Vol, XVirr. No. 44-'.. 



TEE ASRICULTURAL NEWS, 



lolt 



English Chamber of Horticulture. 



The inaugural meeting of the newly formed 

 Ciiainber of Horticultuie iu England was held on 

 Decembei- 2, 1918. A rejmit of this meeting has been 

 forwarded by the Secretary of the Chamber to the" 

 Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture for ihe West 

 Indies. 



In his comnmnication to ihe Imperial Commia- 

 sioner, the Secretar}', Mr. R Wynne, states that it is 

 the wish of the Chamber that it should come into 

 close co-operation on matters of horticu'tural intereso 

 with institutions dealing with economic botaay m the 

 colonies and dependencies of the British Empire 



The formation of such a Chamber is evidently a 

 step towards the unification of interests in the horti- 

 cultural indus'.ry not only iu England itself, but 

 throughout the Empire. 



— — ■■■i^^ ♦-m— will 



The Destruction of Food-plants of Cotton 

 Stainers in Montserrat. 



In the Agricultivral News. Vol. XVII, No. 438, 

 it was noted that, following the example of .St Vincent, 

 the Legislature of Montserrat had passed an Ordinance 

 relating to the compulsory (le.struction of silk-cotton 

 trees and other host plants of the cotton stainer, and 

 that the campaign had actively bep^'in. In a recenO 

 letter to the Imperial Commissioner ot Agriculture 

 from Mr. W. Robson, Curat'jr of the Botanic Station, 

 Montserrat, it is stated that the total number of silk- 

 cotton trees destroyed up to the end of April was 1,493, 

 of which 977 were felled in the Olveston and Woodlands 

 districts alone, and that many more remained there. 

 The work in this district has been done by men 

 employed by the Government and supervised by the 

 officers of the Agricultural Department. On certain 

 outlying estates the work is supervised by the propri- 

 etors or managers of the estates. 



Changes in Modern Methods of Industry. 



In his introductory lecture, on taking over the 

 duties of the Chair of Metalurgy in the Royal Technical 

 College, Glasgow, Prof. Cecil Desch laid emphasis 

 upon the changes in the methods of industry which 

 have recently been taking place. Nature, April 10, 

 1919, says that he quoted from Prof Patrick Geddea 

 a definition of the division of the industrial age into two 

 periods: the 'palaeotechnic' and the 'neotechnic'. In the 

 earlier of these the aim of industry was merely the 

 accumulation of wealth. Natural resources were 

 squandered recklessly, the one consideration being their 

 rapid conversion into marketable products. Human 

 life was disregarded, the cheapest) labour being 

 utilized without reference to any standard of life. It 

 is, however, being realized nowadays, both by the 

 employers of industry and the workers themselves, 

 that natural resources must be used with the utmost 

 economy, avoiding unnecessary destruction ; that health 

 and comfort must be considered in the planning of 

 works; and that the erection of squalid dwellings 

 crowded into a minimum of space must give 



place to town-planning on rr scientific and 

 sound basis. Professor Desch said that the symbol of 

 the palaeotechnic age was the furnace filled with raw 

 coal; that of the neotechnic age is the electrical 

 power-house, with its clean atmosphere and white tile"! 

 walls. 



A New Machine for Exterminating Weeds. 



In view ot the fact that nowadays uiuch attention 

 is being given to implemental tillage everywhere, a 

 description in the Monthly Bulletin of Agricwlturdl 

 Intelligence and Plant Diseases, November 1918, of a 

 new machine invented in the United States of 

 America for exterminating weeds, particularly 'couch' 

 or quack' grass, seems of interest. 



This new machine resemble-s a tractor in appear- 

 ance, but does not propel itself The petrol motor- 

 mounted on it serves to operate the mechanism, while 

 the machine itself is drawn by horses or by a tractor. 



The machine consists of a frame work mounted on 

 wheels, carrying at its forward end an ordinary plough, 

 minus the mould hoard, behind which is a toothed 

 cylinder, followed in the rear by an elevator running 

 backward and upward into the separating mechanism, 

 which in turn is followed by a large, circular sieve 

 moving iu a direction opposite to the hands of a clock 

 as the machine travels forward. Inside this circular 

 sieve is a horizontal conveyor running to a perpendicular 

 elevator-swing at the rear of the machine, which 

 conveys the weed refuse into a wagon driven along- 

 side. 



The operation of the machine is described as 

 follows: the plough share located at the forward end 

 is 16 inches wide, and set to run at a depth of 4 to 6 

 inches; the ribbon of soil cut is passed back, there being 

 no mould board, and brought into contact with the 

 teeth of the forward cylinder which cuts and shreds up 

 the weeds and soil. At thi.'; point about 60 per cent. 

 of the soil is returned to the earth, while the weeds, 

 stalks, etc. are passed into the separating machinery, 

 where a system of separation, not unlike that of a wheat- 

 threshing machine separates the weeds and about 20 

 per cent, of the soil, which latter is returned to the 

 ground. All the weeds and roots and the remaining 

 20 per cent, of the soil pass into the revolving 

 sieve in the rear. The soil is completely passed; 

 through the meshes of this sieve, while the weeds are- 

 carried onwards by the horizontal conveyor to the- 

 elevator m the rear, to be passed into a vehicle and 

 carted away to be burned or otherwise destroyed. 



A field is thus left in a condition free from all 

 weeds. Perhaps an instrument of this kind might 

 be of use in dealing with 'devil's grass' and 'nub grass', 

 on flab lands at least, in the West. Indies. 



The machine is said to have a capacity of 3 to 5 

 acres per day according to the nature of the soil, the 

 thickness of the ground, and the speed at which the 

 machine is towed. This new tool is said to be strongly 

 made, and should last from five to eight years; its esti- 

 mated cost is £200. It 13 manufactured by the Quack 

 Grass Exterminator Co , Minneapolis, U.S.A. 



