66 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



June 21, 190?. 



some standard of uk rit for prize uxhibits. Xa /n-ize 

 should be (dcurded to avy exhibit increly bci<nis(> it 

 hcppfiiK til he the t>est in its cldsn (tt a jki rtliuhi r 

 sJunr. Produce is too often presented badly jirepaitd, 

 or in a slovenly and uninviting condition, and the 

 award of prizes to such exhibits does more liarni 

 than good anfl tenfls to encourage the pe<^ple in 

 unskilful and careless habits, thus destroying any 

 chance of their obtaining remunerative jirices tor 

 their produce. The work of reforming these evils 

 will be long and tedious, but it is work of vital 

 importance and well worth floing. On the ([uality of 

 the produce largely depends the final success or failure 

 of many of the in lustries of these islands, and, in 

 im])ro\iiig tiiat (piality, an invaluable aid is now to 

 hanil in Agricultural Shows. 



SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



Disease of Cane Cuttings. 



Mr. John M. Fleming of Diamond Plantation, 

 Denierara, writes: — 



Mr. Howard's latest jiaper on tlie pine apple ili.sease, in 

 what lie calls cane cuttinj^s, has been read li}' me with great 

 interest. In ordinary field work we use ahncst entirely the 

 cane top, but in propagating new varieties from hard cane, I 

 have had extensive failures, which I attributed to the weaker 

 gerniinative power of the sweet hard portion of the cane. 

 On the next occasion that I have to deal with such material, 

 I shall emjiloy the treatment with tar and Bordeaux ndxture 

 he recommends and has found effectual in Barbados. 



Molasses Foods for Stock. 



On ]iage 22 of this Journal we drew attention to 

 ' molascuit,' a food for cattle made from molasses, 

 and the finer fibrous portions of the sugar-cane. In 

 Germany and elsewhere somewhat similar foods have 

 been manufactured from molasses and fine peat. The 

 Ma}' number of the Joiiviidl of the C/ieinicul Sdviefij 

 records the following eonqiosition of ' peat molasses' 

 containing 24 per cent, of peat and 7() per cent. 

 of molasses: — 



Water 1!)00 per cent. 



Sugar 81-70 " " 



S.)iuble matters... 20-it:i " " 



In.soluble " ... l!t-4(> " " 



Ash Sill " " 



(Jood residts were obtained b}- fecdinr; horses with 

 the food, a suitable nnxtuii^ being, molasses 4.5 parts, 

 sesami' 275, ground earth-nut husks 27 o i)arts. 



Beet Sugar Production in Europe. 



The JMuiaiaiia I'Lanlcr for February !."), 1!)()2, 

 rejiorts : — 



The International Uiuoi\ for Sugar Stati.^tics has just 

 published the following results of its investigation, made in 

 December, I'JOl, as to this year's beet-sugar crop in European 

 countries. While these figures still are aiiproximate estimates, 

 they are considered to be as nearly correct as c;in lie made 



before the final estimates are prejiared at the end of the 

 season : 



I'roJuction of Sugar. 

 Country. 1901-3. 1900-1. 



Tons. Tons. 



Oermanv 2,220,8.50 1,974,785 



Aastria." 1,306.900 l,0S.S,30O 



France l,08U,;iOO 1,100,171 



Russia I,079,.5.")0 89.3,520 



Belgium 32.i,000 320,000 



Holland 200,100 178,100 



Sweden 121.392 11.5,.547 



Denmark 57, .500 50,760 



Other 221,000 



There will be apparently an overproduction of sugar in 

 Euroi>e, amounting to 1,000,000 tons in excess of the normal 

 consnmiition, and the stock to be carried over to next sea.son 

 may be 1,500,000 tons. Of course, the effect of this is 

 uniirecedenteilly low prices. In Decendjer, raw sugar was 

 (luoted at the Magdelmrg exchange at D62 cents per pound. 

 It would seem that the unprofitable business would check 

 overproduction, but the entire beet-sugar industry of Europe 

 is on an artificial basis. 



The Utilization of Cotton Seed. 



Some of the uses to which this former ' waste 

 product' can be put are well summarized in the follow- 

 ing extract from the Queeiiylnu'l AijricaUaral 

 Jminud for March 1901: — 



In bygone days cotton-planters considered cotton seed to 

 be an unavoidable nuisance. They burned it, dumped it 

 into the rivers, used it as manure, or as filling-up stuff — 

 anything to get rid of it. American wit, however, has 

 turned into a vast and profitable channel this one time 

 burden. It was found that a ton of cotton seed would 

 produce from 35 to 401b. of oil, and that every p.irtide of 

 the residue would be made into a marketable article. There 

 are to-day 500 mills in the Southern States rejircsenting an 

 investment of i'5,000,000, and the yearly value of tlie 

 liroducts from these mills is over .£10,000,000. In Texas the 

 ndlls pay from £2. 10. 0. to £3 i)er ton for cotton seed, 

 wliicli means 25s to 29s jier bale of cotton if all the seed is 

 .sold. It takes about 1,500 to 1,600 lb. of cotton in the 

 .seed to produce 500 lb. of clean lint. Now, a Mr. Robert 

 Thomas, of Atlanta, Georgia, has invented a i)roccss by 

 winch finer and better paper can be made from cotton .seed- 

 hulls than from wood pulp. As we noted in the bust i.s.sue 

 of the Joiiiiia/, a com)>any with a capital of £1,000,000 

 has been formed to erect a chain of pajier-mills thrnughout 

 the south in Georgia, Alabama, .Mississijii, Louisiana, 

 Florida, and Te.xas. The first of the.-e plant.s, one costing 

 !?300,000 (about £60,000), will be erected at Atlanta, Ga. 



Years ago it was predicted that the day would come 

 when a process wovdd be discovered to maimfacturc, at small 

 cost, i)aper from either the .seed, lint, or stalk of cotton. 

 There is every rea-son to believe that this industry, if it 

 proves the success that is promised, will, as Mr. Thomas 

 says, so increase the demand for cotton seed as to raise the 

 present price of §12 (£2. 10.) a ton to $30 (.£6. 5.) or more. 

 Hitherto the value of the seed ha.s been ba.sed mainly on the 

 oil and meal left after the extraction of the oil. If the 

 price of the .seed is increased to §30 a ton by the demand for 

 ]iapcr made frinu the hulls, it is estimated that the new 

 industry will ad.l fully .§100,000,000 (£21,000,000) to the 

 value of the cotton crop of the South. 



