveals that these threads are all 

 part of one branching system and that some of them 

 are growing closely adpressed to the bark. In other 

 cases the thi'eads are nearly all growing in this latter 

 manner, viz., attached to the bark. The threads also 

 spread to the leaves and then appear to follow the 

 veins. In their j-oungest parts the threads are white 

 and thinner. 



It is proposed to make a further study of this 

 disease. So far, it is known in only one small area in 

 St. Lucia, and only on cacao. Should any of our readers 

 have any knowledge of it, it is to be hoped that they 

 will conimunicate any information to the Imperial 

 Commissioner of Agriculture. The points on which 

 information is desired are whether the disease occurs in 

 any of the other islands, whether it occurs on cacixo or 

 on any wild trees or bushes, how much damage it does, 

 and whether any measures have been taken to eradicate 

 it. Dried specimens of affected twigs and leaves 

 should, if possible, be forwarded at the same time. 



Similar diseases have occurred on tea in India and 

 Ceylon. It has been found possible to deal with them 

 by careful pruning and by painting the affected parts 

 with a lime-sulphur wash. 



Agriculture in the Gold Coast. 



We have received the Ri'puii of the Botanical 

 and Agrlcvltiiral Department of the Gold Coast for 

 1903. The report deals with the gardens at Aburi, the 

 station at Tarkwa, the Christansborg Castle garden 

 and the cocoa-nut, rubber, and kola plantations. 



In an appendix the Curator makes interesting 

 observations on some of the most important vegetable 

 products exported from the colony. Although the 

 exports of cacao steadily increased up to 1902, there 

 was a decline in 1903. It is stated that the cultivation 

 of this crop is rapidly spreading in all directions. The 

 quality of the product appears to have deteriorated, in 

 consequence of bad curing and insufficient grading. 



The exjjorts of timber were larger than during the 

 previous year. Rubber was exported in increased 

 quantities, the increase in value over the exports of 

 1902 being £107,898. The exports of coffee, kola, and 

 copra also show an increase. It is reported, however, 

 that there was a decline in the exports of palm kernel.^, 

 palm oil, Guinea grains, and gum copal. 



Considerable attention has been paid to the 

 encouragement of the cotton-growing industry ; the 

 natives are beginning to take an interest in this crop, 

 although, under existing conditions, it does not ajDpear 

 that there is much profit in the industry. The price 

 paid for unginned cotton is Ihl. per tb., while the cost 

 of transporting a load of (iO lb. of cotton to the nearest 

 market varies between Is. (vl. and 4s. 



The Application of Paris Green to Cotton. 



The Bidletlii of the, Department of Agrleidtiire, 

 Jamaica, for July, contains a letter from Mr. W. B. 

 Seabrook relative to the method of applying Paris 

 green to cotton. In this letter Mr. Seabrook advocates 

 the use of the undiluted poison, and it is stated that 

 the planters in the Sea Islands have given up mixing 

 the Paris green with lime. 



As Mr. Seabrook's advice might, at first sight, 

 appear to be somewhat contradictory to that given by 

 this Department, we reproduce the following extract 

 from the Weiit Indian Bulletin (Vol. IV, pp. 328-9), 

 in which the reasons for recommending the admixture 

 of lime for the West Indies are clearly stated : — 



The lime has been recommended in mixture with Paris 

 green, in these i.slands, principally that the labourer might 

 be able to see what he has done as he goes along, and the 

 overseer could also see that the work has been done 

 thoroughly, since Paris green by itself would not be seen on 

 the leaves. ^Moreover, the lime serves to prevent undue 

 waste. The labourers in the cotton fields in the United 

 States are accustomed to cotton as a principal crop, and 

 realize that their living depends on the success of the crop ; 

 but in the West Indies this is different. The labourers 

 having been brought up in the cane fields are not able to 

 take the interest in cotton that they should, and their work 

 is not reliable unless some check is kept upon them, so that 

 it can easily be seen whether they have done their work 

 properly. When the labourers become interested in the 

 success of the cotton crop, and realize its importance to 

 them, as well as to the planter, then it will be possible to 

 use Paris green as it is used in other places, and get the 

 same efficiency in results. 



