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THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



Mvv 10, 1901'. 



BEE KEEPING. 



Jamaica. 



The following (extract is taken from the Report of 

 the Collector General of Jamaica for the year 1900- 

 1901 :— 



The iiniiroveiiiciit in tlie exports of honey heai-s 

 witne.ss to the comhiiicrl iiitelHgence and jiatient-e v.-hicli are 

 being brought to l>ear on the production of the minor 

 ])roduets, and indicates the jw.ssible attainment of a higli 

 standard of excellence in all branches of agricultural eiiter- 

 l)ris,' within the near future. Bee-keepers have adopted 

 <:entrifngal apjiaratus for expelling the honey from the comb, 

 and tlie comb itself, instead of being melted down as hereto- 

 fore is retm'ued uninjured to the hive, thus considerably 

 increasing the output of the more valuable product, honey, 

 whilst reducins; that of wax. 



POULTRY. 



Camphor is an infallible remedy for chicken lice. 

 When you make yom- nest and imt in your eggs, at the same 

 time place in the nest with the egg.s, one camphorated ball, 

 ivhich is sutticient ft)r the entire incubation, and your hen 

 and little chicks will leave the nest fre:; from all kinds of 

 vermin. AVhen you have placed the little ball in the nest, 

 you need not bother any more. It 'n-ill evaporate and get to 

 l>e very small to\\'ard the latter part of the incubating, liVit 

 never mind, it has done its work. It is a good idea to keep 

 one of the balls in the nest where the hens lay, as it kee]is , 

 them from having scaly legs as well as keeping them free 

 from vermin. The camphorated ball is a little white ball 

 and can be had from almost any drug store. 1 buy penny 

 squares in Kingston, instead of the ball, and half a one is 

 ettective in the layers' nests. — (Journal of the Jamaica 

 Af/vlfultural Society.) 



GARDEN NOTES. 



\'ines in the West Indies are very liabh- to be attacked 

 l)y a ' rust' causing the leaves to curl up and wither. \Mien 

 this occurs all dead leaves should be gathered and all i)arts 

 of the vine, and the new leaves, washed over or dusted with 

 flowers of sulphur. Bordeaux mixture may also be sprayed 

 over the vines, l-'or hints as to the prcjiaration of this 

 mixture, see W'cM firlian Bulletin, Vol. 11, p. LMO. 



The secret in the cultivation of (hild and Silver l''crns 

 is to water them over-head as little as [lo.ssilile. (live water 

 at tlie roots only. 



A correspondent recommends The Good KeeS;' Company, 

 SpringKeld, Ohio, U.S..\., as a reliable hrni from which to 

 obtiiin ro.ses and other i)lants. They come 'beautifully 

 packed an<l are very cheap.' 



The Ground Nut. The formation of the undergr-ound 

 fruits of the ground or pea-nut (Arachix h;/pof;ea) is very 

 interesting. After the (lowers of this j)lant '.set,' the yellow 

 jjctals fall and the flower stalk elongates con.si(lerai)ly in 

 such a way as to bury the tip of the stalk, with the remain- 

 ing portions of the (lower in the ground. The fruit then 

 matures and thus, when ripe, is found completely buried in 

 the earth. 



SAVING OF SEED CORN. 



The following account of tile niethiuls to be adopt- 

 ed in selecting corn (maize) for seed is taken fi-om the 

 ^'earbook of the United States Departracnt of Agiieid- 

 ture for 1900, p. 759. 



The best plan for swing corn for seed is to go through 

 the held before the croj) is harvested and gather the best ears 

 from the liest stalks. The largest yields of grain are usually 

 made from varieties (n-oducing two eirs on each stalk, and if 

 such a variety is dasired then S33d should be save! onlv 

 from stalks liearing two ears. It is sometimes claimed that 

 the upper one of two ears, will produce the earlier matin-ing 

 crop, but ludess early maturity is of considerable importance, 

 if a stalk has two good ears both should be taken ; if one ear 

 is good and the other only fair the better one may be taken ; 

 Avhile if either ear is very poor in size, shape, or fnlne-ss both 

 .should be rejected. If a Viiriety beiiring only one ear to each 

 stalk is preferred the ears selected for seed slumld be the 

 largest which can be found, of nearly e(pial diameter 

 throughout, and well filled at each end. It is as imjiortant 

 to take .seed from the bc.st stalks as from the best ears, and 

 whatevei- ^•ariety may be iireferrc<l eveiy ear which is select- 

 ed for seed .should be taken fnjni a stalk which in .size, habit 

 of gi-owth, and numljer of ears approaches closel)" to what is 

 the desired form for that ^•ariety. 



If careful hands are employed in gathering the crop a 

 \L-xy good selection of seed may be made by having a box in 

 the waggon into which thj most desirable ears may he 

 thniwn as they are found. 



In selecting .seed from the crib, as is often done, nothing 

 can be known of the character of the .stalks upon wjiich the 

 ears were grown, and little or no improvement can be made 

 in a variety by such a selection ; while a careful and judi- 

 cious .selection in the field will work a consbint and gradual 

 improvement in the croi), and will make it more nearly 

 uniform with each succeeding year. No one item in the 

 growing of corn is of greater importance than the selection of 

 seed. 



.■\fter the seeil has been selected it should be thoroughly 

 dried, treated v.ith bisulphid of carbon to destroy insects, 

 and then stored where it will b,' kept dry and .seciu'e from 

 rats and mice. 



It is a somewhat conunon practice: U> discard the tips and 

 butts of the ears when shelling the seed for [)lanting, but the 

 l>ractice is of doubtful benetit. A number of the experiment 

 stations in both the North and South have made repeated 

 tests of the jiroductivencss of seed from dirtercnt parts of the 

 car, but these tests have shown no marked or constant ditf'er- 

 cnces in yield, even when the selections have b.'cn repeatoil 

 through several generations. 



For all ordinary purpo.ses the value of a variety depends 

 on the amount of .shelled corn which it will produce per acre. 

 This in turn depends fully as nnich on the growth and 

 ]iroductiveness of the individual stalks as ui>on the size and 

 sliape of the sejiarate ears, and for that reason seed shoulil 

 always be .selected in the field rather than from the crib. 



