108 



THE AGRICULTUUAL NKWi. 



Apkii, 



191!). 



In an article on Javan sugar factories. S/^yir, February 

 1919, points out that one of the prineipil reasons for the 

 progress of the sugar industry in Java is the valuable assis- 

 tance rendered by tht e.xperiinental stations which are support- 

 ed by the planting cumninnity at a large anmul cost The 

 agricultural section of the experimental station consists of 

 one main station and live sub-stations at various districts of 

 the island, at which investigations witli regard t<> soils, fer- 

 tilizers, disease.* of canes, and varietal tests are wade. 



GLEANINGS. 



The refining of coonut oil is carried so far that a 

 method has been discovered of entirely removing the peculiar 

 flavour which rendered this substance unpalatable. The 

 purity of the oil permits it to be blended with pasteurized 

 ?Tiilk,"atid to produce a butter as wholesome and palatable as 

 the best dairy butter. ( Pro^ced//i,i;s oj Ihe A^ricii/iiiml 

 .,'iCiiety of Trinidid aiid Tooago, January 1919.) 



The present financial condition of Grenada, as the 

 <Ti)vernor said to the Council on February 11. 1919, is decid- 

 edly a h'.-aithy one. The value of the exports in 1918 was 



£70'-', 777. These exiKirts were made up of the following: 

 -cacao, £5 19.30-"); nutmegs, £103,4 i 7; mace, £31,691: cotton, 

 .£23,155; lime juice, £14,255: miscellaneous, £li»,894. The 



value of the imports was £390,333, showing the healthy 



margin of £312,444 iu favour of exports. 



The Louitiana J'laiiler, February 15, 1919, states that 

 the Departiiient of Agriculture in Cuba is advocating the 

 •<?stab!ishment of a distillery at every factory, on the ground 

 that a ready market for the alcohol produced may be created 

 locally to replace gasolene for driving motors. \Vith gasolene 

 at an average of about 45r. a gallon, a cheaper fuel is highly 

 desirable, and the owners of gasolene driven cars would profit 

 4is well as the producers of al-johol. 



In ihe J >Uer national Sicjar Jouiiial, February 1919, a 

 brief note .states that Dr. (J. A. Hrowne points out that 

 the name of the inventor of the hydrometer scale should 

 he epelt F.aumc, not Beaum.- as is very often spelt. He 

 was a Frenchman, and he based bis scale npon percentages 

 ■of salt. Its application to sugar solutions is therefore 

 ■obviou.nly irrational. On the other hand, the Hrix scale, 

 based on the percentage jf solids directly present in a 

 sugar solution, .should be adc^ted generally in the sugar 

 indusiiy. 



A plant for the production of potash from kelp has been 

 installed on Moresby Island otf the coast of B itish Columbia, 

 which will have a capacity of dealing with I.OOi' tons of wet 

 kelp daily. The kelp is cut below the surface of the water by 

 a machine simikp to the hay mower, which is mounted on a 

 tlat barge and worked by a gasolene engine. The barge is 

 propelled through the k Ip beds at a rate of about 4 niilea 

 per hour, and cuts in that time about 25 tons of kelp. 

 (The Canadian Mannf<ji-turer, January 1919.) 



Many people believe that it is possible to water the 

 milk by giving large quantities of water to the cow. The 

 Agricultural Gazet't of New South ^Wales, November 2, 

 191S, draws attention to this belief, and states that 

 M. Porcher, Professor of the Veterinary School of j.,yons, 

 has recently drawn attention to the researches and con.^lu- 

 sions of several investigators on this point. The Professor 

 concludes that the idea of watering the milk through the 

 cow is nonsense, and that it could not be used as the basis 

 for any reasonable judicial decision against a dairy farmer. 



The Times Trade Supplement, February 1919. draws 

 attention to the ditlerence in density in bales of raw cotton 

 from various countries. The density of the American bale is 

 only about 22 lb. per cubic foot; the Egyptian , 37lt). ; the 

 average Indian, 45 lb.; while some Indian and Chinese bales 

 are compressed lo a density of 55 lb. to 'lO tb. It is evident 

 that hi^h density baling means that a smaller number of 

 ships are needed to carry a given ijuantity of cotton. There 

 is some question however, as regards possible injury to long 

 staple cotton by high pressure; hence, probibly, the low 

 density obtaining in America. 



in general, for milch cows feed about 10 lb. weight of 

 .green food should be given for every 1<)0 tb. weight of the 

 animn!, ami 1 B). of grain mixture for every 3 D). 'if milk 

 yielded. When the cow begins to go dry the grain feed 

 should be gradually reduced to nothing, and again resumed 

 about ten days before oaUing, a few pounds at a time, 

 reaching the lull rati' n three weeks after calving. (The 

 Juurnai oJ the .lo.mmc'i A'/viidlunil .•iorie'.i,, February 1919.) 



The fdurihxl <ij /h< Jamaioi A,:^n\ii//ia<i.l SocUfy, 

 F'ebrnary 1919, stiites that the Covernment are prepared to 

 ■continue to buy corn for the next cro|) now being planted at 

 5.<. per bushel felielled. They wiiuld also buy on the cob at 

 •80 |> tor 5.;. (f^O tb. on the coli being eonhidered equivalent 

 to 1 bushel of .'helled cm). The ijurket for corn, the 

 instability of whii.h was in 'he past a drawback to corn 

 .grovera, is now xsHured, and .too timch corn cannot be gorwn. 



.\ simple plan for treating maize and Guinea corn seed 

 before pluming, to protect them from being eaten by ants, 

 mice and birds, is given in the Junrual at' the Jamaica Ajrtcul- 

 tural Soci(tt/, January 1919. Knough kerosene is mixed vith 

 a pudding pan of wood-ashes to damp them, but not to make ii 

 thin paste. The grain should be soaked for two or three hours 

 in water, and then placed in the mixture and shaken well. The 

 grains get coated, and niav then be planted: it i.s not e'en 

 necessary to shake them in a sieve to gi-t rid of the superliuous 

 woodashes. This is a clean and easy way of protecting seeds 

 in the ground from attacks of eneiniefi. 



In Australia a special Coinn>ittee of the Bureau of 

 Science and Industry has reached the conclusion that, in 

 order to increase the supply >>( indu-strial [alrohol in the 

 (Commonwealth, permission should begi>enfor the manu- 

 facture and use of 'power al'-ohol denatured with 2 per cent. 

 of either coal tar distillate ')r creo.sote oil; further, that an 

 allowance of 3*/. per gallon be granted by the(;-')/eriiuient on 

 <uch material prod'iced in .-Australia by w»y of reimbursement 

 of the extra cost ciWsed by H.sral restrict ijus on the i)roduc- 

 tion; and finally, that a bonus of 3r/ per gallon be granted 

 in order to encouraje the nnnufacturo, and to devcNip tlie. 

 industries upon which th- s ipp'y of ihe raw m.Uerial.i 

 depends (The /nitrnWi'Mu/ Su-jar Jow tial, February 1919.) 



