V.->r.."ITin. N'a. 4 61. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



4ii: 



Coco nut plantations are chietiy cubivAtei for the pro- 

 ■faction o: copra, hence the tree benrin^ imts with the iirgest 

 percentage of this produc:; are the iiiost desirable for plaut- 

 LfiE. In selecting a variety, however, lor the production of 

 copra, the oue with the laraest nuts will not necessari'y turn 

 out the most profitable. The preferable variety is the oue 

 that produces the highest percentage per tree of copra. .\ 

 variety beiring small nuts, but a large number uf them, 

 snay thus ba preferable to one that bea^s large but few nuts. 

 A pre:uciou8 variety is naturally to i)e preferred, other things 

 being e'|ual, to one that is slow in coming into bearing. 



In the Ganien's BuUefin, Straits Settlements, Sep- 

 tember \i, 1919, there is a short note on the fourteen 

 varieties of ooco-nuts which are known to exist at Singapore 

 island. There are also given capital illustrations of these 

 fourteen varieties together with their native names. 



From four of the commonest races in the island most 

 if the Singapore copra is made ; the nut of a fifth very 

 common variety is too small for the commercial production 

 of copra, biit is sold cheaply in the local markets for ordinary 

 •lotiiestic use. tJther les.s widely spread races also yield 

 g'_'od nuts for copra making. 



The nuts of the others have special uses. One variety 

 produces little detached granules of the nutty substance in 

 the miik — not in every nut but in 4 or .5 per cent. — and 

 these nuts are eaten with sugar as a delicacy. Still another 

 variety has more sugar in the milk than mo^t coco-nuts, 

 and for that reason is also reserved for eating. One variety 

 produces nuts which are reserved for making medicines, as 

 ■the 'meat' has a very pleasant scent. 



Considering the increased attention thai is being paid 

 to coco-nnt cultivation in the West Indian islands, it would 

 appear to be of importance if careful investigatien could be 

 made with regard to the races of coco nuts available for 

 planting purposes in the-e islands. Although, as was pointed 

 out above, the varieties yielding the largest percentage per 

 tree of copra are the most "lesirable for planting on a large 

 commercial s'lale, it would seem that for orchard purposes 

 some of the other varieties recorded from Singapore might 

 Tery profitably be also grown for local sale. 



night, and at the end of fourteen days the material is takea 

 from A and transferred to the pit marked B through the 

 opening marked C, and from B, shortly after, it is removed as 

 required. This pit B is also constructed of and tioored with 

 stone; it is provided with stairways to facilitate extraction, and 

 is covered with a roof supported on pillars as shown. Drainage 

 from the pen is to the pit, while the pit itself is not drained." 



A 



-•O-OSr- 



A SYSTEM OF MANURE MAKING IN 

 MAURITIUS. 



There is no more iniportant subject in tropical agricul- 

 ture than the production of organic manure, and the present 

 article, based largely oo informarion received through 

 Dr. Tempany, Director of Agriculture, Mauritius, is likely to 

 prove interesting and imp>rtant. The information consists 

 chiefly of a description of a system of turning trash and bush 

 into farmyard manure practised on an estate in Mauritius. 



'The pens marked .\ A are constructed of .stone and 

 floored with stone also. Nearly all constructional works on 

 estates are made of stone here. It is covered with a roof 

 supported on pillar.-^, and is surrounded by a retaining wall 

 about -3 feet high. As .shown in the plan, the floor level is 

 flush with the ground. The material with which the pen is 

 filled is cut fine with an electrically driven chiS cutter, 

 situated on the platfornj adjoining the pen and marked E. 

 The pen is divid-- 1 into ^vvo by a w joden platfiirm marked D, 

 the two haive.s being worked alternately to facilitate charg- 

 ing anJ discharging. 



'The material used cousists ot bush, leaves, grass, cane 

 straw- -in fact all kinds o' readily decomposed organic niatrer 

 — and the pens are filled with this to a depth of about _■ ie-'t. 

 On this a herd of from thirty to fifty oxen are turned every 



-; ,— .--=- 





In connexion with this system, Dr. Tempany calls atten- 

 tion to the fact that the considerable amount of aeratioa 

 causes a rather high less of nitrogen. The use of sulphate of 

 iron has been suggested as a means of preventing this loss, but 

 Dr. Tempany considers it would prove too e.Tpcnsive, and sug- 

 gests gypsum instead. In Barbados the loss of nitrogen is 

 checked by putting layers of mould in the pens, as is done 

 in making a compost heap. Where there is much woody 

 matter to be decomposed, it is probable that plenty of aeration 

 is desirable, if not absolutely necessary. 



Reference to the Ax'ricu/tura/ News for November 

 15, 1919, p. 361, will show that the newly discovered 

 cellulose organism requires both soluble nitrogen .and air. 

 Since the work of this organism is believed to be highly 

 important in humus produccioa, it would obviously be better 

 lu allow p^Miity of aeration, anitj cha.-i nitrogen loss bw 

 chemisal means, as by the usd of gypsum or sulphate of iron 



