lU 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



Aiiiii. 19, 1919. 



GLEANINGS. 



Tlu' LirniHuma Planter \'ov March S. I !))".;, sstjiios 

 thut tlie inii>orts i>f sugfir ndo the L'liited State.s i'or 

 the t wt'lvf iiviiiths f>iulo'l Pi'cembcr SI. ll'.IS, rwu-hMl 

 !>..">85.oH(i .short tons, valiio.l tit SfL' l2,2fio.'J;!0. I'lif.se 

 inijxii-ts were fiboiit $20.00(1.0(10 in(>r<> in vahic tli;in 

 ■fop tlio jnovjous yi'ar, aiifl Hhout ^'Il-JJHIO tons less in 

 iliiMjitity. 



Ar^ci'ntin.'i as a snjjjar i iiTxlncvr .itanrls third in its 

 prcxhu-tiiin ;imonf< Soutli Anxi?rican ooinitries. IHr.izil 

 jjixidnci.'s more tlian :!iX',00(' tons, I'eni prodiu-ffS a)x>nt 

 250.000 lotiK tons iinnually. and Argentina about 

 'iriO.OO(» tons. The next country of moiaeiit is Kritisli 

 Oiiiana. Mliicli lias recently exported about lOo.O'H) tons. 

 (The Lvuisiwin Planter, ]\Tarch 22. lOl'.t. ) 



Tlie value ot the ruhlxir inanui'actLires in the 

 ■Unitefl States for the year 1917 wa.s $900,000,000. 

 Tbis is approxiuiately seven times as much as the next 

 largest mannfaeturing country. Great Br)t.iiu. In ten 

 years the Fuiied States has iucreassd its consumption 

 oi crude ruldier from 21.0(.i(» to 177.000 tons, while 

 Great .I5ritaiii has inerea.sed berconsuinirtion from 14,000 

 to 26.00(1 Ions. (The India Rubber World, .lauuarvl, 

 1919.; 



In lherepi>ri of the Coiuiiii.ssiouc!- of Agriculturo 

 and Labour of Fort<»-jElico on the year JfllS, it is noticed 

 that the Governor of- Porto llico issiied a Proelamatioti 

 on May 28, 1918, sottiuK apart as insular foiest all the 

 juaiigrovi.- on the i-o.-ist of t.he i.sland of Porto Rico anil 

 ad.iaciMi( islands, whi-reby the felbnjr of trees tlicreon, 

 iiii-' the taking fwa.y. of any wood therefrom for fuel, 

 clian.'oal. or any otber pm-pose is proliibited. This- 

 uicasnre is a veiy opportune one. l.i can.se the pre.'sent 

 circmn.stanees call for the i-^t i;uc of the n.-dnral 



forest resources itf lljie i.sla 



ll is suggested in the Journal of the Jamaica 

 Agraultmal iSocifty that, the burning of ooco-niit- 

 liusks might vi-ry possibly yield an imixirtant liy-prn- 

 (hict on coco-nut i-states. The a.sli contains a high 

 ] ii-oi)ortion v f "pot ash, 30 pei- cent, or more, and the husks 

 of l,(,)(JOnuts areestiujated to yield about 25tb. of potasii. 

 Estates making copra have also the ash of the sliell, 

 ^^•luch contains about do \)ev cent, potash. At t.he 

 present price of potash it -woukl seem that the by-pro- 

 duct might more than pa.\' for the cost of erecting a 

 ■Special kUn or fiitnace. 



The value ol careful selection of cotton seed has 

 often been emphasized in this Jouriial. An interesting 

 account of tob.acco cultivation in RlKide.sia, whicli 

 appears in tlie Jiliodesia Agricultural Journal. Febru- 

 ary 1919, euipliasizes thesanie necessity and import.inoe 

 of selecting iobacco seed. Tlie writer states that no 

 permanent iinj)i-ovenfent can be effected reg.-irding tho 

 quality of Kliodesian tobacco, until tlie growers, 

 instead of anmially importing seed, practice systematic- 

 seed selection, and thus breed up the several varietie.-* 

 so that tliey are ad.ipted to the local conditions of .soil 

 aad cliniate. 



Estimates by the Brazilian Minister of Agriculture 

 indicate that the crop of beans in Brazil during tlie 

 present year will reach S50. COO tons. Brazil imported 

 fceans'in large ipiaiitities befoi-e the Avar, but doinestip 

 produition uoxv meets the denumd of the country, and 

 leaves a lai-ge exportable siirpbis. (The Weekly Bulletin.. 

 I)epartment of Tiafle and Comnierc*. ('anada. Jannaiv 

 27, 1919.) 



Ill an .irticle piililish'-rl in fj'Agrononiie Colotiiale. 

 November- JJecemhei- I!)18, Dr. Jacques Silhol advo- 

 cates the employment of kaiX)k, the (il)i-e contained in 

 the pfxls of the si Ik -cot ton tree (Eriodendron anjrac- 

 tuosum) as an excellent matioiial for surgical dress- 

 iogs. He says that for eight months he has i-titirely 

 replaced cotton for this purposi: by kapok in the hospital 

 of the ■lardiii Colonial. I'aiis. 



The wnr values of sugar Iwvc had decided effect 

 Upon lanii values in Barh.'idr)s.. The Barl)ados Agri- 

 cultural Ilejforter, DeeemluM- 28, 1918, reports tlie sale 

 during till- year of t hirty-lhree estates of a totiil acre- 

 age of 9,132 acres. The total amount of the jjrices 

 paidreaehed i;808.991. Ctf tliese plantations the l.irg- 

 ef;t w>ntained l.lO'l acres, and tlu; smallest, 12 .■icres. 

 The priee paid for several of these was over .t'l(M> 

 p«-r aere. 



Pijor to the war the United States u,seflinori> than 

 1,000,000 tons of potash salts .-..l, >•...,• ..,,.1 ;t 1t.,c, 

 been supposed that the cutti)i if of 



this supply owing to the war \\.i'- 'iou 



to the fanner liy whomit was used With 



much energy, domestic j)i-oduc( i ' 



one-fourth the former iim 



built up. I^ow. howi'Ver, it is .1 



that there is little or 'no m.ui. it 



the high prices that have jirevailed oi' even at a con 

 .sider.ably lower price. No satisfactory e.xplan.-ition of 

 this situation .seems to be oHei-ed. (The VV^ec/dy Pullet in, 

 l)i')iartmeiit of Trade and Commerfe. .March 3, 191!).) 



Kveryoiie knows that, .ill kin<ls ot fruit, if they jiro 

 to keej) well, should be carefully pieki'd. and not sh.ikeu 

 off' the t rees on til the gi'ound. .\n ingenious way of 

 constructing ;i simple honie-inaile jucker is dosta'ibiMl iu 

 the Journal oj the .foniaira Ai/ricuUural Society, Janu- 

 ary 1919. After husking larefully a laige sizeil eooo- 

 nut, cut it exaetly in half crosswise. Clean out the- 

 nut. Firmly atli.x one half of tlii' shell to a long sti-aight 

 .stick, attach the other half lirnily to a short picjce 

 of woofl whieh is to be boiled b.\- its middle to the long 

 I'od in such a way that it works like (h<- jaws of a pair 

 of .seis.sors, .and the two halves of the coc(>-nnt. come 

 together e\a(rtly. A strong cord or wire is then' 

 attached to the projectiiig arm by wliieli tlie nut e.nn 

 lie iipeiied ol' shut over the fruit tube picke<l. 



