60 



THE AGUlCULTlJuAL NEWS. 



FEBicUAEY 22, 1913 





-J^.'. 





>, .:; ■ ctfa.—. 



Coconut cullivalion ranks next in importance to »>>afc of 

 cloves iu Zinzibar. li is eatimated tb;i' iluT.i are ;ib>iit 48,000 

 seres uuder coconn's in ibe two isiaodg oi Zinzibar aod 

 Pemb*. The qualiiy oi the cupra (iroduce.i compares, however 

 unfavourably wiih that i.f C.jchiu or Cejlon. Aluch is 

 proJiici-d by ihe .^iiiull trower ur trader, iitriibvr of v.L .';u 

 p isiestes proper <'rying facilities. The faults are remediAble 

 and Ciipraproduced from the Government plantation has been 

 most favourably rep'T'ed on by L ludon brokers. The export, 

 of copra fri>m the Proiectorai« in 1917 was 6,58.'* ■ Uirts 

 (Colonial Jieports —kanvieil. No. 97.3.) 



GLEANINGS. 



A useful hint in connexion with the nuking of coco-nut 

 bnlter is supplied by Lady W itti, the wife of ihe imperial 

 ■Commisjioner of Agricubure, to ihe elT. ct ihnl the b'llter is 

 made more quickly by using a fnull iiieial iieoeam freeztr 

 than by the use of a chnrn, and that only a sma'! a • ount of 

 ice is required for its production. (^T\\9. J^junial of ilie Jamaica 

 Agricultural Society September 1918; 



Cacao and coffee are the cliirf exports of the Portuguese 

 "West African islands San Thomt? and Principe. The ship- 

 ments of cacao from the two islands in 1914 amo'intid to 

 33,319 metric tons, valued at £1 193.9.'?3. In the same 

 year the c-sports of coffee were 472 metric tons of the value 

 of £23,584 (The Times Trade Suppleinetit. Decembtr 1918.) 



'Yhf. Colonial Journal, January 19 1 a states that it was 

 reckoned that there was in the autumn of 1918 some 

 200,000,000 bushels of wheat in Australia. This at only 45. 

 per bushel represents £40,000,000 and when it can be shipped 

 it will be worth much more- It was ctlculated that the wheals 

 available for export would nuke up 625 shiploads, so that the 

 export will be a long bisinesR. 



Etperinientu are being made v/ith sunflowers &8 a fodder 

 in rSoui hern Alberta and the success which has accompanied 

 the experiment shows that there are great possibilities in this 

 ■ direction with giant sunflowers. The plants averaied from 

 10 to 12 feet in height, and were cut and fed in a fresh condi- 

 tion to cattle, which seemed to relish them fairly well. It is 

 «8timatcd that fully 15 tons of fodder per acre weri obtained. 

 (The Colonizer, January 1919.) 



Sanitation in British Guiana is evidently bein^ well 

 attended to In Colonial y?e/.?/7i-— Annual, No. 976, it is 

 noted that anti malaria and ;inti-mosquito mraauns are 

 being generally and gradually enforced with visible signs of 

 8ucce^«. In 1906-7 there were treated in the sugar estates' 

 hospitila :i3,748 caies of malarial fever; by the end of 1917 

 the number.s had fallen to 11.314. AukyloKtomiasis also has 

 conHidt-iably decreased on the .sugar estates; this i.i aitribu cd 

 to improved sanitary measures. 



The fruit.s ol the Wash'ngt m navel orange are Heedle.sH, 

 as is well known The reason for xhu condition is that the 

 fl<)wers of that variety are perfect except that the ;inthers do 

 not develoji [y>llen, and wLenmer a Wasliinkslon tiavi-l nr.inije 

 is found, a.s sometimes occurn, containing one'^r nio'c ^c■■^.s. 

 the condition may be explained on the uround of the iicci- 

 dental iran.sfer of p.lltn fioin neighbouring p'lllcn-liearing 

 citrus flowers, prohilily lliroinh the agenoy of llie cotuiuon 

 honey bee (The foumnloj f/n-edily, October 1918.^ 



The Louisiana Planter, December 21. 1918, states that 

 expT'menis with centrifugal ti ters on cane juice and on 

 molasse.x, ih -ugli hfjbly promising need 'uriher investigation. 

 The ceniiifuf;al niter can hirdly be called commercial at the 

 prtsent time for the sugar industry. Doubtless, however, the 

 problems (•resented i ■ the manufacture 4>f sugar to centrifugal 

 filters will Le solved bifore long. The filtration itself is satia- 

 factoiy as regards quality, but the cost of operation, the cost 

 of a suliii'iently large installation of filters, and the diflTiculty 

 of hannling hivh speed centrifugals with perfect safety. ftU 

 stand iu the way of commercial adoption of theni. 



The Colonizer, January 1919, .states that in Snith 

 Africa tiles are hawm, mide of a composition of coacrote and 

 asbestos waste wtjich after, having been placed in large tubs 

 and beaten by loig flanged roller.s, is then laid in moulds 

 and turned out in tiles a foot square- The tile.o are 

 covered with canvas mats and subjected to pressure. They 

 are then left to dry partially for twenty-four hour.-*, and 

 plunged into water for some hours longer. They are dried 

 again for almost a fortnight, whfn they arc ready for s»Ie. 

 It is claimed thtt these tiles aro an excellent substitute 

 for corrugated iron as a roofing, being lighter aiid cheaper. 



No industry yet atrempted in St. Helena has succeeded 

 80 well as the production of fibre and tow fran tl»e Nev 

 Zealand flax plant (/%o/-/«.'«»i tcnax). With good rainfall, iuid 

 on f liable soil it thrives in the colony with little or no 

 attention, and i o in.sect pest or disease has yet appeart^d. 

 By the clearing of useless undergrowth, much more land 

 can yet be made available for its cultivation, .and it is 

 hoped th-t planting, both by the (Government and byis 

 small proprietors, will be much extended in the neaf 

 future. The continu.il rise in price for this fibre on the 

 London market, ahd the good fortune by which the colony 

 was enabled to get practically the whole of its produce to the 

 Uuiied Kingdom wi(hout undue ilelay combined to make the 

 year 1917a very pro-jwrous one for the industry. (Colonial 

 Reports— kiiTHiA\, -No. 974.) 



It is remarkei in Nature, Jtnuary 16, 1919, that 

 altho'igh the area under sugar-cane in Java is only about one- 

 seventh of that devoied to the crop in India the annual pro- 

 duction ol cane H -giir m the hutch i.-land is not very much 

 less than the annual prKluclion in India. In fact, Java is 

 able, rtfieri-n i ely im.eling its own requirements, to export 

 largo quaiitiiicH of siu'iir, for wlii. h Lidia is one of the chief 

 markets. Tile re 8 m iif this is tiiai iu Java ihe cultivation 

 of hugar can • is roi.d'icled on the mo-t Scientific lines, and 

 the mooiucin.e of i he siijar is curried on in mo lern factt.rios 

 wlifB ilif I'lO e^^••.s HI',- clwiiiicilly Controlled at every stige. 

 In Iiicln, oil ihi- •iiliiv hand, b 1111 the cultivation of the cane 

 and tlie |Me|nr it.i.ni .if il;r siu-.ir tn- .hi.'.I (■..n.liui,.,) in .some- 

 what prilUillVe f>0-lllO|; 



