124 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



Ai'KiL 18, 1908. 





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^[r. ]5oyce C. Burt, foniieily Science and Agricultural 

 Master attached U> the Government Laboratory at Trinidad, 

 has been appointed Deputy Director of Agriculture for the 

 Tnited Provinces of Agra and Oudh, under the Government of 

 India. 



GLEANINGS. 



'I he Government of Trinidad i.s payinga reward of is. Gil. 

 for each niungoose (male or female) (le-<troyed in the i.sland. 



A plantei- in Carriacou has this season obtaiiie 1 a return 

 of 10,917 B). fif seed-cotton of the .^ea Island variety, from an 

 arc-a of 50 acres. 



The Ifninii-Castli; Steamship ('oni|iany has arrangi'il 

 with the Xatal Government to carry citru.-- fruit in c-nld 

 stiirage for the British market at n frei.ulit charge nt £3 per 

 ton III 40 cubic feet. 



Tlic first pickings nf the present season's cotton cinp in 

 Barbados is rejmrted, on the whole, to be .somewhat below the 

 average. The .second ] licking, however, in many cases, 

 appeals to ort'i r prosjjects of a better return. 



frr.ni twelve hives of bee.- ke|)t at the (irove E.xjieri 

 menl Station, .Montserrat, ").")(; lb. of honey weie extracted 

 during 190()-7. The best hive yielded i'SO lb. A sum of 

 .£() l.S.v. \(l. was received for lioiiev sold. 



Tlic rainfall returns for .Montserrat in.licatc lliat the 

 island e.xi)erienco<l a fa\(iiuablc year in lilOiiT. ( bove 

 Station recorded GSi8 inches, Harris' Station 7(1 .'S:! iii(4irs, 

 and Olveston 7(i'f)7 incln-s for the vcar. 



An order recently pas.seil by the lii^li I'.oard of Agricul- 

 ture renilers it illegal to impoii into Ireland any hors'e. ass, 

 or '.mIiIc. from (beat Britain and alMoreign countries, witlr 

 ont special permission ha\inn fiist been obtained fii.m the 

 Board. 



The ipiantity of cacao imported into the I'nited States 

 during 190G-7 reached 92,000,000 lb, of which 39,000,000 lb. 

 came from the West Iiulies, while 20,000,000 lb. were imported 

 from Brazil, and 15,000,000 lb. from other So:ith American 

 counti-ies. 



Efforts are being made by the I'nited States Deiiartment 

 of Agricultare to introduce tlie cultivation of the mangosteen 

 {(r'nrriiu'ii M'liKio.tliinii) intopai'ts of the Panama Canal Zone, 

 whei-e the climate and soil conditions are suitable. {/>iin<iii 

 f;t /'/in/ I ml 11:^1 1-1/ R-jmil, I'.I'C.) 



from llie cnmnu-ncement of tlie crop season up to 

 March 31 last, 3,084 tons of sugar, and 8,568 puncheons of 

 molasses have been exported from fiarbados, as compaied 

 with 874 tons of sugar, aTid 14,077 puncheons of molasses 

 during the same period of hist jear. 



The London Trades Comnussioner forC'ape Colony refiorts 

 a steadily increasing demand for the calabash jiipe in England, 

 and is of opinion that 200,000 to 250,000 bowls per annum 

 will be required for the market. The Commissioner believes 

 that these bowls should command a price of from £25 to £30 

 per thoui-and. 



A correspondent, writing t<i the Jamaica Dnili/ TeU- 

 ijiiilih, re]jorts very favourably on the prospects of the Sea 

 Island cotton crop in St. Andrew parish. If the return is as 

 good as it now promises to be. there is no doubt but that the 

 Sea Island cotton area for tlie 19(18-9 season will 1 

 ably extended. 



iisider- 



Enquiry was recently made fn.im British (juiana with 

 regard to methods of utilization of rice straw. Straw from 

 the rice-growing district.s of the United States, it may be 

 mentioned, has of late years been baled and placed on the 

 market for packing i)ur[)0.ses. Bice straw, too, has consider- 

 able value for feeding stock. 



The ('III iiiisi iind Driigjilsf computes tliat the world's 

 demand for camphor reaches 10,000,000 lb. annually, of 

 which 70 per cent, is utilized for celluloid manufacture, 

 2 per cent, in gun-cotton works, 15 per cent, for disinfecting 

 purpo.ses, and 13 per cent, for medicinal preparations. At 

 present the output from Formo.sa reaches about 70 per cent, 

 of the above total. 



The area devoted to sug u- cidtivation in the Australian 

 States of C^ueensland and New South Wales appears of late 

 to have been rapidly dinuni.shing. This is stated to be due 

 to labour ditHculties consequent on the deportation of inden- 

 tui-ed labour from the South Sea Islands. White labour does 

 not take favoui'ably to .sugar cultivation, but prefers cattle 

 and sheep industries 



C.istilloa rubber trees appear to do Avell in ('uba, 

 although tlii'ir value does not seem to be recognized by 

 many planters on whose estates the young trees grow wild. 

 The chief of the Botanical Department at the Agricultural 

 Experiment Station has recommended that Castilloa trees 

 lie grown as sliade for tobacco plants in place of many worth- 

 less trees that are now used for this purpose. (Viilm lini'ifir.) 



At the Durham (England) Dairy Research Station 

 experiments have lately been carried out in regard to the 

 composition and [iroperties of the milk of newly calved cows. 

 As the result of these investigations it was concluded that 

 at the en<l of three complete days after calving, the milk of 

 the cow loses its ' colostritm ' character, and isagain of normal 

 composition. 



There is a leady market for sweet polato> in the I'nited 

 States, and large (piantities of this crop are grown in 

 California. Iv\i)eriments in shipping sweet potatos to the 

 Pacific Coast States have lately been made from Hawaii. 

 Imported produce of this kind sells best from April to 

 August, during which months it does not compete with the 

 home-grown crop. The first sweet jiotatos on the market 

 of these States, it is reported, command a piice of $50 to 

 ?60 per ton. 



