92 



THE AGKICULTURAL NEWS. 



March 22. 1919. 



GLEANINGS. 



Helium ga.s was first discovered in the sun by Sir Norman 

 Lockyer, and twenty-six years later was identified on the 

 earth by Sir William Ramsay, the two distinguished men 

 who were founders of the British Scieoce Guild. The Ameri- 

 cans are now producing this gas in large quantities as a non- 

 inflammable gas for the inflation of air ships- 



The sun-drying of vegetables at Cjuetta has aroused a 

 considerable amount of interest throughout India, and 

 numerous requests for these products have been received. As 

 far as can be seen at present, there is every pro.spect of a new 

 and profitable industry being created in Baluchistan in the 

 growing of vegetables for sun drying. {Bulletin No. 8, 

 Agricultural Kesearch Institute, Pusa.) 



According to the Jiidia Mubber World, January 1, 1919, 

 one of the weeds which is being exploited as a source of rub- 

 ber in Germany is Sonckus oleraceus. This is a cosmopolitan 

 weed, well known throughout the West Indies, usually undt r 

 the name of 'sow thistle'. It is .stated that this plant contains 

 valuable green and yellow dyes, wax, a flexible fibre useful in 

 paper manufacture, and a latex capable of being utilized for 

 the production of rubber. 



Prof. J. B. Harrison, C.M.G., in a memorandum jn 

 the use of artesian water for irrigation in rice cultivation , 

 states that as a result of experiments there cannot be any 

 doubt as to the suitability of artesian well water, although it 

 ia anaerobic in composition, for the irrigation of rice, although 

 it ia now certain that to obtain full crops when using this 

 water, it is necessary to till the land by ploughing and forking 

 so as to aerate it fully prior to planting the paddy. 



A Canadian whaling company has been canning whalo 



meat for a number of months in British Columbia. The 



species of whale taken on the coast yields 3 to 1 2 tons of 



prime meat. Samples of the canned product are being sent 



out, and 1 ,000 cases have been already shipped to Samoa and 



Fiji. For the frozen product orders have been already received 



lor over 1,000 tons, the bulk of which is being shipped to 



Boston. (The Chamber of Commerce Juiinml, January 1919 ) 



Tomatoes ripen and colour from within outward- The 

 fruits will acquire a perfect colour if they are picked as soon 

 as they are grown to full size. When the surface colour begins 

 to change from a dark green to a distinctly lighter shade with 

 a very little tinge of pink, the fruit may be picked. They 

 should be spread out in the sunshine for a time. 

 Fruits free from cracks and of splendid colour may be 

 obtained by enclosing the fruit in paper bags on the plants 

 some weeks before they ripen. (The Queensland Agriatlturn/ 

 Journal, December 1918.) 



The Potato Association of America .states that there is a 

 promise ot great development in the production of p«tato 

 tiour. The Chief of the Dehydration Division of the Associa- 

 tion stated recently that potato flour is destined to become 

 one of the staple food products of the country. Bakers and 

 housewives all over the nation are rapidly becoming familiar 

 with its advantages. Capit^ilists are awakening to the possi- 

 bilities of its manufacture. He added that in a few years he 

 expected to see potato flour mills in every big potato-growing 

 district in the TTnitel States. ( The Board of Trade foiirnal. 

 January 23, 1919.) 



The spread of the water hyacinth {Eichorida '■russi/'es) in 

 gome of the rivtra of Assam presents a formidable problem 

 The agricultural departments an; doing their best to combat 

 the pest by showing how it can be profitably convened into 

 aeb, which will make a valuable manure. If it is left t<> 

 ■pread unchecked it will .soon choke all the tanks and water- 

 •w»y8of the province, with results that are serious to contem- 

 plate. { Indian 7>nflVy,^>-»'f/, November >•. 1918.) 



iltiliz^iuon ol the husk- ol tht cacao bnans has 

 oocapi>>d the attention of numerous .iheiristK and a^sricultu- 

 fisle. .Among the uces to which the husks have beim put is 

 their employment in cattle and other stock food- Experiments 

 have shown that cacao shells are fattening fodder for cattle, 

 knd that ibc daily yield of milk frooi cows is considerably 

 inoreaHed as the result i f the use of this material- (Proceed- 

 «Mg3 of l/u Agricullvra/ Society 0/ Trinidad and Tobago, 

 rVwmh^r 1<»1K.) 



In the cotton inspector's report, St. Vincent, for the 

 month of February, in connexion with the destruction of the 

 food-plants of the cotton stainer, a curious fact is mentioned. 

 In searching for silk-cotton trees in order to destroy them be 

 found that in two cases the whereabout.s of the trees in the 

 forest were deliberately concealed by the neighbours lor the 

 following reason: that the trees attracted the manicou — a .iinall 

 opossum; these animals are shot for food, audit is said that 

 they feed on the flowers of the silk-cotton. 



.\ccording to Nature, February li, 1919, Mr. Alexander 

 Whetmore has published in the Prueeedings of the United 

 States Natio/ia/ Museum, Vo". LIV, an account of b ird bones 

 found by him in kitchen-midden deposits in the islands of 

 St. Thomas and St. Croix. Altogether thirteen species are 

 represented in these deposits. tJne or two species are now no 

 longer found in a livingstate on St. Croix, and this is attri- 

 buted to the fact that the early French settlers, somewhere 

 about lti-"'0. burned ott' the 'Icnsely wooded covering of the 

 whole island in order that they might render it more healthy. 

 This conflagration of course entirely changed the character of 

 the flora und fauna, and this fact has to be borne in mind 

 by student* of geographical distribution. 



The report for the year ethled December 31, 1917, of 

 the I lepartiiient of Agriculture of Trinidad and Tobago, brings 

 out the growing importance of the cane firmer by comparing 

 the returns of 1907 with those of 1917. In the former year 

 estate canes contributed 35,597 tons of .sugar to the colony's 

 total of ."i0,&64 tons, i.e. 74 percent. In 1917 estate canes 

 contributed almost the same figure but of a total of 70,891, 

 i.e., 51 per ent. In other words, cane farmers who produced 

 26 per C'^u'.. if the crop in 1917 produced49 percent. inl917. 

 In numb-i the cane farmers have greatly increased in the. 

 same r>"nod: West Indian from 5,777 to 8,984, and K^t 

 Indian' fro* «..''>r>7 *<• 12,056. 



