Vol. XVIII. No. 457. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



345 



Barenecked Fowls. 



There is a breed of barenecked fowls not uncom- 

 mon in these West Indian islands, especially in 

 Barbados, where their reputation for hardiness is high. 

 They are also considered good layers, and excellent 

 table fowls. Their look is certainly against them, as 

 the bare neck gives them a vulturine aspect, which is 

 not handsome. 



An article on this breed of fowls is published in the 

 Cuban Revista de Agricultura Comerclo y Trabajo, 

 August 1919, in which the barenecked fowls are 

 recommended for the qualities recognized in these 

 other islands, as stated above. These towls are some- 

 times known as ' -Japanese,' but according to the writer 

 of the article in the Cuban journal, this term is quite 

 a mistake, as the breed origmated in Eistern Europe, 

 in Transylvania, and is very largely bred in Bohemia 

 and Silesia. A good name tur the breed —and a correct 

 one — would be Transylvanian 



The bare neck appears to be dominant, as crosses 

 between this and other breeds of fowls largely 

 inherit the character. 



A New Egg Preservative. 



In connexion with the article in the present issue 

 dealing with i.he preservation of eggs by means of 

 'water-glass' and lime-water, results of certain trials 

 made in the West Indies with a new egg preserver 

 called Xyloform, should be interesting. Some of thi.s, 

 apparently a cellulose preparation, was sent by a 

 New York firm to the Imperial Department for special 

 trial, and experiments were arranged for, and in due 

 course carried out in St. Vincent, Montserrat, and 

 Antigua. 



The proprietors of the preservative claim that it 

 will keep freshly laid eggs in good condition indefinite- 

 ly. They lay stress, however, upon the fact that the 

 eggs must be absolutely fresh, that is, not more than 

 an hour or two old. This, of course, is a difficult 

 proviso to contend with in practice, for in buying fresh 

 eggs m large (juantities there are bound to be many 

 which are several days old. 



However, to proceed with the account of the island 

 experiments, it was found by the Agricultural Super- 

 intendent in St. Vincent that eggs laid six days prior 

 to the treatment were after three months suitable for 

 cooking purposes, though none of them, even the 

 new-laid ones, were considered after that time suitable 

 for table use. 



The results from Montserrat were unsatisfactory, 

 in the sense that they were not conclusive. The leport 

 of the Curator of ihe Botanic Station was as follows : 

 'Examination of the eggs was too long delayed, and 

 they were all found to be in an unsatisfactory condition.' 



From the Agricultural Superintendent, Antigua, 

 the lollowing statement arrived;' Two dozen fresh eggs 

 were obtained, and I personally treated them according 

 to directions. One month alter treatmeno one egg 

 was broken, and for each succeeding month for three 

 succeeding months one egg was tasted. Afterwards 

 all the eggs were broken. In every "ase the eggs were 

 bad and absolutely uneatable.' 



It would appear, in conclusion, that provided only 

 absolutely fresh-laid eggs are treated, .xyloform m.ay 

 be used under tropical conditions for preserving eggs 

 for cooking purposes for a limited time. 



The Early Application of Nitrate. 



In a recent comnumication, Dr W S Myers 

 United States Delegation of the Chilean' \itrafce 

 Committee, states that excellent results have been 

 obtained in Porto Rico and California from ploiu-rhinL^ 

 or harrowing nitrate of soda in at the time of applica 

 tion, and getting it; in quite deep, that is to sav from 

 b to 8 inches. Moreover, the earlier the ap'plica 

 tion the better. Late applications, he states, are seldom 

 satisfactory. The practice of top dressing with nitrate 

 has, he believes, been largely responsible for some of 

 the unsatisfactory results that have occurred from oast 

 experiments with this fertilizer. 



The advantages to be gained from deep and early 

 applications of nitrate are likelv to be- (1) better 

 conservation, i e. le.ss likelihood of being washed away 

 by rain: (2) better distribution in the soil : and C^) early 

 applications stimulate root development and tillerin^^ 



As to the relative merits of nitrate of soda and 

 sulphate of ammonia, it may be of interest to observ.- 

 that in Eurape, experimenters agree that certain crops 

 prefer the former source of nitrogen, while other crops 

 prefer the latter. Some crops are indifferent. Ic 

 would bo interesting to have definite inform-'tion as to 

 which crops ti-nd to nimifest this preference in the 

 tropics. 



Wastage of Coal Products. 



It is stated that by the consumption of raw instead 

 of carbonized coal, the sum of i'200,000,000 is 1o.sd 

 annually to Great Britain. In other words, the value 

 of the by-products which would be obtained bv the 

 economic treatment of coal, and which, under prevail- 

 ing methods are dissipated, reaches this enormous sum 

 By failing to save the benzol, which would be sufficient 

 for Great Britain's requirements, it is estimated thic 

 .£•20,000,000 is lost. 



A matter of 6,000 cubic feet of gas, suitable for 

 the enrichment of illuminating gas, or other purposes 

 is lost with every ton of coai burnt. Three times' 

 the present supply of electric power could be produced 

 for sale at half the present unit, were power production 

 and distribution reorganized on a scientific basis. 



These are only a few of the items which it is 

 estimated are wasted under the present methods of 

 coal consumption. The wastage of large quantities of 

 sulphate of ammonia, and of other valuable products 

 which form the basis of high explosives, dye.s, paints,' 

 antiseptics, drugs, etc, are other items which stand 

 out with startlmg prominence. 



These particulars are given in Volume I, So. 2, 

 of Scieiice and Indastry, the official journal .if the 

 Institute of Scienc and Industry of the Common- 

 wealth of Australia. 



