220 



THE A.GRICULTUliAL NEWS. 



Jui-Y 1:2. 1919. 



GLEANINGS. 



At anesti^tfson the eas-t or windward coast of An'igua, 

 tbere are afipioxlm^toly ^50 acres nf land planted in sisal, and 

 10 acres in Lejcqaen {Again fourci-oyoidii). 



The e?prrts of rubber from India have increased 

 Tfciirkably sime tha outbreak of the war. The total quantity 

 .•shipped in l^lV-iS amomied to tS,4 30,000 Bb.. the highest 

 «n rec rd. {RcjOrt i>n the Progress of Agriculture in Tndin 

 for 1917-18.) 



Ac"or'iinff to Ceylon rubber research rebult-i, reviewed in 

 the India Rubber Jonriai ifoeutly, acetic acid has again 

 loeen proved ore of ihe byrt coagulating agents. It is found 

 also thit later phoalcf net be diluted on plantations except 

 tmder unuiTial coi-.ditionH. 



A note appears \n the Exfe.rimcnt Station Record for 

 January 1919 on the subjoct of gra.s8es in the West Indies. 

 "Work in this oonne'^ion has been done by Hitchcock and 

 <!Jhase, dealing mo)>' particularly with the trasses of Bermuda, 

 the F.ahanjas, and Tiinidp.d f.nd Tn'oago. 



The IJjgli.^h jo'.irn'il of science, JVature, contained 

 jrecently an obituary no' ice in connexion with the death of 

 ilr. C. K. Bancroft oi' iiarbi.-lo.s, formerly Assistant Director 

 and Government Botaui.-t, Hr'ti'h Guiana. The consider- 

 able scientific achieveiiienta of ih's officer »re recorded in 

 some detail. 



The eff'ot of linseed, cotto'i, and sesamum oil cakes on 

 the composition r.f millc and Imlter fat has been investigated 

 ir, TnHiq, According In t'ae J<^/)ort on the f^rngtr.ss of Agri 

 culture in Iitdii for 1917-18. feeding with sesimum cake 

 reduced, whereas linsord ar.d oottoti cakes either maintained 

 or increased the percentage of fnf. 



The caramon soil alkali", calcium chloride, .sodinm 

 sulphate, and sodium c.irbon it j arc very toxic to nitrifying 

 •organisms, and if prcsitnt in t'lo soil to any great extent, 

 "will greatly reduce the nitrf><; ii a ;i;umulated as a result of 

 nitrifying in such a soil {Jniirnnl of Agricultural Resedrch, 

 -January 27, 1919.) 



I!<w juice straining at the AntigUii >Sugar Factory 

 1« d<rs;ri:K'd in an artirtle. by Mr. Ij. f. Henzell in the. 

 JLouisiana PliUil r for May 24. A rotary strainer was 

 Tiscd. and .^0 per cent, oi' tiie solid matter in the raw juice 

 Tfas rr moved. A stretch of the appliance i- puhlished in 

 th'j letter pre-ss of the article. 



The present area under sisil in the l';ast Africa Pro- 

 tectorate was e.stimated at 1. 5,000 acres in 1916-17. The 

 monthly production was at the rate of 400 tons. One large 

 hydro e'ectric plant has been established to s,i[)ply varioua 

 factories with [lOwer, and the construction of other [lOwcr 

 stations is contemplated {Colohial Reports — Annual 

 No. 98H.) 



The Jamaica correspondent of The Times .-atates that 

 in the Trinidad development scheme it is jirovided to e.vpend 

 not less than £2,272,283 to improve the communitfatio.is (;f 

 the colony and the tapping of resources. Tlie propos^ils 

 include the taking over by the (Jovcrnment of oastat 

 steamers, improving the harbours :ind roads, and extending 

 the railways. 



In the Monthly Keports of the Grenada Agricultural In- 

 structors, for May, reference is made to the excellent 

 ptic s ruling for cacao and lime juice, aud it is interesting to 

 notealsc' the increasing attention that is being paid tothe culti- 

 vation of yams — a crop the cultivation of which the Grenada. 

 Department of Agriculture has made special efforts to 

 encourage during the past two or three yeara- 



Reclamation of sand dunes receives Attention in the A^eitf 

 Zealand Journal of Agriculture, and the .systems, describ- 

 ed are of some interest in reg.ird to the reclamation of Jiitorul 

 dunes iu parts of the West Indies. It is stated that opeia- 

 tioDs should be started where the s.and drift has its source. 

 In Southern Florida casuarina trees are used for reclamation 

 work, more particularly as .shelter belts. Their use iu this 

 connexion can be seen in a modified exteut in Barbados. 



A summarized statement of the factors wl.ich influence 

 the yield and consistency of ice cream appears in the 

 Experiment Station Record for January 1919. With 

 pasteurized cream, the average yield of prepared ice cream 

 was t'72 per cent, higher from cream twenty-four hours 

 old than fron. fresh cream, and there was a fur; her increase 

 with still older cream. The body of the ice cream made 

 from fresh cream was weak and coarse, that from twenty- 

 four-hour-old cream was fairly satisfactory, and that from 

 the forty-eight-hour-old cream was a trifle light. 



Flans for Ihe erection of a plant in Trinidad for the 

 luauufactnre of bamboo paper pulp have bei^n I'ompleted. 

 The machinery has been ordered from the United .Slates of 

 America. The .shortage of paper ha.s caused a Scottish 

 publishing house, in order to iTiake sure of its future supplies, 

 to turn its attention to Trinidad. This firm has plant, d 

 1,000 acres of laud with bamboos, in addition to securing a 

 conces.sion to cut bamboos on Grown lands in the isl.ind. 

 In due course paper pulp will be manufactufed from thp 

 bamboo. (F'roin The Tim's ) 



An interesting note on anthelmintics, or worm destroyers 

 appears in Physiological Ahstracts for April 1919. The 

 most effective .sub-tances are aspiiliuui, chrnopodium, 

 [)e!lptieriii, thymol, be^a naplithol, and chloroform. Fresh 

 pumpkin and sipiash seeds are highly etlicienl. Spices and. 

 ' sharp ' substances are also toxic to w<irms. The v.iliie of 

 the substance was discovered by studying their action on 

 ordinary earthworms. All substances which prove poisonous 

 to earthworms arc poisonous to worms which infe.it the 

 intestine of man and animals. 



