316 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



OCTOHKR 3, 1908. 



GLEANINGS. 



InilM)i-t iliity was funnerly levifd mi all livu stock l)riMiglit 

 into Jainaicii, but the duty on stock imported for breeding 

 purposes has kitely been removed. This amounted to £:^ per 

 head on liorses, £2 on eattle, £1 on asses, and lO.s-. ))er liead 

 ■on sheej), goats, and pigs. 



The rainfall at .Montserrat during 1907-8 was very 

 deficient in iiuantity. At the Botanic Station only -51 '83 

 inches were recorded as comfiared with (5S'18 inches regis- 

 tered in tlie previous year. The higliest fall was recorded at 

 "Woodlands —77 ".jS inches, and tlie lowe.st — 37'3-t inclies — 

 at Whites. 



The amount of cacao (produced in the island) sliippyd 

 from Trinidad during August of the present year was 

 1,810,01 G lb. This briTigs the total (juantity exiiorted, from 

 .January 1 to the ei>d of August, up to 3-1,763,102 lb., as 

 ■compared with 30,100,066 lb. shipped in the corresponding 

 eight months of 1907. 



With the object of extending a knowledge <4 innjroved 

 .agricultural methods in the country, the (iovernment nf I'crn 

 .started the National School of Agricidture at Lima. This 

 has lately undergone furtlier development by the addition of 

 a Farming School in conni'.xion with the earlier establishment. 

 The Farming School has for its object the training in practical 

 agriculture of estate managers and overseers. 



The report for 1907-8 of the Director of the Royal 

 iiotanic (iardens, Ceylon, states that further extensions of 

 the rubber acreage in the island continued during the year 

 tinder review, and the total area planted now amounts to 

 1.00,000 acres. The exports of rubber showed an increase of 

 nearlv 100 per cent., and for the year 1907-8 were valued at 

 nearly £225,000. 



A stall for the .sale to farmers and others of economic 

 jilants from the British Guiana Botanic Gardens is kept up 

 in the Stabroek Market, Georgetown. During the three 

 months ending June 30 last, the number of plants sold in this 

 w,i}' was 1,312, which' realized !?40'81. These plants included 

 lai-ao, 266 ; coB'ee, 233 ; nutmeg, 89 ; and orange, 87. 



About 100,000 acres of sugar-cane are annually rea|)e<l 

 in Hawaii, and the average return per acre amounts from 4 to 

 4i short tons of sugar. Under natural conditions about 2 to 

 3 tons per acre are obtained, but on the lands under irrigation, 

 the average yield of sugar amounts to nearly 6 tons i)er acre. 

 Considerably less than 10 tons of cane are reipiired to give 

 ii ton of sugar, and in some instances 7 tons have been 

 sufficient. (IiitmnitiinHi/ Sio/ar .tuiininl.) 



The cultivation of pine-apples in Singapore has lately 

 undergone considerable e.\,tension, witll the result that the 

 jirice of the fruit m the local markets was recently no more 

 than li'. each. l'ino-ap])le canning is carried on on a large 

 .scale, this industry being chiefly in the hands of Chinese. 

 Cocoa-nut palms and rubber trees are being planted through 

 many of the pine-a|iple fields, witli the object of providing 

 permanent crojis. (Aiiiiriillinnl Iinllttin of Mnloi/ Utiifra.) 



Experiments in the cultivation of Caravonica cotton are 

 being carried on in the Sudan at Khartoum, Kamliii, and 

 Kassala, but the Director of Agriculture and Lands of the 

 Sudan Government in a recent report states that neither the 

 growth of the plants, nor the cpiality of the cotton produced 

 has come up to the expectations that were at one time 

 entertained in regard to this crop. 



Steadily increasing exports of bananas are being made 

 from Surinam to New York. On September •"), the S.S. 

 ' Marsurge ' shipped a cargo of 6,473 bunches, made up .us 

 follows : 3,649 bunches of nine hands, 2,016 bunches of 

 eight hands, and 828 bunches of seven hands. According 

 to the Piirt-of-Sjiaiii Gau-ttK, it is the opinion of many 

 planters that as many as 2,000 bunches of bananas per week 

 will be exported from the colon}'. 



A recent issue of the Bonrd of 'I'lnih .himital mentions 

 that the jirocess which has lately been patented for the 

 extraction of wax from the epidermis of the sugar-cane will 

 be adopted on over a hundred estates in Java during the 

 coming reaping season. It is estijuated that about 1 lb. of 

 wax will be recovered from a ton of cane. The ])roduct is 

 somewhat .similar to Carnauba wax, and can, it is thought, 

 be used for the manufacture of phonograph records. 



The sugar crop of the Argentine republii' for the year 

 1907 amounted to 109,000 ton.s, while the annual (■onsump- 

 tion of sugar in the country amounts to about l.")0,000 tons. 

 Imports of this product are made from lirazil, Peru, Mauritius, 

 and Germany. Agriculture in the Argentine is generally in 

 a very backwar<l condition, ilthough it is believed that good 

 croi)s of sugar, rice, cotton, tobacco, and tropical fruits might- 

 be piodiiceil in the northern part of tlie country. (British 

 (%)nsnl<ir /\'t/i(irt.) 



The Ki'ir Hiilli'tiii (No. 7, 1908) contains a note mention- 

 ing that specimens of I'l/onir/mx )-<iri nrisiis. in flower and 

 fruit, were lately received at Kew (lardens from Sir Daniel 

 Morris. These specimens were collected in the northern 

 part of Montserrat by !Mr. Vt. Robson, Curator of the Botanic 

 Station. P. ritniiioxuii is the only native West Indian sjx'cies of 

 the genus and is a strong-smelling shrub from (i to 16 feet 



With the exce])tion of one or two local showers, practically 

 no rainfall was experienced at Marbados during the first three 

 weeks of September. The record for the island from January 

 1 to August 31 — 21"36 inches — i.s, with two exceplion.< 

 (1894 and 1898), the lowest fall registered for the corresjK)nd 

 ing jieriod during the past twenty-two years. It is satisfactory 

 to be able to report that the serious st«te of affairs brought 

 ab(iut by the long drought has been considerably relieved 

 over the greater i)art of the island by heavy . showers which 

 fell on the night of Seiitember 24, and on the following 

 morning. In .several districts rather more than -4 inches of 

 rain were recorded within twelve hours. On the other hand, 

 no iiioi-c than from 3 to <il> ])arts of rain were registered oi» 

 certain estates in St. riiiliii and t'hrist Church parishes. 



