184 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



June 14, 1919. 



EDITORIAL 



Head Officb 





NOTICES. 



— Barbados. 



Letters and matter for publication, as well as all 

 specimens for naming, should be addressed to the 

 Commissioner, Imperial Department of Agriculture, 

 Barbados. 



All applications for copies or the 'Agricultural 

 News' and other Departmental publications, should be 

 addressed to the Agents, and not to the Department. 



The complete list of Agents will be found on 

 page 4 of the cover. 



Imperial Commissioner of Sir Francis Watts, K.C.M.G. 



AgruyiiUnrp for the West Indies D.Sc, F.I.C.. F.C.S. 



SCIENTIFIC STAFF. 



•^fienti/ic Assiitant and fW. R. Dunlop.* 



Assistant Editor \Rev. C. H. Branch, B.A. 



JSntomologist H. A. Ball ju, M.Sc. 



Mycologist W. Nowell, D.I.C. 



Assistant for Cotton Research S. C. Harland, B.Sc.+ 



CLERICAL STAFF. 



GKief Clerk 

 GUrical Assistants 



Typist 



Atiisiaiit Typist 



AisistaiU for Fublicatimia 



A. G. Howell. 



L. A. CorbiB. 



P. Taylor.* 



K. R. C. Foster. 

 Mies B. RobiDsnn. 

 Miss W. Ellis. 



A. B. Price, Fell. Journ. Inst. 



*SecotKied for Military Service. 



iProvided by the Imperial Department of Scientific and 

 Industrial Research. 



m " ~ ■ 



Anricultiinit M^\^^ 



ToL. XVin. SATlfRDAY, .JUXE 14, 1919. No. 447. 

 NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



An Ancient Vegetable Dye Rediscovered. 



The discovery of anniline dyes and their production 

 on a commercial scale^ so cheaply ;is to enable the 

 manufacturers of them to undersell dye-pmdncts of 

 veget.ible origin has, as is well known, caused the 

 cultivation of many dye-producing plants to be prac- 

 tically discontinued. It is true that many ancient 

 fabrics, dyed with lasting and beautiful vegetable 

 colours, are still in existence, but it is often not possible 

 to trace the plants from which the colours were derived. 

 The aboriginal inhabitants of America were adepts in 

 the art of dyeing, and many Mexican and Pern\ ian 

 textiles are remarkable for their beautiful and perma- 

 nent colours. 



Nature, March I'A, 1919, has an interesting note, 

 drawing attention to an account, contributed by 

 Jlr. W. E. Safford to the Journal of the Washington 

 Acadi'iny of Siiences, Vol. VIII, No. 19, of the 

 'xochipalii, of flower paint of the Asters, which was 

 derived from a plant hitherto unidentified. The plant 

 was described and figured in old writings three cen- 

 turies ago, and was supposed to havo been a species of 

 Tagetes (marigold). Mr. Safford, however.has proved that) 

 the plant is really Cosmos .■^ulpliu reus, and has verified 

 his discovery by obtaining the rich orange red from 

 a decoction of the flowers, which is the colour of 'xi>c« 

 kinalli' described by Hernandez, an old Spanish writer. 

 In connexion with this discovery the point of 

 interest for West Indian horticulturists is that C, 

 ■•^ulph:ireu,8 has oi iate j'ears become a very common 

 showy, garden plant in these West Indian islands, 

 having been introduced, it is said, from Mexico, its 

 native habitat, by way of Jamaica. In .some of these 

 islands the plant niay almost be said to have become ' 

 naturalized, multiplying very easily from self sown 

 seeds. C. saiphumis in its habit of growth is very 

 similar to f'. caudatus — a common nativ(! species — 

 with pink flowers, found in these islands, but the former 

 is easily distinguishable by its brilliant orange red 

 flowers which are produced freely. 



Contents of Present Issue. 



'J'he editorial in this issue summarizes jin article 

 by Mr. H. M. Leake Economic Botanist and Principal 

 of the Agriculttnal College, Cawnpore, India. In this, 

 points fundamental in education in general are dis- 

 cussed, and application of them to agricultural education 

 is nijule. 



Insect .Notes, on page IH(i, describe the i'^uropean 

 corn borer and the (lamage which it i; capahlt (jf 

 effecting in cereal crops. 



The Mycologist's report on the investigation of the 

 frogliopp't pest and disea.sc of sugar-cane in Trinidad, 

 the first i^itt of which appeiired in the previous number 

 of this .Journal, is continied under Plant Diaeafles on 

 page 1 90. 



Orange Oil. 



In the Journal of the Jamaica A(jricultural 

 Society, April 1919, a correspondent dniws attention 

 to the fact that a larger proportiou of orange oil might) 

 be obtained from the skins of the fruit by a different 

 process from that which is at present employed. The 

 present method of extracting oil fi-om oranges, a» 

 practised in .lamaica, is the old one, which is known in 

 the similar extraction of lime oil in Dominica, as <''cuell- 

 ing. By this process only about. '50 per cent, of the oilis 

 obtained, it is stated, thi- rest being thrown away with 

 the remainder of the fruit. 



The following methods are suggested in ()rder to 

 obtiiin a greater, pei-centage of the available oil, and 

 consei|iiently to increase the profits. 



( 1) The thin layer of yellow skin containing the 

 oil may be removed from the fruit with specially 

 constructed machines (orange peelers) worked by hand 

 of foot power, and very reasonable in price. This skin 

 can be automatically fed into a form of meat grinder, 



