Vol. I. No. 10. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



U7 



Sugar Production in St. Lucia. 



Mr. G. S. Hudson, the Agricultunil Instructor, 

 St. Lucia, re]>orts : — 



A recent insi)ection of all .sugar-i>rodiicing estates in the 

 island showed a total area in sugar-cane of about 3,000 acres, 

 of which some 2,200 acres are connected with the four 

 central factories, the balance being devoted to muscovado 

 and syrup protluction. The central factorie.s show an 

 average of about 22 tons of canes producing 2 tons of sugar 

 to the acre. On muscovado estates, where steam or water 

 power i.s emi)loycl, atwut 1 ton of sugar is the product of an 

 acre, and where cattle power is used the jiroduction falls as 

 low as i ton per acre. On the smaller estates no record of 

 weight of cane^ is k:;pt, but their mjthods and crops are, of 

 course, very inferior to those of central factories. There is 

 no material reduction of area under cultivation for 1903, and 

 only the stimulus of prices showing even a small margin of 

 profit, is required to enlarge this area considerably. 



Molascuit. 



Attention has been called in this .Journal (p. 22) to the 

 pre£.aration of ' Molascuif,' a new stock food which it has been 

 suggested might form an article of export from the West 

 Indies. Further, the value of molasses as a food for horses 

 has also been referred to in these pages (pp. 66, 108 and 

 124). 



The advantages claimed for the n3w product are that 

 vacuum pan molasses can be used in its preparation and that 

 the manufactured article can be handled as a dried food 

 stuff. 



One important matter however seems to have been 

 overlooked, namely, the dig&stibility of the product. The 

 fine megass used in its i)reparation consists of small fragments 

 of the vascular strands and cells of the cane, the former of 

 which are really pieces of cellulose tubing with open 

 ends. It is possible that a portion of the molasses will 

 escape digestion and will be expelled from the alimentary 

 tract unchanged. Before therefore the value of molascuit as 

 a stock food can be seriously entertained by jiractical men, it 

 is suggested that digestion experiments should be under- 

 taken to find out how much of the molasses can actually be 

 absorbed by the animal. 



SURRA DISEASE IN HORSES. 



A short note on this di.sease appeared in the last 

 issue of the Agricultural yevx (page 134). It is 

 desirable to supplement the information there oiven 

 so that our readers may have .some indications of the 

 chanicter of the disease and the .symptoms that accom- 

 pany it. 



The first indications are usually impairment of 

 appetite, eonstij)ation, fever and thirst. These are 

 followed within a few days b\- rajjid and prooressive 

 emaciation. There are nearly alwa3s presented 'swell- 

 ings of the sheath, leg.s, and pads under the belly.' 

 These are described as marked symptom.s. The course 

 of the disea.se may extend from a few weeks to two 

 or three months. As already .stated, the disease (of a 

 malarial tyjie) is due to infecti(jn, transmitted by 

 biting-flies. The e.xaminatiun of the blood, in a well- 

 marked ca.se, shows the existence of a microscopic animal 

 pjinisite, ' a whip-like worm ' rather blunt at one end 

 with a flagellum at the other. The pathological 

 change caused by the par;isite (flagellate) is a rapid 



destruction of the red blood-corpuscles causing an acute 

 anemia. 



The following extract taken from the Report 

 issued by the United States Department of Agriculture 

 (Bureau of Animal Industry. Bulletin Xo. 4,3,190?) 

 contains the official dctinition of the Surra Disease : — 

 Surra is a specific and continuous infectious febrile 

 disease occurring in solipeds and camels, and cai>able of 

 being transmitted by inoculation to other animals. It is 

 due to the presence of a flagellate protozoon ( Tri/panofoma 

 Euan.iiJ in the blood. It is chiefly nut with in an epidemic 

 form, during certain months of the year, namely, during or 

 immediately following the wet .seasons. It is characterized 

 by an intermittent, remittent, and sometimes a relapsing, 

 type of fever which continues for varying periods, from a 

 few days to months, according to the species and the 

 constitutions of the animals attacked, and presents definite 

 symptoms following one another in regular sequence. The 

 chief symjitonLs, in addition to the fever, are the occasional 

 appearance of an urticarial eruption, general or localized, 

 closeh- following the first rise in temperature, but which 

 may make its appearance at any time during the course 

 of the disease ; then the presence of petechiae on the 

 mucous membranes, chiefly those covering the membrana 

 nictitans ; lachrjiuation, and the exudation of a yellow 

 semigelatinous material into the subcutaneous and other 

 connective ti.ssues. There is rajiid wasting and great 

 weakness, although in the great majority of cases the 

 appetite remains good throughout, no matter how high the 

 fever is. There is extreme pallor of the visible mucous 

 membranes, and this is followed at a later period by 

 yellowness. From first to last there is progressive anemia ; 

 the blood at first jiresents a normal character, but after a 

 varying }>eriod of time undergoes marked changes. The 

 white corpuscles are increased in number, and the red 

 corjtusdes usually cease to form normal rouleaux, lose their 

 individuality, and run together, forming irregular masses, 

 which at first dark, but gradually, as the disease advances, 

 almost entirely lose their colouring matter and become jiale. 

 The presence of the flagellate is not continuous during 

 the whole course of the disease. At first it is usually found 

 in small numbers in the blood, and increases with greater or 

 less rajiidity until, having attained a maximum, it disaj)- 

 pears either gradually or .suddenly, to reappear after an 

 interval. The periods tluring which it is present in and 

 absent from the blood are marked by extreme irregularit}-, 

 varying from one to .six days, but the latter number is very 

 unu.su al. 



The disease is invariably fatal, death being generally 

 due to exliaustion, but sometimes to concurrent conqilications. 

 After death no specific lesion is present, but as a rule there 

 are small subpleural and .subendocardial extravasations, 

 together with enlargement of the liver and spleen, and if 

 death takes i)lace during the j)arox}-sm the hematozoon will 

 be found for a certain time in the blood. 



\Ve would repeat the note of warning given on 

 page 134, and strongly recommend that, for the jjresent, 

 and until we are more fully informed as to the occurrence 

 of SuiTa in the United States, no Americixn horses or 

 mules should be landed in any part of the West 

 Indies. In the meantime it would be desirable that 

 the character and symptoms of the di.sease be carefully 

 studied in the Bulletin aboye refen-ed to. This 

 contains a summary of the literature on the subject 

 and numerous illustrations of the parasite and afiected 

 animals. 



