i:8{ 



THE AGraCULTUKAL NEWS. 



SEi'iEKbKi; 7, 1918. 



According to tbe Proiimf Miirkets^ Jitfifw, .June 2ii, 

 1918, operatioDH are in progre.es for the ereation of a plant on 

 the Brisbane River for the intnufacture from molasses of an 

 acetate of lime which will ultimately be utilized for certain 

 purposes; this may eventually involve the use of a Fery large 

 • juantity of molasse* which annually runs to waste in <^>ueens- 

 land. The enterprise is understood to be in the hands of the 

 ( 'ominonwealth authorities. 



GLEANINGS. 



The Colonial founial, .July 1918, is responsible for the 



statement that, in some countries very sweet honey is 



■extracted from the ripe cotton plant, and it should be more 



-generally known that this is one of the best honey- yielding 



(ilants. The honey granulate^ readily. 



A number of factories in Natal extract the wax from 

 the tilter-press cake, using the benzol process. The filter- 

 ■press cake contains up to 1 7 per cent, of wax, and 1 4 pei- cent, 

 is common. This is where the cane is trashed, but should 

 the cane be burnt, the percentage decreases to 10 and less. 

 • (The South Ap-iiiut Sii'^ar Journal, May 1918.) 



The Comniis-sioners under the Vegetable Produce Act, 

 Barbados, give notice under date August "29, 1918, that the 

 • dates for reaping provision crops under existing Orders 

 having expired, until further notice provision crops now 

 growing may be reaped at the discretion of planters, provided 

 such crops have arrived at the maturity fixed by the Orders 

 •for planting. 



The Scientitic Aniitioui describes a newly designed machine 

 for cracking the coco-nut and freeing the kernel. This is 

 operated folely by centrifugal force, the whole nuts being fed 

 into a rapidly revolving drum, and driven violently against a 

 • continuous stationary belt of breaker blocks lining the inside 

 surface of the main drum-.sliaped casting. (The Aiistrali-i/i 

 Siis^dr Joiiriiij/, .June ti, I'JlS.) 



Experiments made in Java seem to prove that, in the 

 case of Hevei rubber, the latex llows in a horizontal as well 

 as in a vertical direction. The horizontal Bow is less rapid. 

 Experiments made on a number of trees of equal yield show 

 that the maximum latex How occurs at t) am. and not at 10 

 am. A crooked incision yields as much as a V inci-sion, the 

 total length of the two branches of which equals that of the 

 crooked incision. {The Colo/ual /our/nil, Jaly 1918.) 



It is .satisfactory to find, writes the il'ti/ //iJ/n Com- 

 mittee Cint^iar, that the Agricultural Society of Trinidad 

 and Tobago shares the views expre.ssed by the We.st India 

 Committee, i hat enough attention has not been given to cacao 

 as a food. When quite Utely the tJacao tJoinraittef of the 

 Trinidad Board of .Agriculture was consulted as to the fixinj; 

 of a minimum price for that product fn London, stress was 

 laid on the necessity of impressing the Food Controller that 

 C'icao should no longer be treated as a matter of lurury, but 

 as a food. 



Rhodesia is becoming a promising ground for the pro- 

 ■duciion of certain oil seeds. At present only ground nuts 

 and sun tlower seeds are produced commercially: the cultiva- 

 tion of both is increasing, and the latter are likely to become 

 a. staple export, i :a.stor oil seeds, sesame .seeds, and linseed 

 can also be protluced {Jiitlleliii <>) the Jmpriinl Lntitule, 

 Vol. .\V, No. +.) 



Well decomposed stable manure is the be<t general 

 purpose fertilizer for lawns. It contains all the chemical 

 elements essential for plant growth, and adds humus to the 

 soil, thu.s making it more retentive of moisture, and also 

 imprjving its texture. If this can be u.sod, a heavy dressing 

 should be applied. .\ ton to 2.000 sq. feet would not be too 

 bcavy. l/liil/ii/ii Xr. 2S1, Michigan .Agrii-nlturiil College.) 



.•\n Ordinance (.\o. "29 of •1917) has been passed in 

 Trinidad, which provides that no person shall acquire any 

 interest in the oil-bearing lands without the written consent 

 of the fiovernor. It is retrospective in opeiation. nnd applies 

 to all interest previously agrff-d to be acquired. The object 

 is to safeguard fuel oil for the Navy, and tho <^rdinance is 

 to remain in force during the war and for six months after. 



The West India Committee have received intimatioa 

 that the Covernment have decided to give to the signatories 

 to the Brussels Sugar Convention the requisite six months' 

 notice of their intention to resume complete liberty of action 

 with regard to their sujiar policy. This is in keeping with 

 the pledge given to the slijuatories in 1913 when (ireat 

 Britain withdrew from the Convention that a preference 

 would not be given to British l^olonial sugar or to cane sugar 

 over beet sugar without first giving the sii>natories six months 

 notice. 



The Cti'im/ier 1// C^'i/ntitnr /om/ii/, i\i\y 1918, refer- 

 ring to the reported rtiscovery in 1917 of a new deposit of 

 molybdenum at Lier, Norway, states that the deposit was at 

 once bought up by agrouj) of t'hristiania business men who 

 proceeded to test the metal. The work has now advanced 

 to a stage where it can readily l)e seen that the new deposit 

 is an extensive one, and the metal of :i good quality. The 

 metal is found in quartz veins, the ore bei^ring veins having a 

 breadth of .5 c.c. ( 2 inches), but the metal itself is in such 

 concentrated form that it can be prefiared for the market 

 ' with a minimum of labour. 



As a result "f the n'.-Ariction of trade ilue to the cur- 

 tailment of shipping between the Far Ilast and Juirope, 

 difficulty has arisen in the disposal of the copra crops in the 

 Malayan Peninsula'. This has led to the revival of proposals, 

 says the Ch'j>.>i'':r i^f Commene /oiniuil, .July li)is, to extract 

 coco-nut oil on the spot on a larger scale than hitherto, and 

 it is understood that the Federateil Malay States ( Jovernment. 

 with the view of encouraging the establishment of local oil 

 mills, will grant u site for a factory at a nominal rent, ajid 

 will al-io grant a loan against mortgage, (t is estimated 

 that a minimum of 7,200 tons of copra p'-r year or 14,000 

 acres of coconuts in bearing, would bf required to jusiify 

 the erection of a c ■ operative mill, ^ _^ 



