172 



THE AGKICULTURAL NEWS. 



May 31. 1919. 



T5P7 



►*• * 





In commenting on an article in Engineering for 

 February 21, Xatiire. March 13, 1919, points out the 

 advantages of concrete roads. Such roads do not 

 disintegrate under traffic, and do not soften with rain; there 

 is theref re neither dust nor mud. The initial cost is 

 higher, but_^ie maintenance cost is much lower than that of 

 macadam. The maintenance cost of an experimental stretch 

 of concrete on the London to Chatham road, laid down in 

 1915, has been nil during the four year.s that have elapsed. 



GLEANINGS. 



The Jamaica Gkaiict, April 8, 1919, states that the 

 Elders «i- Ffyffes steamer which sailed two days before for 

 England carried a record cargo of 89,500 bunches of 

 bananas. Not only was the number of bunches the largest, but 

 they consisted of the finest fruit ever shipped from Jamaica 

 lo the >rother Country. 



The timber industry of British Honduras contributes a 

 large poriion of the exports of the colony. According to 

 the report of the Collector of Customs for 1917, the total 

 shipment of mahogany from liritish Honduras was 9,933,269 

 cubic feet, valued at •$86-.',077, while the shipment of logwood 

 amounted to 4,715 tons, valued at .*r2'2,797. 



According to experiments made in Ceylon, it was found 

 that a camphor plant twenty-eight months old, of average 

 growth, yielded 10 or 12 lb. of prunings, and that 100 cwt. of 

 prunings afforded on distillation 12 oz. of pure camphor. A 

 rather larger percentage has been obtained in Florida from the 

 leaves and twigs of trees less than twenty years old. (The 

 Ferf'tanerv and Essentia/ Oii Record, 'SUrohii, 1919.) 



Liquid manure has special advantages for garden 

 crops, its stimulating ett'ects on these being generally very 

 noticeable, btouse the fertilizing ingredients can be absorbed 

 by growing plants more readily in a liquid than in a solid 

 form. All flower plants in pots and beds, and vegetable crops 

 of quick growing nature respond noticeably lo applications 

 of liquid manure. (The Qiitcnsland Agricullural Journal, 

 February 1919.) 



The Pori.of- Spain Gazette, May 11, 1919, in its 

 horticultural and botanical notes, states that an industry 

 is being developed satisfactorily in local hat making in 

 Tobago, the material being obtained from palm leaves. The 

 palm in question appears to be Tlirinax argentea, known in 

 Trinidad as the silver thatch or bag palm. It grows wild in 

 Tobaso, especially near the seacoast. It may also be 

 mentioned that this palm may be observed very commonly 

 growing wild on the slopes of the numerous islets of the 

 Virgin group. 



Of all the imported [lure bred hogs in the Philippine 

 Island.s the Berkshire has proved to be the best adapted for 

 the improvement of the native stock. Berkshire-native 

 cros es are in some cases hard to distinguish frtmi the pure 

 bred stock They are shorter, broader, ami with sironger 

 backs than the native hogs. As market hogs they are exceed- 

 ingly satisfactory, and equal to the pure bred. (The Philip- 

 J>ine Agriculturist, October 1918.) 



Para rubber has fulfilled the expectations of its most 

 zealous advocates in Uganda. The growth of the trees 

 ai.'l the yield of latex have been .satisfactory, and a 

 Heady and permanent growth of this industry i.s predicted. 

 The gooJ jriits realized for Uganda Para rubber have 

 been maintained, Uganda .smoked sheet bringing 2.v.7f/. i)er lb. 

 •with Eastern crops at 2j-.8(/. (The Clutmlier of Commerce 

 ^/ournai, March 1919.) 



It has '..ow been demonstrated that by making entilage 

 it is possible on the Liguanea plain in Jamaica to secure 

 without irrigation a constant supply of succulent forage and 

 that the product in the form of ei:her Guinea grass or 

 Guinea corn silage is a first class fodder which is relished by 

 cattle, and is also quite wholesome. If Guinea grass be cut 

 just before the seeds begin to form, and stored as ensilage, it 

 is preserved in its most succulent and nourishing form, and 

 enables a larger number of cattle to be fed from a given area 

 than if it were grazed. (The Jamaica Gleaner, April 16, 

 1919.) 



According to anoteinJ>/t' Tunes, March 18, 1919, there 

 seems a possibility of utilizing rat skins for fur coats At a 

 Conference at Newcastle to consider the extermination of rats, 

 the Veterinary Inspector to the Newcastle Corperation stated 

 that he had approached a furrier on the question of having an 

 industry created to deal with rat skins, and the real difficulty 

 seemed to be the lack of a regular supply. Such an industry 

 would create a demand for the skins which would be an 

 incentive for the destruction of rats. During the discussion 

 it was stated that the yearly damage due to rats was more 

 than £15,000,000. 



An editorial note in the Journal of the Board of 

 Agriculture, March 1919, on weeds draws attention to the 

 remarkable quantity of weed seeds present even in highly 

 cultivated soils. The writer of the note states that he once 

 removed by hand no fewer than 1,050 weed seedlings as a 

 hrst weeding from 1 square yard of good garden soil which 

 had been well cultivated for at least three years. This would 

 be equal to over 5,000,000 from 1 acre. It has beo 

 ^stimatecl that about £16,500,000 per annum are lost by 

 farmers in Great Britain in growing (and getting rid of) 

 weeds. 



The genus Citrus is remarkable for the numerous 

 hybrids and varieties that occur in ir. In the celebrated 

 llanbury (iarden at La Mortola, near Ventimiglia, as many 

 as forty-seven varieties are grown, of which seventeen are 

 referred to the orange (Citrus aurantium), four to the ponvelo 

 (C. deeuinaua), and nineteen to the lemon (C, niedica), but 

 these are by no ni'ans all the varieties known. One of the 

 most curious varieties of the lemon is that called Buddha's 

 fingers, in which the component segments of the fruit are 

 partly separated and elongated and covered with rind, 

 (The Perjumery and Essential Oil Record, March 1919.) 



