THE AGRlCULTUllAL NEWS. 



January 11, 1919. 



GLEANINGS. 





A Govprnment notice, published in the S/. Croix Arts, 

 November 23, 1918, proclaims that the Government of 

 St. Croix has established 'stations for the free distribution of 

 milk to mothers who have children one year old or younger, 

 and who are unable to buy it for themselves. 



From a notice in Nature, l^ecember 5, 1918, of the Fifth 

 Indian Science Congress, it Is reported that the statement was 

 made at the Congre.ss that, as one of the results of the war, 

 several distilleries for the extraction ot essential oils have 

 been established in Southern India, and that experts now 

 have conSdence in the ability of India to supply the world's 

 demand. for .sandal oil and thymol. 



The Fielii, l)pcember 14, 1918, in an article on the possi 

 bilities uf alcohol fuel for lyotors. .say.s that if on a map of 

 South Africa, 25 feet square one square inch be marked otf, 

 enough maize could be grown on that comparatively small 

 area to produce more ihan ten times the present con- 

 sumption of motor spirit in the United Kingdom. That 

 .-eem.saii astounding statenent, but it shows how feasible is 

 the production of alcohol on a large scile. Alcohol can be used 

 in ordinary motor car engines by being mixed with 2-5 to 30 

 per cent ol benzol. 



The sugar crop of Peru of 1916- 17 is estimated at 

 280,000 short tons, whereas the average annual production in 

 the three years before the war was 18.5,000 short tons. Of the 

 half-million acres of good sugar land in Peru, it is stated that 

 only about lOO.COO acres are planted in sugar-cane, but that 

 there are projects now under consideration to increase the 

 acreage very considerably. It may be inferred, therefore, that 

 this industry in the Peruviic Kepublic has very great possi- 

 bilities before it in the way of sugar production. (The 

 Louisiana Plant (r, November 9, 1918.) 



A prac'ical banana grower, C. E. B. Welsh, writes in 

 the Agricultural Gazette of New South Wales, October 1918, 

 as to the actual return from an 8-acre banana planta- 

 tion for the last twelve months. The number of cases des- 

 patched to the Sydney and Melbourne markets was 1,413, and 

 the gross returns were £848 5.v. 8^/. After the payment of 

 expenses, the actual net proceeds were £593 l.<. \0(i- 



A correspondent of the Commereial Hevieir of British 

 Guiana, September 191f<, referring to the manufacture of 

 orange wine in the West Indian colonies, claims that this 

 product is on a fair level, both in tatte and bouquet, with 

 ordinary Madeira or French wine of a smilar age ; in colour 

 it approaches that of a sherry, but it is stated that it can be 

 made to assume a rich, deep port colour, without the use of 

 injurious chemicals. 



The pastoral industry in Brazil has received careful 

 attention during the last two decades, large consignments of 

 Zebu cattle from India and of the best English breeds having 

 been imported, with a view to improving the native races of 

 cattle. The results have been an enormous development of 

 the export to allied countries of frozen meat since the 

 commencement of the war (Mmilhly Journal of the Liverpool 

 Incorporated ChamVicr of Commerce. (October 1918.) 



At a recent meeting ol the Aciidi'-mie des .Sciences, Paris, 

 samples were exhibited of every kind of paper, from cigarette 

 paper to card-board, obtained by the Karen Bramson procea.s, 

 which consists in grinding uf) and soaking the dead leaves of 

 trees. It is .•stated that the leaves of all tribes can be used for 

 this purpose. The veins of tlie leaves yield a paste from 

 which the paper is made, whili- the leaf powder is said to be 

 (iuit<«ble for 'a cattle food, or for burning. ( //V,/i'/v 

 fiulletiu, Department of TrBde and Commerce, Canada, 

 November 18, KtlH ) 



p]xperiments in France on the feeding of poultry with 

 sea-weed are noted in the Monthly Bulletin oj Agrieultural 

 Intelligiiice and Plant Diseases, September 1918. The sea- 

 weeds were freeJ from salt by being washed several times in 

 fresh water. They were then chopped into small pieces, 

 which is easier if they have previously been partially dried. 

 They are then mixed with boiled crushed potatoes, and put in 

 a baker's oven for three hours, or ccoked over a slow fire. 

 When the whole is well jellied, it is kneaded, and distributed 

 to the poultry. The hens developed well, laid normally, 

 and their tlesh had no peculiar flavour. The results are 

 stated to have been satisfactory in every particular. 



The salt industry of Turks and Caios Islands con- 

 stitute.s by far the largest portion of their exports. The 

 value of the salt exported in 1917, according tc The Baani of 

 Trade Journal, November 14, 1918, was £31,73!:. The 

 year 1917, it is stated, will ever be memorable in the annals 

 of the salt industry in those islands, as a year when the 

 demand exceeded ihe supply, and when the selling price 

 reached a figure unknown for very many years. Especially 

 welcome, as a result of (Jovernnient effort, was the re-appear- 

 ance of Newfoundland as a purchaser, after an absence 

 of about twenty two years. It is hoped that every effort will 

 be made to retain tliis market, which is able to absorb more 

 than one half of the entire .-fait output of the Dependency. 



In 1917 there were reported 131) military, 19 naval, 

 and 23 civilian canes of malaria contracted in i^ngland, 

 i.e. in people who had not been out of the country. The 

 problem of the po.^sible danger to the civilian population of 

 the influx of malar! i infected soldiers from abroad was con- 

 sidered by the Local (iovernment Board. It would appear, 

 from the information collected, that malaria had not completely 

 died out in Kngland, as was generally thought to be tlio , 

 case, perhaps with very rare exceptions, but, on the other hand, 

 the cases in 1917 were a new phenomenon, and there can be 

 no reasonable doubt that the cause of these cases wis the new 

 supply of infection from soldiers from oversea?, distributed 

 by indigenous anophelines. (A^ifun, December 5, 1918.) 



