THE AC.r.lCL-LTl'ljAL NEW; 



Fi;i!i.i;.U£Y S, 1919. 



At the I'lginrinig l.1 OcloHer ihc sujiarciine crtp in 

 Egypt presented ^i <tonii app'jarance, but owinu ti> the scarcitv 

 and high prices of leriilTzfrs the expc-oled yield is not Iikeiy to 

 he realized. It is scatedvhtit in the tei»;U!ifiiichi")iI ot' i.jwns 

 the crop is beinu: cnt f ^r consumption as an alternu.tive fo id- 

 stutf in thc^c days of hiah-priced foods. (Tlie T.onifianii 

 Phviter, December 14.- J9Jn.i 



GLEANINGS. 



According to the Cypnn Agricultnnil /,ii/f>iitl, .Tuly 



lyl^, spirrows have been doing so much damatie in the 



•ct>rn-growiDg localities of the island that school children are 



encouraged to collect the eggs for destruction, by receiving a 



smiU payment lor them froni neigbouring police stations. 



The marked development of Tobago during the last 

 twenty years is shown by a comparison between the value of 

 the exports in 1897 and thoi^e of 191C and 1917. In 1897 

 the exports were of the value of £G,770, rising in 191() to 

 ^79,864, though falling :igain in 1917 to £55,825. (The 

 fiviktiii iif the Dipiirtnunt fif A':,rkiiltiin\ Trinidad mtd 

 Tof'.i.i^o, Vol. .WII, I'art .3.) 



The Kxperiment Sl^ition ( 'oiDuiittee, Hawaii, is informed, 

 ^according to the Committee's report referred to in the /.oi/isi- 

 t2«(( /"/«///(•/-, December 28, 1 ill 8, that the new leaf Impper 

 parasite obtained in lorraosa is spreading rapidly tbroughont 

 the cane plantations, and that there is good rea.son for believing 

 that it will prove of great a.ssistaiice in checking the further 

 .spread of the pest. 



The sugar production in I'eru, amounting to .'iOOjOOO 

 tons, is .some 30,000 tons in e.vcss of the returns for 1917. 

 The sugar in use in Peru and ( ."bile is all refined sugar, vrhich, 

 due to existing monopoly, has reached notorious prices. Chile 

 Ukes 50,000 tons. Great IVitain, 200,000 tons, J'eru and 

 Bolivia aVisorbine the remiinder. (The U',r/;/y IhiUclin, 

 l>epartment of Trade an<l Commerce, ('iri;ifl:i. lioci-nibcr I'M, 

 1018.) 



■^'he prc>duction of sweet potatoes in the Unitid Stales 

 in 1917 was es'imated to be a little over 87,000,000 bushels. 

 Of this -piantity prr)bably about .'.0 000,000 to .''..\ 000,000 

 bu.shels were placed in Riorage. It is estimalL-d. however, 

 that only about :!.'?,00().000 t. V.S.OOn 0(jO bushel-s of the 

 stored crop were actually coiisnme<l: the remainder were 

 destroyed by storage rot orgatiisnis before fliey reached the 

 market. ( /nmniil o/ Agriai/tural liesio/r/i, November 11. 

 1918.) 



The cultivation of pine appleti has bicome une of the 

 luost important branches of fruit .iiltnro in liopicul parts of 

 Australia The excellence "f ilu' pine.a. and the suitability 

 of the climate have made the i,)iieeD»land pine ajiplc i|nite 

 f»mi>n^ Asa commerrial imdertakiog, growing pineapples 

 ifi yuccnHl.ind is very prnfitable when due consideration is 

 given to the ret|uirement8 of the crop. (The Colnnizi:/-. 

 O.tf.h^r 10!S > 



The area planted with tea m (.!eylon ajiproximales tj 

 i(j0,U0U acres, mainly planted dtirini; the pasc tlurty years. 

 The estates vary in size fiom 100 to about 2,u00 acres, and are 

 chieHy under I'^urtrjiean supervision, and worked witli Tamil 

 labour from fioulhern India. The average uutturn for Cey- 

 lon tea ranges between 400 R>. to 500 ft), of made tea per 

 acre, but well cultivated estates yield more heavily. ( C'df/iial 

 AV/>,/y-A— Annual, No. 971.) 



.\ copy of the rcgulaiions and .syllabus of the School i.f 

 Agriculture attached to the Department of Agricnlture, 

 Mauritius, shows that three courses of instruction are planned, 

 each lasting for a period of three years, and earh leading to 

 a Diploma of the lVpj.rtmeut of Agriculture, the choice 

 of the course being ia the disrretioi) of each student. 

 The courses are : (a) agricultural chemistry, (b) general 

 agricultural science, (c) economic biology. Details of the 

 work in each of these courses are given in the syllabus. 



Honduras tobai-co has always enjoyed a pre-eminent 

 position in the estimation of ("ontral American tobacco 

 smokers. The amount and value ot tobacco exports through 

 the seaports of Honduras for the years lillo and 1916, res- 

 pectively, were j>(),80(i lb. worth ^6,810, and 89,02") lb. worth 

 8 19, CIO. Honduras tobacco after being manufactured into 

 cigars and cigarettes is also ixported in consiilerable quantity 

 to South America, particulsiiiy I'eru, and to Europe. The 

 volume of this business amounts to many thousand dollars 

 annually. (The .Monthly Ihilldin of Jpic/i/fl/ra/ [ntelli- 

 :^cna and JVaiil Diseases, luly 1918.) 



The ]\'ee\ly S/ntis/iaii S/ii(„/- 7h>d< foiDuirl, January 16, 

 1919, includes the annual report of the year ended September 

 30, 1918, uf the Cuba Sugar-cane Corporation. Soiue of the 

 figures given are interesting as compared with results obtained 

 in other central facturiesof the smaller i.s]ands. The average 

 percentage of sucrose of the seventeen plantations durinfi; 

 threecrops was as follows: 1915-1(5, 13-87 percent.; I91G 17, 

 i:'.00per cent.; 1917 18, 13-31 percent. The total lo.S3es 

 in milling and man ifacture during the same three crops are 

 recorded as: 191") Iti. ;) 07 percent.; I9K1-17, 2-67 per cent.; 

 1917-18, 2'3G per c(-nt. It is interesting to note that these 

 factories dealt with 4,ri74,782 tons of cane for the last crop. 



'In the Monthly T'roduco lU>port printed in the Procetd- 

 /«V» "/ ''''"" A,c;ri(ii/li,nil Sori,ty of Trinidad and Tobago, 

 November 1918, it is stated that the reaping of the new 

 .vugar crop will probably begin si.mewhat earlier than usual. 

 Crop firospecta cintinne favourable, on the whole, and while 

 .some estates have suffered from frog-hopper attacks, others 

 have been practically immune this year. Among the latter 

 is one. formerly a lieftvy sulferer, on which implemental 

 tillage has been introdiced, and a system of inten.sive cultiva- 

 tion employed. It is asserted that the ab.sence of the frog, 

 hopper is due to this improved cultivation, and that the pest 

 caiin')t exist under the new conditions of lii;bt and air to 

 whiili it is now cxfioscd. 



