Vol. VII. No. 162. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



•217 



Ploughing Match at Barbados. 



A ploughing match and sliow of stock and sugar 

 was held at Poole Plantation, St. John, Barbados, on 

 June 24 last. Prizes were offered for ridge ploughing, 

 flat ploughing, and for open and close subsoil plough- 

 ing, and there were also competitions among labourers 

 for prizes for cane-hole digging and forking. A number 

 •of teams competed in the ridge .and subsoil ploughing, 

 and some good work was done. There was only one 

 «ntry for flat ploughing, however, and no competition 

 took place. In the cane-hole digging and forking 

 •classes there was a fair number of competitors, more 

 especially in the latter, and the work was done 

 ■quickly and efficiently. Both the cane-hole diggers and 

 the forkers were allowed two hours to complete not less 

 than si.Kty cane-holes, these holes to be 2 feet square 

 and 6 inches deep. 



There was a good show of estate animals present, 

 the cattle and the mules being in excellent condition. 

 An object of considerable interest to the visitors was 

 a water buffalo from Society estate. Prizes were 

 awarded also for unworked cattle, bulls, cows, horses, 

 sheep, goats, and swine. The samples of sugar sent in 

 were small in number, and there was ^no competition 

 for syrup. 



The majority of the planters in the neighbour- 

 hood attended the show, and a number also came from 

 a distance. Lord Basil Blackwooil, the Acting Governor 

 of Barbados, was present, and in the afternoon distri- 

 buted the prizes to the successful competitors. 



^ 



Formic Acid and Rubber Latex Coagulation. 



Acetic acid, either alone, or in combination with 

 alcoholic eresote, is extensively employed in the East, 

 as a coagulant of rubber latex, but the superior quali- 

 ties of formic acid as a coagulating agent of Para 

 rubber latex are urged by a writer in a late number 

 of the India-rvbbher Journal. Formic acid is much 

 stronger than acetic,- and particulai-s are given of 

 experiments which show that it is correspondingly 

 more active in its coagulating action upon the latex. 

 As a result the amount of formic acid that is needed 

 to coagulate a given amount of rubber latex is less 

 than half the amount of acetic acid that would be 

 required. The use of the former is therefore evidently 

 more economical. 



Formic acid possesses antiseptic properties, and it 

 is claimed that its use for coagulating purposes exercises 

 a preservative influence upon the raw moist rubber 

 prepared by its means. It woidd appear, indeed, 

 that in this connexion, formic acid combines the 

 properties of acetic acid and creosote, and could there- 

 fore be employed with especial advantage in the 

 preparation of moist block rubber. 



In the experiments referred to, it w.as found that 

 for general purposes the use of larger volumes of the 

 more dilute formic acid gave better results than were 

 obtained when small quantities of the acid of greater 

 strength were employed. The most rapid and comjjiete 

 coagulation, resulting in a proiluct of standard quality, 

 was obtained when to each .500 c.e. of latex were added 

 20 to 25 c.c. of a .5 per cent, solution of formic acid. 



Guayule Rubber. 



The Guayule shrub (Fartlieniuni. argentatutn) is 

 .•I rubber-yielding plant that is found widely spread in 

 the drier part of Northern Mexico. A note on the 

 properties of this plant was given in the Ayricidtural 

 AV(c.>j, Vol. V, p. 413, while a lengthy article discussing 

 its possible economic value appeared in the Kew Bulle- 

 tin, 1907, No. 7. The Guayule plant is one of very slow 

 growth, and contains little rubber until eight v'ears old, 

 whereas ten years may be considered as the time 

 required for a plantation to become fit for profitable 

 working. 



Some time ago it was suggested that this rubber 

 might possibly be of commercial value in some parts 

 of Antigua, and through the courtesy of his Excellency 

 the British Minister at Mexico City, the Imperial 

 Commissioner of Agriculture has been enabled to 

 obtain a supply of seeds of the plant. These seeds 

 have been distributed to several of the Botanic Stations, 

 so that it will be possible later to obtain some idea of 

 its value for planting in the West Indies. 

 .^^^^»- ♦-^ 



West Indian Bulletin. 



A previous number of the West Indian Balh'tiii 

 (Vol. VIII, No 4) contained an abstract of the proceed- 

 ings of the Agricultural Conference held at Barbados 

 in January last. In a number just issued (Vol. IX, 

 No. 1), five of the principal papers read at the Con- 

 ference are published in full, together with summaries 

 of the discussions upon each. These all relate to the 

 sugar industry. 



The first paper — ' Varieties of Sugar-cane and 

 Manurial Experiments in British Guiana,' is by Professor 

 Harrison, C.M.G., and gives an account of the progress 

 of the experimental work with sugar-cane that has 

 been carried on in British Guiana for several years 

 past. Tables are included which show the extension 

 that has taken place of late years in the area undei- 

 cultivation with new varieties of sugar-cane. For the 

 present season the area devoted to these new varieties 

 n^aches 32,061 acres. The results of Professor Harrison's 

 investigations on the composition of soil waters from 

 land under sugar-cane cultivation in British Guiana, and 

 the conclusions arrived at, are of considerable interest. 



The most striking and interesting points in the 

 seedling cane and manurial experiments carried on at 

 Barbados during the season 1906-7, are dealt with in 

 a paper by Professor d'Albuquerque. Fuller details of 

 this work are given in Pamphlet 49 of the series issued 

 by the Imperial Department of Agriculture. 



In a third paper, by Dr. Francis Watts, C.M.G., 

 the latest results obtained in the sugar-cane experi- 

 ments in the Leeward Islands are presented. 



This number of the Bidletin also contains two' 

 further papers by Dr. Watts: ' The Central Sugar 

 Factory at Antigua,' a summary of the contents of 

 which appeared in the Agrici/dtvvdl Netvsoi March 

 21 last (Vol. VII, p. JSl), and,' Observations on the 

 Work of Sugar-cane Mills,' which was summarized iu 

 the editorial of the la.st issue of the Agricidtaral 

 News (Vol. VII, p. 193). 



