Vol. XVII. No. 427. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS, 



•279 



have begun to turn yellow and dry up. Shell them by 

 placing the pods in boiling water for five minutes, then 

 spread them on a wire screen, having a mesh large enough to 

 permit the shelled peas to pass through, with a box or basket 

 placed beneath it. Rub the pods vigorously over the screen 

 with the hands, which will burst and empty practically all 

 the pods much more quickly than they could be shelled by 

 hand. The shelled peas are then given a very short dip, one 

 to two minutes, in boiling water, drained, spread to a depth of 

 3-inch to 1 inch on the trays, and dried at 115° to 120°F. 

 la initial temperature, rising to 140° toward the completion 

 of the drying. Stir occasionally while drying- Properly 

 dried peas will be uniformly dry throughout, showing no 

 moisture near the centre when split open. 



String beans, not yet full grown but sufficiently develop- 

 ed for table use are strung, broken into pieces, each containing 

 not more than two beans, and dipped into vigorously boihng 

 water for five minutes if very young, for seven to eight 

 minutes if older or nearly grown, in water which has had 

 two tablespoonfuls of ordinary baking soda to each gallon 

 added to it. This will preserve the bright-green colour of 

 the pods quite perfectly. Then spread the beans about 1 inch 

 deep on trays, and begin drying at 130° F. Stir occasionally, 

 and increase the temperature very gradually to 140° or 14-5 . 

 The drying is complete when no moisture can be expressed 

 from freshly broken pieces. Beans and peas which have 

 been allowed to dry on the vines may advantageously be 

 given a short treatment in the drier. Shell and spread them 

 to a depth of i- to |-inch in the trays, and place in the drier 

 for ten to fifte-en minutes at 16.5= to 180° F. This treatment 

 will destroy insects' eggs and bean weevils, thus reducing 

 the possibilities of loss in storage; but it also destroys 

 the vitality of the material treated, which consequently can 

 not be used for seed. 



TRE.VT.MENT OF PKODUI'TS AFTER DRYING. 



After removal from the driers fruits or vegetables muse 

 •be subjected to an after-curing or conditioning process before 

 theyaie permanently stored away. Any lot of material, 

 even that removed from a single tray, will not be unif irmly 

 dry throughout, some portions being over-dry, while others 

 contain too much moisture for safety. If such material while 

 still warm be piled loosely upon a clean door, and subse- 

 quently thoroughly stirred at daily intervals for ten days or two 

 weeks, the wetter portions give up some of the water to the 

 drier parts or to the atmosphere, the moisture content of the 

 entire mass becomes uniform, and a condition of equilibrmm 

 with the surrounding air, such that the material neither 

 absorbs nor gives off measurable quantities of moisture, is 

 presently attained. Material so treated is said to have been 

 'conditioned', and may be stored without danaer of spoilage; 

 without such treatment, the spores of fungi and bacteria 

 present upon the material will be able to begin growth upon 

 the wetter portions, ultimately destroying the whole. The 

 curing room should be conveniently located with reference to 

 the drier, should have over all the windows blinds or shatters 

 which effectively exclude sunlight or strong daylight, and 

 should be closely screened to exclude insects. Containers in 

 which such products are stored should, of course, be air-tight. 



THE USE OF LEAD FOR STIMULATING 

 GROWTH IN PLANTS. 



Experiments carried out in 1914 and 1915 on the action 

 of aqueous solutions of lead nitrate showed that plants grew 

 vigorously when treated with small quantities of lead. The 

 maximum growth was obtained with 05 gram of nitrate per 

 litre of nutritive solution. Not only did larger quantities 

 affect the development of the roots, but they also retarded 

 that of the leaves. The same results were obtained in thia 

 respect with all the experimental plants— rye, wheat, oats, 

 barley, maize, and peas. The difficulty of spreading the lead 

 nitrate was overcome by making it into a fine powder, and 

 mixing it well with the potash salt or sodium nitrate used as 

 a manure. Manuring experiments with beets resulted in a 

 certain increase in yield of both roots and sugar, which could 

 be attributed to the lead nitrate. Potatoes, on the other 

 hand, proved very sensitive to the action of lead which 

 caused a decreased yield of tubers and starch. 



In experiments with wheat in sandy loam, the addition 

 of 44 lb. of nitric nitrogen to the basic manure increased the 

 grain yield by 880 fc.; 56 percent, of this nitrogen was 

 assimilated. The addition of 9 tt). of lead nitrate only 

 increased the grain yield by 1 37 lb. as compared with the 

 basic manure, and only 21 -5 per cent, of the nitrogen 

 was assimilated. The addition of 66 B). of nitric nitrogen to 

 the basic manure increased the grain yield by 1,320 lb., and 

 82-3 per cent, of the nitrogen was assimilated. In this case, 

 the addition of 9 Bb. of lead nitrate had a favourable enfeL-t on 

 the grain yield, which it increased by 2,123 ft>. as compared 

 with the basic manure. 



There is nothing against the practical use of lead nitrate 

 and so long as the manufacturer can guarantee a uniform 

 distribution of the lead, the mixing of lead nitrite with 

 potash salts in sodium nitrate on a commercial basis is 

 recommended. {Experiment Station Record, Vol. XXXVIII.) 



Observations on the occurrence of infertile spots under 

 tamarind trees and bamboo clumps indicate that, while 

 numerous factors were perhaps involved, the infertility in 

 these particular cases was due mainly to the accumulation of 

 soluble salts accelerated by the great transpiring power of the 

 plants, which removed soil moisture, leaving behind the 

 greater part 'f the soluble salts. {Experiuwit Station 

 Record, Vol. XXXVIII ) 



JACK SPANIARDS. 



The Curator, Montserrat, in a letter to the Imperial 

 Commissioner, states that the Jack Spaniards, {Polisfes anntit- 

 aris) introduced into Montserrat from St. Vincent, in 1910, 

 had for several years been plentiful at Blake's Eitate where 

 they were first established. 



Recent reports were to the effect that these insects were 

 spreadint! lo aijoining estates to a distance of 4 miles to 

 the south-east, and to an equal distance to the northwest. 

 This has been confirmed by a personal visit on the pirc of 

 the Curator with regard to the spread to the south-east, but 

 in the opposite direction c ireful search failed to confirm the 

 report. 



Attempts made in 1914 to redistribute the Jack Span- 

 iard to other parts of the island from Blake's were not 

 successful. The establishment of this insect, and its 

 spread in Montserrat is of considerable inteiest, since it haa 

 proved to be of value in keeping the cotton worm in check. 

 In the Agricultural News for September 11, 1915, 

 (Vol. XIV, p. 298), an article on West Indian Wasps appear- 

 ed, in which the importation of .Jick Spaniards into Mont- 

 serrat is mentioned, and an account is there given of a 

 'disease' of the x\'aWS wasps (P. crinitus), which maybe 

 responsible for the failure of Polistes annularis to establish 

 itself in certain districts in .Montserrat, althoigh thi3 matter 

 has not been investigated fully. 



H.A.B. 



