THE AGUICULTUKAL NEWS. 



May 17, 1919. 



"GLEANINGS. 



A tract of land i)f 25,000 acres is to be utilized iu 

 I""l()ii(la lor llu- jiiii-posi' 111' planting and exploiting sisal 

 (in a i-oniniei-cial ))asis. Already l.dOO acros of tliis 

 land have been cleared, and 7-'')'i.U<H» henequen plants 

 are lo he w>t out immediately. These -were 

 ]ilanted in the nursery aUout two years ago, and have 

 no^^• reached a height of 1.5 inches. Tt is stated that in 

 the .lutvunn iiflU21 t lie leaves Mill lie fit to Vie cut 

 from till' phiuts. The deeortiealor machinery to be 

 stipplied will Vie n? the most modern type. (TJie Board 

 oj Trade Jviiriiftl. February 27. IVll!*. ) 



Tlte most serious pest of t he sugar-cane iu 8t.. Croix 

 iH tlie grub (if tlio rhinoceros beetle (Sh-ateyun titanusK 

 Oane.s attacked by this pest have the appearance of 

 suifering from (brought, the base of the stalk being 

 eateu out until it becomes a mere sliell. In some ca.ses 

 80 per cent. I if tlie crop is destruyed by this insect. 

 (Factt about Sugar, April 19, 19UU 



Acc.ordiugto a leaflet, issued on .lannaiy 20, 1910, 

 by the Department <if Lanil Records and Agriculture, 

 Assam, tlie tiital area undei- sugar-cane in that Prov- 

 ince is 32.000 acres, wliich rejircsents 1 '•") ]iei' cent, 

 tif the total area uudi-r sugar-caue in Britisli India. 

 On the basis of tlie normal yield of 18 (;\vt. of gui' per 

 acre, the total produce amounts to o21.200 cwt., 

 nearly 12 per cent, less tlian th;i1 of Last \-car. 



The Amerifjan Consul-(.Teneral in London lias 

 .smnouiiced that instructions Jiave luseii issued under 

 ^^•hich from June 1. iie.Kt, the iui[)ortalioii into the 

 United States of jiursery stoik, iilants, and seeds, from 

 all foreign countries will be proliibitid. I nresti-icted 

 fjitry of plant products imported for ineilicinal. food. 

 • or manufacturing piir]ioses is pei'mitted, 'I'lie gciKti'al 

 ]iiirposc of till' reguhit.ious in ipiestioii is tn pre\ent 

 the introihicti<in nf injiiriniis insect-s, \arioiis disea.se.s. 

 mid other evils which alli-ct iilatit life. (Tlii' Tinieti. 

 February 2-'). JlHlt.; 



Owing to the high cost of cattle dip. the cfinscrva- 

 tion of fluid by tin- use n\ afle(]uate draining pens is 

 Avorth considering with a view to reducing wasl.age to 

 a minimum. < )li.scivatious m.'ide by the .\grii iilf ural 

 Department of Khodcsia show that propi'r draining 

 accommodation means a saving of many ]iounds iu .a 

 year. The doul<le-draining (lou and the long-draining 

 race are both very economical: in the latter the wast- 

 age is go^■erned largely by the speed at which t he 

 .animals are driven through. (The Rhodexid AtjTicl'liu- 

 ral JdurnaL l''<bnun\ lHlil.) 



Last yeai- throughout the We.st Indies weathiir 

 <-onditions were not favourable to sug.ar-cane cultiva- 

 tion. In the Northern J slaiKis the crop suifcred jfrom 

 a prolougefi drought, and in Barbados conditions were 

 jniich tbe same, tliough tlie di'ouglit was not .so scvej'e. 

 ]n the two previous yeai's t he ipiantity of sugar .•nid 

 niolasses exported fromlhe Uiitish West Indies, ecpiaf- 

 <-d in terms of sugar, reached about iidO.UCO tons for 

 each .year, but the cpiantit.x last .\ear was some ."itJ.tJUd 

 Ions li'ss. (Weekly Bulletin, Dejiiirtinent of Tr.irlc 

 and Commerce, Canada, April 7, 1JI]1*.,> 



From the report on iVic exliibition of tlie product.s 

 and industries of the r)ependenoy. held at Grand Turk, 

 on Febrnar.v t). 1010. it would .seem that a vc^ry credi- 

 table show was 7nade. Exhibits numbering 

 8.'i7 were presented under six classes, T\v far the 

 largest number being under the class Agricultiu-al 

 Products. T'nder this heading the exhiV^its of beans 

 and ]ieas. all of ,i very choice grade, drew especial 

 attention. Ne.xt to this were corn products in the 

 form of hominy, meal, and flour, from both white and 

 yellow corn, of which there were no less than 126 

 entries. 



In marmalade factories the (orange pips are sepa- 

 rated by the use of centriftigals. Very few attempts 

 have been made to use them commercially, though it 

 would be easy, after ilrying, to extract the oil from 

 them, either by pressure or the use of solvents. By the 

 use of petroleiiiij ether, oil has been e.vtracted from the 

 pips, of a golden-yellow colour and almost odourless. 

 At first the oil is only sli.i;litl,v bitter, but it becomes 

 more so on keeping. The oi) saponifies easily, and 

 should Vie suitable for the manufacture of .soap. 

 (Monthly Bulletin of AyncuHnral Intelligence and 

 Plant, Dii^easex. November 1918.) 



The arcii utnler sugar-cane eultiv.ation at the 

 present time in Kgypt is about <)7,H00 acres, and over 

 IttO.OnO tons of sugar are now produeerl, as compared 

 loan output of fiO.OOO tons befoi'e the war. The. 

 annual jire-war eoiisumiition in Egypt was .some 

 lS:-!,tl(tO tolls, cau.sing an import of sonie 2.3.tlOO Ions. But 

 during the war l'2gypt has been able to meet local 

 requirements out fif her own ))rodnction, .and in 

 addition, has exported during the three past years a 

 net amount of .'iH.OOO tons, plainly showing n consider- 

 .ilile expansion of the industry. (The International tSugar 

 .h.nrnitl Maieh 1010.) 



The 'I'rihnne. N;is,sau. Februar.\- 10. 1010. re|)ro- 

 duces the speech ol' the (.Jovei'tior of the Bahamas at the 

 o|ieniiig of the session of the Legislature the day liefore. 

 In this speech the (Jovcrnor expresses an earnest hope 

 tliat it may soon lie found possible' to .ipproiiriate .a sum 

 of t;2.")U jicr annum tiiwaids the s.daiy of a M.iriuo 

 Biologist, a siniil.ir amount to lie boi-iie by Imperial 

 I'unds. His Kxccllency .said that the .ipjioint nient of 

 a Stipi-rinleiidcnt of Agri<-ulturc and of .i M.irinc 

 J{iologist were, in his opinion, t wo of the most iniiior- 

 taut sle))s that could lie taken to further the de\tlop- 

 mcTii of the Colony. 



