248 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



August 8, 1908 



EDITORIAL NOTICES. 



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 Barbados. 



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 post free 2d. Annual subscription payable to Agents, 

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^qnrultural Mxm 



Vol. VII. .SA'l'IHlDAV. AICI'ST 8, 1908. No. 164. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Contents of Present Issue. 



Thi' edilnrial discusses the breeds of poultr\- most 

 suitable for West Indian conditions. 



Inteiesting paitii-ulai-s in regard to the areas 

 planted with different varieties of cane ;it Antigua and 

 8t. Kitt's will bi^ found on [)agc 243. 



.\ brief article on the baii.ma industiy in the 

 Canary Islands is given on page "244. 



llice is a crop of great importance in Hawaii and 

 an interesting series of cxpcriuients in lelation to 

 its cultivation is in jirogccss at the Exjicrimcnt 

 Station of the Hawaiian Is-hiiids (page 24.5). 



The results of manurial cxpeiiincnts with Sea 

 Island cotton, carried imil during the pa;-! s(a--nh .-it 

 St. Kitt's and ^[ontserrat, are suniuiaiized on page 

 24(). 



Agricultural Conference Picture. 



With reference to the reproduction of the photo- 

 grajih of the West Indian Agricultural ConlVrence, 

 ii)08, that was presented as a loose supplement with 

 the last number of the Agricultural Netr.'< {"So. 163), it 

 should have been mentioned that the photograph wa.s 

 taken by Mr. C. Barentzen, of Bridgetown, Baibados, who 

 possesses the copyright. 



'I'ho pi i/.i'-hnjdings scheme at Grenada isevidi-ntly 

 doing good work .imong the su'iall cultivators of the 

 islaiiil (pagi- 247). 



Under 'Insect Notes' (page 250) will be found an 

 article on the coleoptera or bettlcs, with special refer- 

 ence 1(1 mend) ■;> oft Ills I'amily found in the West Indies. 



'I'll e effect of carbon bistdphide on soil fertilitv 

 forms the subject of an interesting article on page 2.51. 



Rubber Exhibits from Dominica. 



Thrcjugh the .igency of the Permanent Exhibition 

 Committee of Dominica, a number of exhibits, t.he 

 ))roduce of the island, have l)een pi'epai'ed and des- 

 ))atched to London for display .at the International 

 Rubber i^^xhibition to be held during September next. 

 With the exception of two bottles of latex from 

 St. Aroment estate, all the specimens sent are the 

 i-roduiH' of trees growing at the Botanic Station, and 

 were prepared by Mr. .Joseph Jones, the Curator. Very 

 few of the I'ubber trees growing on estates in Dominica 

 have yet leaehed the age for tapping, hence it is not 

 possible to send on a Large exhibit of plantation rubber. 

 It is hoped that the samples )uepared at the station 

 may prove of good quality, and serve to draw attention 

 to the possibilities of rubber cultivation iti Dominica. 

 Tlieexhil)it-"inclu(le j^irs containing flowers, fruit-:, and 

 seeds of /•'■rn/(((/i/'< e^c/.s^/cw, as well as j.irs containing 

 seerl-i and fruits of (7a.s<ti/(Wt ('la,stica. 1'here were also 

 sent bottles of latex from HereahraiiUiensis, Castdloa 

 elastica, FIcus c.lastica, Manilidt Glaziorli., and Fiiii.^i 

 Vogelti, together with biscuits of Para, Castilloa and 

 Ficus i'id)bers. 



Beet Sugar Industry in Germany. 



\ tabuliir stalement presenting lull jiarticulai's of 

 the be'jt sugar industry ot (ierinau}', and its variations 

 during the past few years, is iiu.'luded in the latest; 

 British (Uiih'<ular Report on the trade of Berlin. From 

 the figures given it is seen that there has been a small 

 but consistent decline each year since 1901-2 in the 

 number of sug.ir factoiies at woik. In 1901-2 there 

 were 3!).5 sugar factories in operation ; tlii' number fell to 

 384 in 1903-4, lo 37(1 in 190.5-(i, and to 3(i9 in 190()-7. 

 'I'liere is a tcndencv .also for tliC ;irea under susrar beet 

 cultivation to decrea.se. In l!(()l-2 the area under 

 sugar beet was 478,749 hect.ares [1 ]ieetart' = 2.', .-icres 

 ap|iio\ ] ; it fell to 427, (J44 hectares in 1902-3, and to 

 41(i,7l4 in 1904-5. In 1905-0, however, it increased 

 to 471,742 hectares, but in l!H)(i-7 lell again to 

 44(i.!K)3 hectares. The yield of beets per hectare has 

 varied from 24 2 to .3.3 4 metric tons, \vhile the average 

 yielil of sug.ir per metric ton [2,200 lb.] of beet has 

 been about .319 Ih. Owing to improvement in technic;il 

 methods of treatment, only ()<S lt>. of beet are now 

 required to jircjduce 1 lb. of sugar. The total quantity 

 of sugar produced'was 2.182,3()1 metric tons in 1901-2, 

 1,822,491 tons in 1903-4, 2,314.779 metric tons in 

 1905-(i, and 2,124,320 luetric tons in 1900-7. It is 

 stated that low prices account for the late falling off in 

 the area cultivated. 



