108 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS 



April i, 1908. 



GLEANINGS. 



t)\ving to abunilant rains, an uxcfllent cane crop is 

 repoitccl from tlic coast districts of ilexico where this crop is 

 grown. In the interior, however, rains have been .scarce, and 

 tlic cane crop of the dry districts is stateil to be 30 per cent, 

 lower than last year. 



During the week ended February Jd last, 1 ■")!>, Sfj;', l.ialos 

 of cotton (including 39 bales ]5ritish West Indian and 8 bale.s 

 r.ritish West African) were inij)orted into England. From 

 .laniiaiy 1 to February 20, 1908, the number of bales imported 

 reacheii 1,218,571 (including 1,590 British West Indian and 

 921 bales Britisli West African). 



The citrate of lime cxjiorts from Do.iiinica increasiHl 

 from :'.(; tons in 190(1 to 119 tons during 1907. 



tSi'venty-nine grants of crown lands were made in 

 St. Lucia during 1906-7. 'I'he total area alienatnl amounted 

 to 1,197 acres. The cost of tlir St. Lucia c.,\mi lands is £1 

 ])er acre. 



Kubber is one of the most important pioducts tjf Nigeria, 

 and during 1900, the outi)Ut amounted to .■'>,4.'U,279 tt)., 

 valued locally at £.307,077. The chief native variety is 

 Funtumia. The rubber, although prepared in a somewhat crude 

 way, eonunanded a price of about ix. Gd. per lb. on the 

 London market at ;i time when I'.razilian Para was .selling 

 at 5.V. 2'7. per I!). 



The Si.sal hemp producers of Yucatan havi' foimed them- 

 selves into a Joint Stock Company. The State of \ucatan 

 lias pi-actically a monopoly of Sisal production, the annual 

 output amounting to ()00,(tOO bales of 3()0 lb. each. 



A recent repoi't state.s that, in gi-owing cotton, ijic 

 native cultivators in Egy]it usually manure their fields at the 

 rate of ;!,', cwt. of su|ierphosphate and IJ cwt. of nitrate of 

 soila or sid[iliate of ammonia per acre. 



Over 1,000 bags of sweet potato-.were -.jiippi'il tolbilish 

 (iuiana from Barbados by tlie sc'iO( ner ' t'omiade' on 

 a recent date. The potatos commanded a price of fi.v. (ii/, 

 per bag on the f ieorgetow n market. 



Tlie presenl mango .■-(•asi m in lliili.-h (luiaiia is ri'iiorted 

 t'. be ;i record one and the marl;et has been ipiite glutted Ijy 

 the nnu.TUaily large supplii-s nt Iruil. .Mangos were at one 

 lime .selling as low as tliirt) toi 1 ci'nt. { /hiiimiin Aiyita//.} 



Tbe hrst |irogeny of the West African ranrs imported 

 froni Lagos by the Imperial Departnwnt of Agricnltui-e, in 

 Seiitember last, were recently obtained in Barbados, as the 

 result of a cross with the ordinary woolle.ss .sheep of the 

 island. The lambs are considerably larger than would be 

 the case if a ram of the local breed had been used. 



The Hawaiian Sugar Planters ' A.ssociation has for 

 .some time been carrying on experiments with seedling sugar- 

 canes, and recent reports state that valuable results have 

 been achieved. Over five thousand seedlings have been 

 tested, but owing to the large numlier rejected, the actual 

 number under trial at present has been reduced to 355. It 

 is confidently expected that the work will result in the 

 production of canes snpeilor to any hitherto grown in the 

 islands. 



Tea planting expeiimenis are being carried on in the 

 I'nited Slates, under the direction of the lleparlmenl of 

 Agricvdtmx', both in South ('arolina and Texas. Laboratory 

 experiments in regard to the amnntie pi.iperties of tea are 

 als'p in progress. 



On tlie pine aj)ple plantations of I'orlo llico, llie lied 

 S|)anisli vailety is j)lanted in preference to any other, Ijnt it 

 is stated that the Porto Kieo .m- Cilia/.ana variety is alsi. 

 e\ten.dve]y eidtivated for eannini; purpose;. Tile canneries, of 

 wliicli there are thi-ee or In u. piy oHc. tn f'fle .i dozen for both 

 these varieties, accoi'dinglo size. 



,\eeording In the TrojiirdI Ai/linilfurist (nlUlbier 

 gii>wing is being taken up on a considerable scale on the east 

 coast of Sumatra, where hitherto tobacco has been [a'actically 

 tlie onlv cro]! grown. The Ciamliier |>!ant yields ;•: valuable 

 d\iing and tanning material, as mentioned in the Affri- 

 riiHin-<il Xi-icx (Vol. VI. p. •)7fi\ and att<'mpts (hitherto 

 unsuccessful) lia\e been inide to introdiiee it-- cultivation 

 into the Wi-l Indies. 



Si-liool garden Woil; i, rapidly exteiiiling t lironglioiit the 

 I'nileil States, according to the report for I9(J7 of the 

 P)Ure:iu of Plant Industry. I»niiiig the past year seeds 

 sutUcienl to supjily 3(i,17.'i llowcr gardens ami 31, ISO 

 \egetable g'ardens were distributed to the sclio..L by the 

 I )epartment of Agiienltnie. 



The .laniaiia Agiictdtnral Society has sent a letter to 

 the lni|iiiial ( 'onnnissionei of Agriculture expressing 

 a[iprcciation of the kind I'eccplion anil treatment attbrded 

 the tlelegates- of the Society at the late Agricultural ( "onference 

 at rarbados, together with congratulations on the success of 

 tie ('t>nference. The .Jamaica repre-eutatives were the Hon. 

 W. I'aweett, and .1. K Williams, Ksij. 



The ' reil sorrel ' or roselle, well-known in tlie We.st 

 Indies, has come in for attention in the I'liited State.s. where 

 selection experiments have for .some years ])a.st been cirried 

 on under the direction of thi' Department of Agriculture, 

 with tlieoliieel i.f producing a strain with esjiecially large 

 calyci-s, the caly.x being the part of the plant u.sed in niakin,g 

 jellies and drinks. The 1907 rejiort of the Bureau of Plant 

 Indiistiy stati's that a variety with calyces twice as long as 

 the onlinaiv kind has alread\ been estalilished. 



l''iom the areount of a French si-ienlist who has recentiv 

 been earryiTig out investigations on the subject, it a|)|)ears 

 tiiat the t.se-tse lly, which is responsible for the di.s.semination 

 ol sleeping sii-kness, seeks the vicinity of watercourses 

 and the shelter of moist plants for the purposes of repro- 

 duction. Its larvae perish rajiiilly if exposed for a few hours 

 to the rays of a tropical sun, even when they are covered by 

 a thin layer of dry earth. This indicates that the spread of 

 the tsc-tse tly may be prevented by cutting down the coverts 

 in wliidi it lays its eggs. 



