Vol. I. No. 5. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



10 



EDUCATIONAL. 



SCIENCE NOTES. 



Jamaica. 



AGRICULTLHAL I NSTlill TK )N TO TEACHERS. 



At the West Indian Agricultural Conference in 

 January last, an interesting account was given of the 

 courses of practical instnicti(jn to teachers already in 

 charge of schools carneil on in connexion with the 

 Mico Training Ci)llege. This account will appear in 

 the torthcouiing number i>f the Wc-st Iiiiluin Biilh'fin, 

 ready early next month. The Jamaica Daily Gli'aii'-'r, 

 of May 27, contains the following letter from the 

 Hon. T. Capper, Superintending Insi)ector of Schools 

 ivlative to a jiroposed course in July and August 

 iie.xt : — 



A cour.sti of Agricultui-al Inst ruction similar to that 

 given at the Mieo Institution last .July will be again given 

 at the same place between .Inly 21 and August 1-5 next, 

 inclusive. 



The teacliers attending the course will bo boarded and 

 lodged gratuitously at the College ; but no allowance will 

 1)0 made for travelling oxiienses. Tiie sum of three sliillings 

 (;?.<.) will be charged in each case for laundrj-. 



Teachers who wish to join the course are requested, 

 after obtaining the .sanction of their managers, and ascertain- 

 ing that suitable arrangements can be made in accordance 

 with Article 12.3a of the Xew Code with regard to the 

 working of their schools to api)ly to the Deiiartment on or 

 before Saturday, June 14. Each teacher who a}i))Hes will be 

 informed on or before June 30, whether he or she has been 

 selected. 



Careful study of tlie agiirultural part of the Trujiicul 

 RmJci-f is strongly reeonnnendcd to all teachers ajiplying 

 for leave to attend the course. 



A deficiency of not more than twenty Sessions will be 

 excused in the case of schools whose teachers have Ijoen 

 selected and have attended this course during the school 

 year, if the written explanation required by Article 97 is 

 handed in to the Inspector at the inspection showhig why 

 it was impossible to make temporary arrangements for keep- 

 ing the school open. 



In ca.se a teacher who has ajiplicd for admission to the 

 course and has lieen selected withdraws without either giving 

 a reason satisfactory to the Department or giving notice 

 previous to July 14, the Dejiartnicnt reserves the right to 

 deduct a fine, not exceeding lOs., from the !Merit (irant to 

 liis school. Arrangements will, as far as jios.sible, be made 

 to prevent the inspection of any school wlio.se teacher is 

 attending the course taking place just after, or during the 

 course. 



Composition of Arrowroot. 



The Jonrnnt of the C lie mica' Soriety for May records the 



following analysis of arrowroot rhizomes from Jamaica : — 



Water ... ... ... 6.3" 42 [ler cent. 



Starch ... ... ... 27- 84 „ „ 



Dextrin and Sugar ... ... 2" OS „ ,, 



Crude filjre ... ... ... o" 94 „ ,, 



Ether extract ... ... 0' 19 ,, ., 



Proteid ... ... ... !■ G4 ,, ,, 



A.sh ... ... ... 0- 89 „ ., 



The a.sli consists chietiy of )]liosphoric acid and iiotassiuni 

 carbonate. The pulped root, when steam distilled, yields 

 a volatile oil. 



Plant Pathology. 



The following extract from a j):iper l>y Di". Erwiii 1''. 

 Smith of the United States I)e])artment of Agriculture 

 entitled 'Plant pathology: a retrospect and prospect' 

 is of interest both to planters and to othei's who ai'e 

 brought in C(jntact with plant disease.s : — 



Some words finally as to the future. The projOict is 

 always at the mercy of events. Nevertheless 1 shall venture 

 a few jiredictions. First of all, we may predict for plant 

 pathology in the United States during the ne.xt fifty years a 

 wonderful development, since it apjieals very strongly to the 

 genius of our people. This being taken for granted, how 

 shall that development be best facilitated ? The facts which 

 lie on the surface of things, as regards both the causes of 

 disease and the treatment of the same, have now been pretty 

 well picked up. In my judgement, the treatment of diseases 

 I>y .spraying with co]ipcr fungicides has reached its climax 

 and is now on the wane. We shall have to devise <rther 

 methods for dealing with many plant di.sea.ses. I'lant 

 breeding is one of the most hopeful. It is a slow process, and 

 the man in the field will sometimes become im]<atieut unles.s 

 he is a philosopher as well as a farmer. Field hyyicne /.< aho 

 a tiiattcr of prime i mportaiice. Suituhlc rotntioii of crojjs 

 iir.L^t alxo he jyractifed, and as far as possible diseased 

 laaterial, and the carriers of such material, niust he destroyed. 

 I lay nuich stress ujjOu the last statement. Insects \n 

 particular are responsible for much more than tlic direct 

 damage they cause. [Science, y6\. XV., No. 38], p. t;09]. 



Gum Fermentation of Sugar-Cane Juice. 



■fhc Suf/'ir Journal for December l.j, 1901, puldi-^lics an 

 abstract of a paper on this subject contribnteil to tlie Linnoaii 

 Society of New South Wales, by Mr. 11. CJreig Smith. .M.Sc, 

 .Macleay Bacteriologist to the Society. The viscosity which 

 occasionally develops in cane juice during the manufacture of 

 snt^ar is stated to have been traced to bacterial action, the 

 active organism being a new sjiecies, Jiari/lus leuaniformatis. 

 .This bacillus is .said to bring about the fermentation of 

 sucrose, produeing gum, a mixture of reducing .sugars, carUou 

 dioxide and various acids. The gum 'which is probably the 

 ditflu?nt capsule of the b.icillus' has been named 'levau.' 



Mr. Greig's })aper was followed by one liy Mr. Thos. 

 Steel, F.L.S., F.C.S., who described the clicnn'cal i)roi>ertics of 

 the gum, 'which ilitfers in important rcsi)octs from inulin, the 

 body which it most nearly re.sembles.' Levau is .said to lie 

 (luite distinct from the gum produced in the well-known 

 'gumming' disease of the sugar-cane. The determination of 

 the nature of the gum sometimes found in sugar-cane juice 

 in the West Indies was amongst the subjects discussed at 

 the Chemical Section of the last Agricultural ( 'onference. 

 (See West Indian liidli-tin. Vol. Ill, p. 97.) 



An Inch of Rain. What does an inch o\ rain 

 mean '. Few persons have a definite idea. An acre, if 

 calculated out, will prove to be 6,272,640 square inches. 

 An inch deep of water on this area will be as many cubic 

 inches of water, which, at 231 to the gallon, is equal to 

 27,lo4 gallons. This iunnense quantity of water will weigli 

 228,190 lb or 114 tons. One hundredth of an inch ('01) 

 alone is equal to over one ton of water to the acre 

 (Queensland A'jricultaral Journal, February 1901.^ 



