THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



.]ui.\ 'Hi, 1919. 



GLEANINGS 



The cultivation of limes does not appear to be making 

 wry good progress in Fiji, if one may judge from the re- 

 n.>irks in the Report of tbe Department of Agriculture for 

 rhe rear 1917. The plots of liiuo trees at the experiment 

 - .tion have not grown particularly well, and thosu that have 

 fruited have only given very light crops. 



An ailment, cau.'~ed by the consumption of vanilla in 

 <»xudeloiipe and Kiunion is referred to in LAgrnnoinn- 

 •'nloniale for March-April 1919. Treatment of the 

 e.icternal symptoms consists of euioUitnt lotions an I mucila- 

 ginous fomentations. The basis of treating the internal 

 IroubW is the administration ot emollient infusions. 



An interesting article on the manufacture of balata 

 fcelting appears in the Lulkt Riihber /m.'nuil for May 24. 

 That balata belting i.s better than rubber, leather, or even 

 cotton belting for every purpose, i.s not true. Where water, 

 acid or acid fumes are present, it is however better than 

 any other. Balata will not siand a high heat. 



An interesting case of a fire on a plantation where the 

 tdjoinirig owners had to pay damages is reported in the 

 Jndian /t'u/'A//w^;vW for .May 2-t, 1919. The lighting of 

 & fire by a watchman in such a (•osilion as to permit its -spread 

 to a neighlouring e.state possible, constituted, in the eyes of 

 the court, criminal negligence. 



According to \.'^e. IniUau Trade Joiiriialiw h.\ivA 25, 

 thu recent Indian Cotton Committee i.s not very satisfied 

 •wit h the pr-sent position in India, in regard to cotton culti- 

 •Vation. They hint at tl e want, o{ co-operation on the part of 

 the omall growers^, and the appointment r,f a permanent cen- 

 tral cotton committee for India is recommended. 



Bermuda gras.s has beon treated with sulphuric acid 

 for periods varying from five to sixty minutes to test the 

 ^ect of this treatment up^'n gerniinatio.j. According to 

 J>hysw/ogkal Abstracts for M ly 1919, the lots treated for ten 

 minutes gave the quickest germination ; 95 per cent, of 

 The total germination wasoltainyd at the end i^f the fourth 

 <lav. 



Really good progress was made in Jamaica between 1 908 

 and 1914 in the matter of orange oil production. Since the 

 'w'lf there has been some decline, but renewed anxiety, says 

 the Perfunury and EsMiitia! (?■' k^cunl for June 1919, to 

 idctease the production, is now shown by the suggestion U> 

 adopt mechanica' peelecs and presses for extraction of the 

 cil. 



According to the .luiirnal nf tiit /invu Sotn/i of Arts 

 for May 30, 1919, the yield of diamonds in Gprman South- 

 west Africa in 1913 was worth X2,69.'<,-700, or 20 per cent, 

 in value of the entire output of the worid. 



The Pcr/iiimrij and F.sscjitia/ Oil Record for June 24, 

 1919, says that a warning against the use of West Indian 

 sandal wood oil has been issued by the Austrian Afinisk-r of 

 J'ublic Health : that official states the oil gi\. ^ rit;? to 

 dangerous secondary effects, owing to the presence of 

 irritant terpenes. 



The susceptibility of camels to certain diseases is the 

 subject of Biilhtin No. S'l (1918», of the Agricultural 

 l!e.se»rch Institute, Pusa. Camels weie found to lie as 

 susceptible to blackquarter as cattle : but camels were not 

 found very susceptible to hHiiioir jagic septicaemia. It 

 appears also that camels develop severe lesions of rinderpest, 

 and are more susceptible than some cattle to that disease. 



A meal iu which there is a deficiency of fat is lacking 

 in staying p iwer, even though that deficiency is mide up in 

 terms of energy by carbohydrates. It is pointed out in the 

 Exptrimcfit Station Record for February 1919, that 

 carbohydrates are very bulky, and are more subject than 

 fat to fermentative changes in the intestines. Also, as 

 pointed out in the last i.ssue of the A^riaihiiral Akivs, 

 animal fats contain important vitamines. 



A heavy infestation of sugar-cane by nematodes was 

 received last year by Dr. N A Cobb, of the L'nited States 

 Department of Agriculture, from Florida. According to th» 

 Experiment Station Record for February 1919, one half 

 of the main roots of the stalks were dead, while of those 

 alive, 4.5 per cent, were infested. While sugar-cane has 

 been known to be a host for this nematode, such serious 

 infes'ation does not seem to have been previously reported. 



A note on new varieties of sugar cane in Madras appears 

 in the Agricultural Calendar of that State for 1919.20. It 

 is stated that B.208 s'ands high manuring, yields a heavy 

 outturn per acre, and has a long period of maturity. 15. I.'i29 

 was found to be a heavy yielder, but matured a month or 

 forty days earlier thw H.20S or B.147. This last-named 

 cane is stated to excel Red Mauritius in the matter of yield 

 and milling quality. 



Ail the varieties of nnizs used in some recent AmericaD 

 experiments transpired moru wat.r per plant than the 

 .sorghums employed The rate of transpiration per unit 

 area of leaf surface, txcept in the case of the kafirs, was 

 always much lower than thiit of the sorghums : ' (his 

 difference was most marked under severe climatic conditions. 

 The sorghums with their smaller leaf surface can keep their 

 leaves better suiiplied with water than can the maize plants. 

 {Phvsio/ogica/ Ahstnu/s for May 1919.) 



The Internitlional Si/gtir /ourna/ for .fune 19l".», 

 refers to ;i new rule for converting degrees CJentigrade into 

 degrees Fahrenheit The calculation generally followed is to 

 multiply by nine fifths and add thirty two ; and conversely, 

 first t) subtract thirty-two an i multiply by (ivu ninths. A 

 more convenient way is to aid forty whether it is recpiitod 

 to convert Fahrenheit or vice versa, multiply by five ninths 

 or nine-fifths a." the case may be, and finally, in either case to- 

 Hubtract forty. 



