Vol. XVIII, No. 455. 



THE AQRICULTUBAL HEWS, 



311 



amounted to f.3,16606, from which must be deducted work- 

 ing expenses, 8812-88, and a sum ol ? 4 80 paid to Govern- 

 mect for management and supervision, leaving as profit (or 

 the year $1,87318. 



; We had a sum of §280 to purctiase and erect a mill tlie 

 landed cost of which was $210, extensions to shaft had to be 

 made, belts to be obtained, and steaming and dryini; 

 contrivances supplied. All this has been accomplished and 

 paid for, and the m 11 after crediting Government with a 

 sum of £ 1 00 for the services of the Siperintendent of the 

 Institution, the ( hief Officer and the Clerk, has netted the 

 handsome profit of $1,873. 



RICE FACTORY ACCOUNT FOR PERIOD APRIL I, 1918 TO 

 MARCH 31, 1919. 



Expenditure. Receipts. 



To Purchase of paddy ;— By Milling 3,517^''^ 



1,009 bags, 129 ft). bags paddy .$1,663 46 



$3,674 81 „ fcale of 565,5^ 

 „ Management (paid bags rice 4,841-36 



Government) 48000 „ Sale of 652 bags 

 „ Other expenses 812-88 rice dust 64 90 



„ Sale of 5 ft) rice 



$4,96769 flour 40 



Balance as profit 1,87318 



' $6,573-12 



$6,840-87 On hand :— 



31| bags rice 26775 



$6,840-87 



MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF COIR 

 FIBRE 



In the last issue of the Agricidtural News we 

 published a note on coir machinery which included a 

 reference to the manufacture of coco-nut-fibre rope. 

 In this connexion the followino; summary of a paper in 

 the Philippine Journal of Science, Vol. XIII, Sec. A 

 No. 6, on coir and coir cordage, will be found of great 

 interest. Many of the facts recorded are new and 

 original, and show that coir rope is not worth pro- 

 ducing : — 



The data in the literature on the mechanical properties 

 of coir are very deficient, and often have been misinterpreted 



Coconut fibre in the Philippines is extracted in small 

 quantity, entirely by the retting and beiting process. 



The results show retted filaments to average 228 mm., 

 and machine-cleaned filaments, 245 mm. in length. Moit 

 filaments taper and have elliptical cross -sections, the dimen- 

 sions of which are given. The finest filaments Lave a 

 circular cross section. 



Tensile tests conducted on single filaments average 832 

 kilogrammes per square c itimetre for the retted, and 

 1,208 kilogrammes per square centimetre for the machine- 

 cleaned fibre. The difference in ultimate tensile strength 

 is less marked when the fibres are fabricated into rope 

 The strength of coir filaments and coir cordage is very low, 

 roughiy, one-tenth that of sinele abaca filiments (Govern 

 ment Inspected Grades 'F' and 'G') ; the strength of coir rope 

 is about one fifth that of abaca rope of the .same size. 



Immersion in tap wa'er for twenty-four hours decreases 

 the strength of coir rope from 14 to 26 per cent., whereas 

 there is little change in the strength of abaca rnpe. Long 

 immersion of the coir in fresh water ('roduoes little further 

 change, but additional impairment is produ el by the act'on 

 of salt-water and weather. 



Coir cordage and coir filaments are characterized bj 

 great elongation, which in some cases attains 39 per cent. 

 There is littlo difference between the ultimate elongation of 

 rhe filaments and that of the rope, though in the latter it is 

 slightly greater. Wetting increases elongation of coir rope 

 about 3 per cent. 



Abaca filaments (grades 'F' and 'G') give an average 

 elongation of only 36 per cent., but tlie rope made from 

 filaments of these grades give an elo igation of from three 

 to four times as much. 



Coir has pronounced plastic properties ani his no 

 definite modulus of elasticity. 



Due to the small elastic tensile resilience of coir, ita 

 ' shock-absorbing ' power is relatively small, whereas abaca 

 is a highly resilient fibre, and is eminently sui'ed to absorb 

 shock. 



The coir industry in the Philippines should be develop- 

 ed in order to furnish a fibre for bristles, brushes, doormats, 

 mattresses, cushions, ship fenders, etc. 



PINE-APPLE CULTURE IN CUBA. 



The pine apple is grown for export in Cuba. It thrives 

 best in a sandy loam, out it is frequently grown in heavy 

 clay also. The main requirement is that the soil must be 

 well drained, and where it is not naturally so the plants are 

 usuilly set in ridges. It is propagate 1 frota slips, the small 

 plants on the fruit stalks", or from suckers, the plants growing 

 in the leaf-axils of the mother plant. These are set at 

 distances varying from lix\2 inches to 24x24 indies, 

 according to the variety of pine-apple. 



The varieties usually cultivated are the Red Spanish, 

 Smooth Cayenne, Sugar Loaf, and Porto Rico (Cabezona). 

 The Red Spanish is nearly always planted for export, as it 

 is hardy, and a good shipper. The Smooth Cayenne is not 

 grown very extetsively in the West Indies, but is grown 

 somewhat uniler shade in Florida and Panama. It is a 

 very large and fancy fruit, bringing a good price, but if. ia 

 more difficult to grow than the Pied Spanish. The Cabezona 

 is grown especiilly in Porto Rico; also in some of the 

 British islands under the name of Bullhea'1. The Sugar 

 Loaf is grown everywhere for home consumption. There 

 are a number of other varieties grown in different localities, 

 but most of tliem are of no c )ramerical importance at 

 present. 



Greit cire must be used regarding; the good flavour 

 and the shipping qualities. (From the Cu6a Review.) 



Recent Work in Physiology.— Experiments 

 receive attention in Physwlogiail Abstracts for 

 June 1919, which tend to estab'ish the principle 

 that insects inhabiting fermenting and decaying 

 substrata of low protein concent), like flies and 

 maggots in manure and meat, usually feed upon the 

 micro-organisms prestmr and thus benefit by the power 

 (if the fungi to extract, aba irb and synthesize many 

 non-protein nitrogenous compound. 



Another note in the same journal refers to the 

 poisonous principle in the Tetrodon or Globe fish that 

 occurs in West Indian waters. This substance, tetrodin, 

 is a crystalline compound and a powerful nerve poison. 

 Death probably results from a direct action upon the 

 respiratory centre. The toxin, in a concentration of 

 000002 per cent., paralyses a nerve fibre in -SO minutes. 



