Vol. XVlII. No. 439. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS 



The mention above of the amount of gasoline imported 

 jnt'> ILuv.iii lor use in intern «1 c nibuslion engines, and how 

 thit uiiiy be Kiihsiiiuied by locally inanufact'/ed motor spirit, 

 Ifad^ I" 1 1)0 re 11 c ion ihai a similar sii siitmion might possibly 

 be found prot! able in liie sugnr Disking VVestlndiin islands. 

 I'uf ia.5c«Mro. ifissuted iijihe BirbaJoi Blue Book, 1917-18, 

 that 1.56,919 gallons of tf.is line wt-re imp )rted in that year. 

 It is alo staled tliat 6-'8,.!i8t5 uallons of vaciura pan molasses 

 were exported ia ihe same periid. This is the only grade 

 of molasses wUiob coi.lil perhaps be used profitably for the 

 production of motor .spii it, the other grades bt ing far top valu- 

 able for such "se. ii might be found in the future, in the 

 face of a falling mil ket, ir.-ire profitable to retain this low 

 grade molasses for con versi n into mot.or spirit than to export 

 it at a low price. 



MOIiASCJUir AMD Mi31i.S3 M31L. 



In his address deliver, d as President, to the British 

 Guiana Riyal Ag'ic'diural and G)minercial Society on Feb- 

 •iruary 4. 19)8, Professor-'. B. Harrison, C-M G., said that 

 i 1897 the s 'le by prod lots of tUe sugar industry were 

 mo'asses and rum distilled from it, but a few years Uier 

 Mr. George Hughes, F.C.-'., introduced a process for the prep- 

 aration from °he sugar-cane molasses of a high grade 

 cattle food. This food consists of a mixture of the vacum 

 pan molasses wi'h the finer particles of the interior sponge 

 tissues of the sugar-cane, wnich are separated from the 

 mecass produced during the grinding o.' the sugar cane. The 

 mixture results in a dry, brown-col mred, coarse powder, 

 possessing a very frag' ant and attractive odour. Its charac- 

 teristic is the high proportion— 72 per cent.— of its readily 

 digestible constituents, and especially the high digestibility of 

 the fibre present in it. In some years past the exports 



of cattle food Hughes' molascuit, and modifications or 



imitations of it— have been in exce-is of 12.000 tons. War 

 conditions unfortunately have recently greatly reduced the 

 exports of this important by-product. „ , . 



A letter lately received from Mr. George Hughes gives 



.some further information on this imi.ortant industry. It 



would seem that in the future there are possibilities of consid- 



.*rable development in the blending of molasses and the piih 



of the sugarcane , . , 



Mr. Hughes, says that the pith ot the -iugarcane trom 



which the juice has been expressed is highly digestible by 

 cattle, more so than hay. It should not therefore be burnt 

 {or fuel, bat be separated from the outer rind of the cane by 

 screening, the latter being used for fael as hitherto. 



This megass meal is a perfect absorbent, and will take 

 up five or six times its weight of molasses. The prod ict, after 

 the absorption of the larger quantity of megass, forms an 

 admirable meal for cattle feeding. With the absorption of 

 the smaller quantity it can be compressed into blocks, and 

 might be utdized in distilleries f .t making industrial alcohol, 

 which will be so urgently wanted in the future. Such bl'icks 

 would form an easy, practical, and economical means of 

 transporting molasses,— another great point in favour of l,he 

 process. 



DEPARTMENT NEWS- 

 Mr W. Nowell, D. I.C., Mycologist on the stafi' of 

 the Itnperial Departmenr, of Agricuhure for the West 

 Indies left Barbados for Grenad t on Fobnary 20, f -r the 

 purpose of continuing his investigations on the disease 

 of coco -nut trees 



THE ROTHAMSTED EXPERIMENTAL 



STATION. 



In the introduction co the report on the Ilothamsted 

 Experimental Station, Hirpenden, for the three years ended 



1917, a brief bislory ic yivru wf i!. ..■.::;' ' "' --, 



which is of general interest to agri julturists throughout the 

 wor d- 



The Kothamsted E.^perimental Station .began with, 

 system ilic field experiments started by the l!><^» Sir JoJjq 

 Lawes in 1843. It has never been connected with any exter- 

 nal orginization, t.ut w.s long maintained entirely at his own 

 cost. In 1889 he instituted a trust for the continuance of 

 the investigation, setting apart for th»t purpose certain areas 

 of land on which the experimental plot;; v^s^tc situated, and 

 a Trust Fund of £100,000. 



During the year 1911 a scheme tor the encouragement 

 of agricultural re-tearch was issued by the Board of Aoricul- 

 ture, funds being provided by the Development CommTssion. 

 Uuder this scheme the Rjthamsted Experimental Station is 

 recognizea as the Institute for dealing with Soil and Plant 

 Nu rition Problems. .4n annual grant of £2,500 was made, 

 whit»h has since been increased to £2,850. 



The field experiments which^'began in 1843 have, on som« 

 of the plots, been continued without break or alteration ^up 

 to tUe present day. It is impossible to exaggerate the impor- 

 .tance of continuing the experimental plots at Rothamsteii 

 without any change, as nowhere else in the world have such 

 extensive data been collected for .studying the effects of seasoa 

 and manuring upon yield and quality of crop, and for watching 

 the progressive changes which are going on in the soil. Yea» 

 by year the plots are found to throw Jight upon new problems 

 in aijricultural science; in all directions they continue to 

 provide material for investigations upon points which were 

 not contenaplated in the original design of the experiment, so 

 that it is impossible to foresee when or how soon they will 

 become useful, and provide indispensable material for the 

 solution of problems undreamt of at the present time. 



There are 210 plots, and every year 24-3 samples have to 

 be taken with proper precautions, and put into store for future 

 reference. Complete soil samples are periodically taken foB 

 analysis, to enable a comparison to be instituted with samples 

 taken earlier, and thus to study the soil changes that have 

 gone on during the period. 



It should be remembered that the object of the 

 Rothamsted experiments is to study the soil and the crop 

 and only indirectly to find the most paying method of 

 manuring 



.\8 tbe shifting agricultural conditions bring new prob- 

 lems into prominence, these are brought as far as possible 

 into the scope of the investigation. The danger that; 

 experimental work may become artificial and remote from 

 practice has been met by setting up an ordinary farm of 230 

 acres in addition to the experimental area. 



For miny years past the purpose underlying much of tha 

 Rothamsted work has been to restore the tradition of annAt 

 firming and of good country life. By common consent Great 

 Briiaiu led the way in firming practice in the fifties, sixtiea, 

 and seventies of the Ust century. Tbi.< fine pn^'tioa ■r.i; \^^% 

 ill ihe eighties and ninetiajjihe falling prices for agricultural 

 l>r iiujc lor that period were met by lowering farming methods. 

 Foriuniie!y the error wis realized early in this century, and 

 fanners have endeavoiirtl to retrieve the siluatioa. 



At, the present lime the enquiries at the llothamstoj 

 Expeiiuj.-ntiil Station 1^1 into four groips: the economical 

 u.-e of measures, the ploughing up of grivss land, the control 

 of s-iil organisms, and ibe nutrition of plants. 



