Vol. VII. No. 166. 



THE AGKICULTURAL NEWS. 



!V / 



RETURN FROM GRAFTED CACAO 

 TREES. 



In further reference to the subject of grafted cacao 

 at Dominica, concerning which one or two short articles 

 and illustrations have lately been given in the Agi'i- 

 ridtural N'eirs (see Vol. VII, pp. 197, 213), the accom- 

 panying illustration (Fig. 1.'^), prepared from a photo- 



Fk;. 13. C'.\c.\o Pods from (Ji!aktk)> Trkes 2'-} Yk.\1!s Or.n. 



gr.iph forwarded by Mr. Joseph Jones, Curator of the 

 Dominica Botanic Station, should be of interest. The 

 picture represents the first gathering of pods from seven 

 grafted Alligator ca.ci\.o {Tlu;iihroini( prnfai/inia) trees 

 growing at the Station. At the time of picking the pods, 

 the trees were two years and nine months old. When 

 those had been gathered there still remained on the 

 seven trees a total of 184 pods, or an average of nine- 

 teen pods per tree, which ripened in the course of 

 a few weeks followinof. 



FEEDING COTTON-SEED MEAL 

 TO HOGS. 



In a booklet {No. 4-! Punipiiu't Seriis) issued 

 some two years ago by the Imperial Department of 

 Agriculture, the cpiestion of the use of cotton-seed and 

 cotton-cake meal as a feeding-stuff on West Indian 

 estates was dealt with. The principles of rational feed- 

 ing — based upon a knowledge of the requirements of 

 the animal body, and the chemi.'al constituents of food- 

 stuffs — were e.xplained, and several rations, suitable for 

 mules and o.xen, and which contained cotton-seed or 

 cotton-cake meal, mixed in due proportion with other 

 foods, were indicated. 



As a food for hogs cottonseed meal has not been 

 regarded with favour in the past. This is due to the fact 

 that if fed in any but small quantity, the health of the 



animals has suffered, and when an excess of the meal has been 

 continuously given, it ha.s, not infre((uently, resulted in the 

 death of the pigs. 



The ijuestion of rations for hogs in which cotton-seed 

 meal sliall be included is discussed in a lengthy article ajipear- 

 ing in a late number of the Southern Planter. Recent 

 experimental work dealing witli the subject is reviewed and 

 the cfinclusion anived at is that although nntchhas still to be 

 learned on the question, yet it is 

 evident that, if given in small quan- 

 lity only, and mixed with much larger 

 I'l-oportions of other food-stulls, such 

 a^ corn, cotton-seed meal forms a valu- 

 .ilile addition to the list of foods 

 ;i\ailaljle for pig fattening in countries 

 where cotton seed is produced. 



Maize is the cliief hog f<iod in 

 many countries, but, as is pointed out 

 ii) the above-mentioned article, this is 

 III unsatisfactory food when used alone, 

 owing to the excessive proportion it 

 contains of starchy material, and the 

 small ])rnportions both of albuminoids 

 or Hesh-forming constituents, and of 

 mineral constituents which enter sO' 

 largely into the building of bone, and 

 are therefore necessary for yomig and 

 growing animals. 



In some feeding trials carried out 

 in the United States and referred to 

 in the article mentioned, some young 

 pigs fed on corn alone made only 8'2 Ifi. 

 of gain i)er bushel of corn consumed. 

 ^\'hen a due proportion of a food rich 

 in albuminous matter, such as skim milk, bran, or linseed 

 meal was added, slightly over 20 It), of li\e weight was 

 put on per bushel of corn con.sumod. 



I'ottoii-seed meal contains a very much smaller <piantity 

 of carbohydrates than maize, weight for weight, but contains 

 about twice as much digestible albuminoid matter. Recent 

 experiments tend to show that the bad results which have 

 frequently followed the use of this material with hogs are in 

 all probability due to feeding in too large a (|uantity, or feed- 

 ing continuously for too long a time. 



I'or animals which are being fattened it would .seem 

 advisable that not more than one-fifth of the ration given 

 .should consist of cotton-seed meal. This amount should not 

 be given continuously for more than fifty days, and at the end 

 of that time, the proportion of the meal might advisably be 

 reduced to one-eighth of the total ration. Experiments carried 

 out in Arkansas showed that small hogs of .50 Bb. weight 

 might advantageously receive ] lb. of cottou-.seed meal per 

 day ; animals between .''lO and 75 ft. could be given \ ft.; 

 between 7") and 100 ft., -i ft., while h ft. of meal per head 

 per day could be given to animals weighing over 100 ft. 

 'fhese quantities were fed to the animals <laily for from 

 lo6 to li!!6 days with good results. In .some cases the pigs 

 were fed during tins period on a ration cojitaining over '^ ft. 

 of I'otton-seed meal [ler hend j)er day, but it is stated that 

 this (juantity is probably rather more than can be given 

 regularly with safety. 



The amounts of cotton-seed meal mentioned are small, 

 but the nutritive value of a ration consisting chiefly of maize 

 meal is much improved by the inclusion of even this small 

 quantity of an albuminous material. 



