THE AGiaCLLTULAL NEWs 



Al'6ij.~i lu, 191s. 



GLEANINGS. 



The House of Assembly, Burbados, it a receiit fcittiiig. 

 after considerable discussion, rejected a resolution introduced 

 lyihe AttorneyGeneral on behalf of the Government, in which 

 it was propo-sed to grant a i ounty on increased production of 

 cotton in the island, in order to stimulate its cultivation. 



The St. Croix ^irif, -July -0, 1918, states that corn meal 

 is being ground at the Bethlehem factory. It was fine in 

 <iuality, and of a rich yellow colour. It was obtainable locally 

 ■at $1050 per sack of 175JBb. This industry, says the .A7'/s, 

 must be regarded as a boon to the consumers of this staple 

 article of food. 



The //Wv ///(//■'/ Committee Ciniilar, May ."50, 1918, 

 draws attention to an address of the Governor of Mauritius, 

 Sir H. Hesketh Bell, to the Board of Agriculture of that island, 

 on the possibilities of lime cultivation. The Agricultural 

 J)epartment proposes to se'ect a suitable piece of land of not 

 less than lo to '20 acres on which to start a lime plantation. 



In the report of the President of Stanford University, 

 (Jalifornia, for 1916, on the Botanical l>epartment, we notice 

 that portions of the C^niversity estate have been set aside, 

 and will be fenced, to form permanent plant reserves for the 

 perservation of the native vegetation. These tracts will 

 prove valuable for future study of native types by plant 

 physiologists. 



Arrangements are being made for the establishuient of 

 u factory in Yucatan for the manufacture of bags and sacks 

 irom the henequec fibre, which in the past has all been 

 exported in its unmanufactured condition. The sugar growers 

 of Tuba use 10,000,000 .sacks annually, and the Vucatan 

 factory proposes to suppiv this demand. (The Cuba Review, 

 June I91s.) 



A new company for the exploitation of vegetable oils, 

 established last year at Wakamatusu in .fapan, hopes to 

 begin manufacturing in January. The consumption of raw 

 material (soya beans) will, it is stated, be 100 tons per day, 

 approximately 30,000 ..ons annually. The outjiut ol bean 

 cake will be -.M.oOO.tons; of bean oil, 4,200 tons. ( The Hoard 

 of Tr.jJe /iiiiriNit, .U\nv ^U, 1918.) 



According to the J'/neteiii/ij^s of l/u Aii^riiultiitdl Smielx 

 (jj Trinidad and To/mfio, June 1918, there are unduly large 

 atocks of cacao on hand in the island. The r|uantity offici- 

 ally permitted tri be shipped to the United Kingdom, namely 

 22,500 bags of 200 lb. each, has for the most part already 

 gone forward, leaving about G.OOO bags only for permitted 

 abipnient in the coming six months. 



The Trinidad Guardian in a recent issue reports that 

 e.vperiiuents are being conducted at the Usine St. Madeleine, 

 Trinidad, with the view of manufacturing refined white tugat 

 for local consumption and for e.'cport. The future of the 

 refinery effort will probably depend chieHy u|ion the reception 

 which the local public may give to locally refined sugar 



A new breed ot cotton has been developed in St. Croi.x, 

 which gives promise of large yields. Last year, on a field of 

 7 acres, this new cotton gave an extraordinarily large yield 

 per acre. Samples have been sent to Liverpool, and the 

 reports on it are excellent. Dr. Longfield Smith, Director 

 of the E.'vperimental Station in St. Croix, says that this year 

 there will be a considerable acreage planted to the new var 

 iety. (The St. Croix Avis, June 29, 1918.) 



According to a survey of the L'nited States Food 

 Administration's Sugar Division, the quantity of sugar used 

 annuaHy by the manufacturing industries of the L'nited 

 States amounts to nearly one million short tons, approxi- 

 mately 25 per cent, of the total sugar consumption of the 

 States. Eecent figures given out officially in the United 

 Kingdom put the proportions there at over 30 per cent, of 

 the totttl consum|ition. (The Iiiternatinnal Suf^ar fournal 

 June 1918.) 



la advocating more extended use of bananas as an 

 article of food, the foiirna! of t/ie Board oj Agrieii/iiire of 

 f^rilish Guiana points out that the fact that banonas may 

 be obtained in abundance throughout the year, that they 

 may be used either cooked or raw. or dried or powdered, 

 shows that in this fruit we have an addition to our dietary 

 which should not be underestimated, as the banana will stand 

 compari.son with any food upon the market on the basis of 

 caloric costs. 



For the last quarter of 19l() the value of the corn meal 

 imported into Jamaica amounted to £20,774, and for the 

 same period of 1917 the value was £15,508. In 1910 the 

 value of imported corn for the same period was £6,113; for 

 the last three months of 1917 it was £33. These figures 

 show almost conclusively that with only £3.'1 worth of corn 

 coming into the island for three months, it could grow enough 

 to supply all its need? (The /oinna/ of t/ie famaiea Agri- 

 cu/turni' Society, Mny l^X'i.) 



Marine fibre, derived from the sea plant t'osidonia 

 anstra/is, is said to be obtainable in great quantity in the 

 shallow water of Spencer Gulf, Australia. It is being com- 

 mercially exploited, and fair qualities of paper have been 

 made from the fibre, which is also employed in the manufac- 

 ture of bedding, and its use by the textile trade is being 

 advocated. The cost of production is estimated at about 

 !j8157 per ton delivered at a European port. The market 

 value of the fibre is about $110 per ton. (F.xperiinenl 

 Station f^Word. \'ol. .V.K.KVIII, \o. 6.) 



Kritish Guiana has benefited imiiienst-ly by the present 

 war. These colonies are in the enviable position of being 

 very remote from unpleasant circumstances, such as air raids, 

 wholesale compulsory rationing of our food, and other horrors 

 of modern warfare. We could, however, have benefited to 

 an infinitely greater extent had wc in the earlier years of 

 the war more fully grasped what lay in store for us. If in 

 1914 the farmers thmughout these colonies had anticipated 

 the present situation, it is safe to predict that our supplies of 

 food grown within them would be now neither short nor 

 high in price. (The Journa/ of the Hoard of A,e;ri(iilliiri 

 of British Guiani, April 1918.) 



