188 



IRE aGKICULTDKAL NEWS. 



JuNfc 14, 1919. 





GLEANINGS. 



In Colonial Reports— kxwvc^AS, No. 980, which contains 

 the report on the Jamaica Blue Book for 1917-18, i; is stated 

 that the banana borer is now generally recognized by 

 planter.? in .Jamaica, who have had experience of this 

 insect on their plantations, as not to be a serious pest, 

 and to be controlled by measures of clean management, so 

 as to be negligible in commercial banana cultivation. 



A copy of the result of the monthly distillations of bay 

 leaves conducted at the Experiment Station, Mont.serrat, 

 during 1918, has been forwarded by the acting Government 

 Chemist of ihe Leeward Islands. The yield per lOOB). of 

 leaves in ounces of oil varied from 16 in February and 

 October to 21'4 in May, and 22-4 in .June, thus seeming 

 to show that the time of year or perhaps rtie weather experi- 

 enced exercises a considerable influence 'in the yield < f the oil. 



The Wist I,:dia CommiUee Circular, May 16, 1919, 

 statesthat iiifonuaiion has been received that a large new central 

 sugar factory will shortly be erected on St. Catherine Plains 

 about 1 1 miles from Kingston, .Jamaica. Its capacity will 

 be 1,200 tons of cane per day, and the anticip.ated production 

 will be about 20,000 tons of sugar per annum. The mills 

 are expected to begin working for the first time on \ew \ ear's 

 Day next year. To supply this facinry with cane it is estimated 

 that about 200,000 tons of cir.e will be pniducod un an area 

 of ti.OOO acres in the neighbourhood already under cultivation. 



The production of cane sug^r it 

 nnnine in the fall of 1S18 



in Louisiana for the season 

 beginning in the tall ot ibto was .5(51,800,000 tt). as 

 compared with 487,200,000 Bfc. in 1917, and (507,800,000 in 

 1916. The cane crushed for sugar amounted to 4,170,000 

 tons in 1918, or an average of 13.5 tt). of sugar per ton of 

 cane. The average yield of cane per acre in 1918 was 18 

 tons, and the estimated area harvested for sugar-making was 

 231,200 acres. (The Louisiana Planter, May 10,1919.) 



A programme of afforestation with a view to protecting 

 and improving the watersheds ' of Hawaii upon which the 

 sugar plantations are dependent for their water-supply is being 

 organized by the Experiment SMtion in connexion with the 

 Territorial Board of Forestry. It provides that the forests of 

 the islands relating directly or indirectly to the water-supplies 

 of the plantations shall be inspected and reported on, and the 

 necessary steps be taken to replace the wastage of trees by 

 fresh plantings. ('^\mi fatermiHonil Siii^ar J,n(rnal,h.-^x\\ 1919.) 



In a note on the preservation of farmyard manures in 

 the Journal of thi Board oj A^riailturc, .January 1919, 

 the following suggestive remarks are made : 'Farmers might 

 feel stimulated to devote special attention to the preserva- 

 tion of both solid and liijuid manure if they would 

 consider for a moment what reply they would be compelled 

 to make to the rjuestion ; where do these materials come 

 from in the first place ( In answering such a question 

 farmers will not forget that farmyard manure represents the 

 residue after -lonsuraption or use for litter by their .stock, of 



(1) crops griiwn on the farm at considerable expense, and 



(2) purchased feeding stuffs of very high value. It is clear 

 that these residues arc in themselves of considerable 

 money value for manurial purposes, owing to their content 

 of nitrogen, phosphorio acid, and potash, as well as because 

 of the bulk of carbohydrate inattfr they add to the .soil.' 



The area of forest reserves under the control of the 

 Forest I)epartment of Trinidad has been increased from 

 270 to 276 square miles, and now forms about 1.5 per rent, 

 of the area of the colony. There are 480 acres of plantations 

 containing 140,000 timber trees, including 62,000 West 

 Indian Cedar and 14,000 East Indian Teak. The Teak 

 was introduced from Burma, and continues to Hourish. 

 Trees of four and a half years old have reached a girth 

 of from 20 to 30 inches at .5 feet from the ground, and 

 a height of from 30 to 40 feet. {Colonial Reports — .Annual 

 No. 984.) 



In Spciial Bulletin, Nn. gi of the Michigan Agricultural 

 College on some general information on lime and its uses and 

 functions in soi's, the conclusion is stated that there are many 

 indications that lime is the most promising single substance 

 that the farmer has at his disposal for soil improvement. 

 Lime, however, should be looked upon as only one of the 

 conditions involved in permanent systoms of soil fertility. 

 Since its presence in the soil results in a somewhat mare 

 rapid decay of vegetable matter, precautions must be taken by 

 means of crop rotation, turning under crop residue and 

 manures to maintain this substance which is so vital to soil 

 productivity. 



In many of the West Indian islands after a walk over 

 grass intolerable itching is felt in the legs on account of the 

 attack of betes rouges. In X,\w. Journal oJ the Board of A"ri- 

 tiihure of Brilisii 6'((/a«(!, .lanuary 1919, it is stated that a 

 good plan when about to walk over land which is suspected of 

 harbouring betes rouges is to take an ordinary piece of soap 

 no matter how cheap, and by rubbing produce a stiff latlier on 

 the legs from above the knees down. ."Shoes and socks can 

 then be put on, and no bete rouge can penetrate the soap or 

 climb above it for at least three or four hours. In nine ca.se3 

 out of ten the cost of anti-betc rouge mixtures is out of all 

 proportion to their value. The soap method is hard to beat. 



The following instructions for preserving small quantities 

 of seed, given in the As^rieiiltiirat Extension Notes of the 

 I'orto llico Department of Agriculture, No. 4, March 1.5 

 1919, will [)robably be found useful: Take a glass jar with 

 an air-tight cover :»nd place some fresh calcium chloride in 

 the bottom of the jar, pluvie on top of the calcium chloride a 

 piece of wire screening or even a pieoi- of wood that is not 

 tight-fitting, place the .seed in small cotton bags, and fill up 

 the jar. Be sure that the jar is covered air-tight. The seeds 

 should be air dried before being placed in the jar. If it is 

 observed that the calcium chloride becomes very nwist, it 

 must be changed. In this way seeds can be kept fresh for a 

 considerable length of time. 



