216 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



July 11, 1908. 



EDITORIAL NOTICES. 



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 Barbados. 



All applications for Copies of the ' Agricultural 

 News ' should be addressed to the Agents, and not to 

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Local Agents: Messrs. Bowen & Sons, Bridge- 

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The Agricxdtural News: Price Id. per number, 

 post free 2d. Annual subscription payable to Agents, 

 2s. 2d. Post free, 4.s'. 4d. 



glgricult iinil |leiuB 



Vol. VII. SATURDAY. .JULY 11, 1908. No. 165 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Contents of Present Issue. 



Particulars are given in the editorial of the 

 proposed scheme of reading courses and examinations 

 on agricultural work which the Imperial Department 

 of Agriculture hopes to institute for the benefit of 

 ■overseers and sub-managers on West Indian estates. 



Interesting notes on the conditions and cost of 

 sugar production in Mexico, and on a new machine for 

 reaping canes which was tried in Louisiana last season, 

 appear on page 211. 



Grape-fruit cultivation is extending in Cuba. The 

 varieties most recommended are Duncan and Jlarsh 

 Seedling (page 212). 



Cacao growers will be interested in t!ie brief 



article, with illustration, to be found on page 213, 



dealing with the rcnjarkablc yield of a young 

 grafted cacao tree at Dominica. 



Cotton Notes (page 214) include particulars ot 

 various expciimonts with Sea Island cotton conducted 

 at St. Kitt's during the past season, as well as reports 

 on market prices. 



A report lately issued by the Mycologist to the 

 Oovernment of India indicates the existence of a root 

 disease of cocoa-nut palms in Travancore, similar to 

 that which is causing so much loss in 'iVinidad planta- 

 tions (page 219). ()ii {)Mge 221 will br found ihr first 

 part of an article dealing with the diseases of cacao. 



Sorgfhum Poisoning. 



With reference to the remarks on the poisoning 

 properties of sorghum at certain stages of its growth, 

 which were quoted from a foreign journal in the Agri- 

 ctdtural News of May 30 last (Vol. VII, p. 169), it 

 may be nientioned that prussic acid does not occur in 

 the free state in the growing plant, but is yielded by 

 a glucoside present, when the latter compound is acted 

 upon by an enzyme or ferment also occurring in certain 

 parts of the plant. The amount of glucoside present, and 

 therefore the po.«sible amount of prussic acid that may 

 be formed, diminishes as the plant approaches maturity. 



Earlier experiments appeared to indicate that on 

 drying the sorghum in the sun, the plant lost its 

 possibly poisonous properties. Later experiments, 

 however, carried out at Melbourne, and in the labora- 

 tory of the Government of India, have shown 

 definitely that this is not the case, and that the 

 glucoside present is unchanged by sun-drying. 



Revival of Jamaica Fruit Trade. 



The tables attached to the report, for the year 

 1907, of the British Vice-Consul at Charleston, South 

 Carolina, show that there has been of late a marked 

 revival of fruit importations from Jamaica and other 

 British West Indian Islands. It is stated that durincr 

 the year about fifty small cargos of Jamaica fruit were 

 delivered at Charleston. The value of the bananas 

 received in this wav reached S.347,4S9, of the cocoa-nuts 

 $11,992, and of the' oranges ??,5,.523. 



Five or six years ago a considerable fruit business 

 was carried on beiween Jamaica and Charleston, but 

 after the hurricane of August 1903, which destroyed so 

 many trees in Jamaica, the trade fell away, and the 

 steamt-rs were withdrawn. Its re-establishment, there- 

 fore, should be a matter of gratification to the fruit 

 growers of Jamaica. 



Curing and Packing of Oranges. 



Investigations carried out by officers of the U.S. 

 Department of Agriculture as to the most suitable 

 methods of transport of oranges from California to the 

 Eastern States of America have been in progress for 

 a considerable tiuje, and the recently issued Bulletin 

 /..''■/of the Bureau'of Pl;int Industry gives a full account 

 of .ill the work done. 



It is mentioned that in California, as in many 

 other orange-exporting countries, it was the common 

 practice to allow fhe oranges to stand for a time before 

 packing, with the object of curing or wilting the skin. 

 It was believed that if the fruit were packed in a fresh 

 condition, wilting would occur in the box, and the 

 contents would arrive at the journey's end in a loose, 

 and possibly <lamaged condition. Comparative tests 

 made to ascertain the effect of the prelimin.iry curing 

 showed, however, that except in the early f)art of the 

 season, the fruit can be packed quite as successfully 

 when the curing is omitted. The skin of the immature 

 fruit is hard, and'wilting undoubtedly facilitates the 

 pai'king process. Later in the season when the fruit 

 is ripe, curing had little influence, since at that stage 

 the skin is naturally pliable. 



