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THi. AOitiCULTUllAi. NEWS. 



.Ti'Nh 28. 1919. 



r—:::^^^:^^^ 



The war ba-- wrought a tremendous change in the sogar 

 industry of Germany, which once supplied not only its home 

 market, but also half the requirements of Great Britain. 

 To-day the (iernian people are restricted to a meagre 

 allowance of i-ugar, and thtre is no probability that this 

 years sugar crop will be much above half the normal 

 pre-war production. Either (Jeriiiany will have to import 

 sugar this year, or its people will be compelled to continue 

 on sugar cards (J'lic/s Aboui Sugar, May 24, 1!>19.) 



GLEANINGS. 



The wonderful size of some of the Cuban sutar factiiries 

 ■snay bt understood froff' the fact noticed i.i the Louimma 

 J>Uintcr, .May 26, 1919. that on .Ipril 10 in twenty four 

 hour.-- Central Chaparra ground 7,017 tons of caue, and filled 

 7,.->.S0 hags of sugar each of 325 ft . thus breaking the world's 

 record for amount of caue ground and bags of sugar filled in 

 I hit time. 



.swine raising ought to be made the leading live stock 

 industry of the Philippines, inasmuch as hogs are economical 

 feeders^ can subsi-it largely on by-products of local industries. 

 Hud find a ready market even in small communities. The 

 native hogs j»hould be given better care, better feeding and 

 Bi inageinBDt, and better quarters than they commonly receive. 

 <The Pliilippinr As^riai/titrisi, October 191S.) 



The production of cane sugar in Louisiana for the season 

 teginning m ti.e fall of 191S was 561,800,000 11). as com 

 pared with 487,200,000 lb. in 1917. The cane crushed 

 amounted to 4,170,000 tons in 1918, or an average of 135 & 

 nf .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 2> 1.200 acns (The Louisiana P/an/er,Miiy 10, 

 3919) 



It 'timated officially that there are about 52,000 acre*, 

 under <. .o cultivation in Zanzibar and Pemba, which between 

 them provide three-<juarters of the world's supply of cloves. 

 On this acreage it is estimated that there are about 1,700,000 

 trees in bearing. The output varies considerably, the treea 

 bearing heavy crops every three to five years. The averagu 

 output of recent years has been about 1 4,000 000 tti. of dried 

 cloves. The average yield per annum from a plantation of 

 about 3,000 trees about sixty years old, owned and managed 

 by Europeans, is 8 8). of dried cloves per tree, ninety.oight 

 trees being planted to the acre. (The //t/</, April 26, 1919.) 



Peru where the sugar crop in pre-war times was about 

 170.000 tons nbUincd by means of irrigation, has at present 

 by the extension of this system a crop of 250,000 tons, and 

 there is in view a further considerable extension of the sugar 

 »rea. These sugars are much appreciated by refiners, and a 

 considerable proportion find their way to British refineries 

 via the Panam i Canal. So rich are th>< canes .said to be in 

 sucrose that a result of 4 to 5 tons of sugar per acre is obtain 

 able. {Sugar, .March 1919.) 



A note in UniUd Empire for May i;U9 remarks that ifc 

 is disappointing to find that, in the case of a staple product 

 like coffee, the British Empire produces less than one-ninth 

 of the world's present output. The continuous demand for 

 coffee undoubtedly calls for greater production, and in the 

 opinion of experts there are places within the Empire,. 

 Queensland for instance, where conditions are eminently 

 suited for the cultivation. Probably the best variety to- 

 encourane is that grown on the estates of the Blue Mountain* 

 in .Jamaica. Queensland present.^ splendid opportunities for 

 growing the choicest coffee, and wight well become a future 

 rival to Brazil in the markets of the world. 



The problem of rat destruction is always one of 

 importance to agriculturists. A note in the .loiirna.1. of the 

 Jamnica Agnadtura.l Sccicly, March l'.»19, is worth 

 being reproduced for general information. .Mr. L. A. Wate.s, 

 Agricultuial Instructor, states that he has been credibly 

 ■inforiiii-il that, a iTii«ture of 1.^;/. worth of I'^psom salts to one 

 and a half large coco-KUts grated and pounded together 

 and dropped about a potats field which has bnc.! badly 

 attacked by rata Ind proved most efficacious. It was stated 

 th.Tt the rats ate it readily, and that it was very rapid and 

 effef.ti'fin killing them, and that, moreover, the mongoose 

 also all; it and wcri' poisoned by it. This is such a simple 

 remedy and cli»-ap that it might be worth while experimetUing 

 •with in other islandR. 



Divi-divi is the commercial name for the astringent, 

 pods of Lfirdwia eorinria, a small tree of the ord«r 

 Leguminosae. A note in the Monthly Buiktin of Agrkul- 

 tnrai IntelUgaia and Plant D/st-asrs, December 1918, draws 

 attentiou to the ex[)ort of this product, which is used as a ' 

 tanning material, from the Itepublic of Santo Domingo. 

 The trees grow wild in certain drier districts of the Republic, 

 and whole families of the poorer people devote their entire 

 time to gathering divi-divi beans, and bringing them to market. 

 The annual export formerly exceeded 2,000,000 lb., but of 

 late they have fallen below this figure. Prior to the war 

 divi-divi was exported to Hamburg almost exclusively, but 

 since the war began it has found a ready market in New 

 York, where it brings from $50 to .$55 a short ton. 



An article \\\ iixa I'ltunational Sugar Jourii iliov May 

 1919, on American sugar production, states that a subject of 

 much npeculation in the trade press is the effect which the 

 prohibition of the manufacture and sale of spirits, wines, 

 and malt li(|uor8 after .luly I will have on the consumption 

 of sugar. It is generally agreed that a marked increase in thft- 

 use of sugar will follow, because sugar is regarded as the 

 natural substituli' for alcohol on account of its rapid a.ssimi- 

 lation by the body and its marked stimulating and energizing 

 qualities. A great expansion in the sale of confectionery and 

 of the v.irious '.soft it rinks', in the manufa;ture of which sugar 

 is employed, isanticipi'.ted, .Many brewing and distilling 

 companies are [ilanning to convert their plants Into establish- 

 ments for aatistying ihis expected demand. 



