Vol. XVIII. No. i4.!. 



THE AGRICULTURAL ^TEWS. 



121 



■'iiiethyliition or for u^e in art and manufa ure,' are 

 ■duty fiee. Colouially produced spirits, on the other 

 hand, if imported for a sir. ilar purpose, A"ould have to 

 piy tlu'Mirtax o{i<L per gallon, which is an extra duty 

 impci'id'^'i eolcnial and foreign spirits, with the ohject 

 of compensating British distillers for various ilisabil- 

 ities to which they claim to be subject owing to excise 

 restriction- 

 It must be remembered, howev«i', that producers 

 of spirits in the West Indies are also subject to similar 

 disabilities, which are, like those in the United ICing- 

 dom, under the control, though indirectly, of the 

 British Government, and that therefore, wiiile there 

 maybe justification for the imposition of a surta.x: on 

 foreign spirits, the question is quite different with 

 regard to industrial alcohol produced in the colonies, 

 such as the West Indies. The matter is an 

 important one at the present time, in view of the 

 ijuantities of Cuban rum which are now being produced, 

 a< is noticed on another page of this issue. 



Now that the United States are definitely commit- 

 ted to prohibition, other markets will have to be 

 found for Cuban rum, and unless .steps are taken to 

 prevent it, th emai'kets of the United Kingdoui will be 

 Hooded with alcohol from Cuba or other foreign 

 places, with detriment to the product of Jamagn and 

 Di'merara. 



— «i^K*-^*i^ 



Ammonium Nitrate as a Fertilizer. 



.Since hostilities have ceased, the Ministry of 

 Munitions has been able to liberate large ((uantities of 

 ammonium nitrate for the piirpose of agriculture. Dr. 

 E. J. Jlussell, the Director of the Rotharasted Experi- 

 mental Station gives an account in the Jov.rnal of Ike, 

 Jioii.rd of Agriiuiltiira, February li'19, of the results of 

 field tii.als and other investigations to discove.r what 

 value the material possessed as a fertilizei'. The results 

 were succe.ssful, .and showed that ammonium oitrate 

 is by far the most concentrated nitrogenous fertilizer 

 on the market. 



The general results of the Rothamsted experiment 

 are summarized as follows: — 



(I) .i^mmonium nitrate is an e.KCf'llent fertilizer, the 



nitrogen of which is worth as much as that in nitrate 



if soda an<l sulphate of ammonia. At present piices 



of these two fertilizers, ammonium nitrate Moukl, on 



the same basis, b<- worth i',Vt •">-•■. per ton. 



ci) It contains more than twice as much nitrogen 

 ;i,s nitrate of soda, and one and three quarter times 

 ■:i,s much as sulphate of ammonia. Where 3 cwt. of 

 nitrate of soda or -J cwt. of sulphate of ammonia is 

 ordinarily used, less than !-cwt. ^'f nitrate of ammonia 

 -would be requireil. 



(o) It can be applied to any crop f 'r which nitrate 

 »f soda, is suitable. Its proper use is as a bop dressing, 

 and nob as a constituent in mixed manures. 



(4) Farmers must insist on having the non- 

 deliquescent variety, otherwise they will certainly be 

 inviting ti'ouble. 



(5);While the material itself is not inllammable, 

 it yet helps afire considerably, l.lreac care is there- 

 i'lre necessary not to store it under conditions where a 

 !ire might be started. 



Cotton Ordinance ia Turks and Caicos Islands. 



An Ordinance dated .Deceiiibei- 28, J 917, baa 

 recentl}' been fowarded io the Imperial Commissiimer of 

 Agriculture by Arlr. (t. Whitfield Smith, the Commis- 

 sioner of the Turks and Caicos Islands. The 

 Ordinance has been passi;d for thi> protection of small 

 growers of cotton from unfair prices owing to their 

 production of only inconsider.able amounts of seed- 

 cotton. After providing for the issue of licenses to 

 buyers of cotton, the Ordinance makes it a penal 

 offenci! for any person, even if so licensed, to purchase 

 cotton of a less amount than 500 ih. in weight. No 

 such small amounts may be privately purchased. They 

 must all be dealt with by the fJovernment ginnery. 



Back to the Land and Countryside. 



Information ha.s been received by the Imperial 

 Commissioner of Agiicultiire that it is intended to hold 

 at the Koyal Botanic Cardens, London, during the 

 months of July, August, and September J9l!^, a Back to 

 the Land and Countryside' Exhibition and Conference. 



The aims and objects of this 'conference and exhibi- 

 tion' are, amongst others, as follows: ( I) to interest and 

 educate the public generally in all niatters connecteil 

 with agriculture and horticultui-e: (2) to show by 

 .iGiual demonstration what a smalt land holding is, and 

 how it can be worked to the best advantage; (:>) to help 

 forward the question of rural housing, and to show actuaV. 

 models of rural houses and cottages; (4) to encourage 

 fruit planting and forestry; (.5) to show under one root 

 and at onetime the latest appliances used in agriculture 

 and horticulture; (6) to help and encourage emigration, 

 and to show the products from overseas and the methods 

 of obtaining the same. In view of the national impor- 

 tance at the present time of these and lib-, matters, 

 and the necessity of showing those who contemplate 

 taking up a small holding exactly what it means, and 

 how arduous the work is, and w^ith a view to encouraging 

 only those who are fitted by physique and training to 

 achieve success, this conference and exhibition is likely 

 to prove of consideial>le use. 



Recent Plant Legislation in St. Lucia- 



In the last issue of this Journal Governnienb 

 Proclamations forbidding the importation of citru-s 

 plants from certain places, and growing coco-nuts from 

 certain others into Antigua, and the reasons therefor 

 were noted. 



The Administrator of St. Lucia has forwai'ded to 

 the Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture copies of 

 similar Proclamations recently issued in that Co! ony. 



The clear notes placed at the foot of each copy of 

 the Proclamations in St. Lucia, giving the reasons for 

 the prohibition of importation in these cases, is a feature 

 worthy of being widely iinitab9d in similar cases. 

 Bothof the Proclamations in St.Lucia are dated Febriuary 

 25, 1919. It may be noticed that former Proclamations- 

 with regard to the importation of citrus plants frximthe 

 Cnited States and other places, and also of coco-nuta 

 from Trinidad and other places, are still in force ill 

 St. Lucia. 



