412 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



December 26, 1908. 





GLEANINGS. 



The Bartacljs Agricultural S(->fiL't3' lias Just impqrtMl 

 from England a Catalo'nian jack donkey., 14-2 hands high, 

 to be used for niule-breediug purposes in the island.. 



A fine Berkshire boar ' Homestead Hero ' has been added 

 to the pedigree stock kept at the Agricultural School, Union,, 

 ♦St. Lucia. The fee for service is \.t. 



Attention is drawn to the advertisement — which appears 

 on the last page of the cover of this issue — of an aerinotor 

 offered for sale at Tortola. 



St.. Lucia e.xported .'5,700 bags of molascuit in 1907. Of 

 this quantity, nearly 2,000 bags went to the L^nited, Kingdom, 

 and 1,72.5 bags were shipped to France. 



A bulletin (Xo. .if'i) has been issued from the Hawaiian 

 Sugar riauters" E.xperiment Station dealing witji the nomen- 

 clature of the many varieties of sugar-cane now in cultivation. 

 Lists of synonymous canes are given, and the origin of the 

 better-known varieties is discussed. 



The value nf the salt exported fioni the Turks and 

 Caicos Islands sIicjws a rise from £14,275 in 1900 to 

 ^16,-557 in 1907. A prolonged drought was experienced, 

 which wa.s favourable to salt-rakiug, liut disastrous to the 

 sisal cro]X 'J'he latter fell in v:dne from £.0,002 in 1900 to 

 £3,107 in 1907. ;■ , 



l'"(ir the eneiiuragemenl and instruction of bee-keepers, 

 the JJavarian Ministry of the Interior have lately estalilished 

 a model apiary in connexion with the Zoological Department 

 (if Erlangen Tniversity. The otHcials controlling the manage- 

 ment of the apiary i)rovide gratis information, both .scientific 

 and iiractical, on all ipiestions dealing with the subject. 



Messrs. MiicfarlanC: Jujiior it •jCo.'s cotton ginnery at 

 ('astries, St. Lucia, has lately -' started operations. The 

 building at present contains two .^Vsa Lee gins worked by 

 a Cros.sley oil engine, but moj;e gjns will lie.adiled as required. 

 Sixty acres have been |ilanted with cotton on the Kalem- 

 liouche estate, from which the first pickings have been made. 

 ( Vniiv of St. Lucid.) -' 



The tenth Colonial Fruit Show, under the auspices of 

 the Kovjd Horticultural Society, wasiheld in London from 

 Novend.iei- 20-30 last. Ther^iwas ,.a good display of .AVeSt 

 Indian produce. A paper on the cultiyaition of citrus fruit.^,, 

 preparf;d .by i[r. Archiljald IJSi'O.'^ks, of the .Dominica Agri- 

 , cultural School, was reail at the Exhibition on November 26. 



The .British Guiana ^correspondent of ■ the Wext India 

 Coiiiiiiittee Cu-cM/ac states that ' an American .syndicate has 

 purchased 5,000 acres of land on the West Coast of Berbice, 

 on which it is proposed to carry put rice growing by up-to-date 

 method.f, similar to those practised' in the Southern States' of 

 .\merica. 



Bananas form the chief product of the ]irovince of 

 Boeas del Toro ( Panama). In ,1907 the -value of the fruit 

 expcn'ted 'was £227,064, practically the whole of which went 

 to the Ignited States. Sarsaparilla was exported to the value 

 of £2,8:30, together with rubber ^worth £1,067. Cacao, 

 cocoa-nuts, and sugar-cane are grown on a small scale by the 

 natives. 



The Prench Colonial Cotton-growing Association exists 

 for the |)urpose of encouraging cotton production in French 

 colonies. In 1907 cotton to the extent of 150 ton.s, grown 

 in the dependencies of the country, was imported Ijy the 

 Association. Among the colonies in which attention is given 

 to cotton growing are Algeria, Guadeloupe, ^Martinique, 

 ^[adagascar, Iteunion, and Dahomey. {B(xn-d af Trade 

 ■loufiial.) 



The cropping powers of thirty-seven varieties of cow- 

 peas were tested at the Delaware Agricultural ]']xperiment 

 Station during the last season. The New Era, Wliiii poor 

 Will, and Warren New Hybrid were the leading varieties in 

 seed production, yielding L"r6, 13'2, and 12'.'i bushels per 

 acre respectively. The \e\v Era, Whip-poor-Will, Red' 

 Crovvder, and Iron peas made tlie best growth. {K.rjKriinent 

 Slat ion Record.) 



'{'he cultivation of cocoa-nuts ajipears to be an industry 

 deserving uku'c attention than it at present receives in the 

 Bahamas Islands. Dtiring 1907, the value of the cocoa-nnt 

 exports was £710. The crop is reasonably certain in many 

 districts, and the demand is good, {linard uf Aifrifidtnn-, 

 J 007.) 



.\rr,ingements have been made by the (ioviTiior of 

 Uganda, to introduce a sujiply of the small liarbados lish 

 known as 'millions' into the fresh water streams, etc., of the 

 i'rotectorate, in the hope that by destroying the larvae of 

 inosi[uitos, the fish will prove of valuable assistance in 

 decreasing the jirevalence o( certain diseases. 



\n article in a late number of .the Cltcniical Tnidf 

 .hiiiiiial discusses the method of manufacture of calcium 

 cyanamide (see last Issue of Aiiriniltural Xeim, jiage .398), 

 and the cost of this, as compared with otlier nitrogenous 

 manures. It is stated that tjie factory at Odda, Norway, 

 will shortly be able to place the cyanamide on the English 

 liiarket at a price about 10*-. [ler ton cheaper than the co.st of 

 sulphate of ammonia containing the .same amount of nitrogen. 



I'"roni the preliminary returns of the Board of Agrictdtinv 

 and l'i.-.heries, it is seen that the chief crops of Great liritain 

 show a decline in the past sea.soii as compared with those, of 

 the previous year. 'The wheat cro|) has fallen from (i, 900,774 

 (piarters in 1907 to 6,565,370 iptarters in 1908, while oats 

 have declined from 16,799,015 .pnirters in 1907 to 15,167,616 

 quarters in 1908. The total amount of hay produi'cil in the 

 past summer was 9,721,899 tons, while in 1907 it was 

 10,429,234 ton>. 



