2S 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS 



Jam ARv 26, 191 S. 



GLEANINGS. 



By a ProclamatioD issued by the Governor of Barbados 

 tlated January 14, 191S, all foodstuffs ordinarilj- used as food 

 by man, and two articles of stock feed, namely oats and 

 riollard. are forbidden to be exported from the island. 



The Governor of Jamaica has announced that owing to 

 the shortage of foodstufl's in England, he proposes to limit 

 the importation of food into Jamaica. The colony, he said, 

 <uust grow more food, and feed itself. (Tlte Times, December 

 •Jl. 1917.) 



In order to make the best use of her o.visting resources, 

 India must give up most of her industrial crops for botb 

 seasons of 191^ 19, and concentrate her energies entirely on 

 food grains — in a word, increase her output of grain by as 

 many million tons as possible She is one of the few countries 

 which can talk lightly about millions of tons; she is in a posi- 

 tion to add to her production of food grains an amount which 

 might make all the difference to the world. (The Agricultural 

 Jdinii'd or' Jndiii, October 1917.) 



In a printed reply to Colonel Fabei', who asl;ed how 

 many tractor ploughs had been supplied by the Government, 

 how many acres had been ploughed, and at what cost, 

 Mr. Prothero, President of the Board of Agriculture says, that 

 the number in Kngland and Wales, up to November I, was 

 1,618, of which about 1,000 had been supplied since July 1. 

 The area ploughed to November 1 was estimated at about 

 iOO,000 acres. The average gross expenditure throughout 

 England and Wales on the running expenses of tractors 

 amounted to ii'^s. 6rf. per acre, but it is known that since 

 August the average cost has been reduced. {Tlie Timex, 

 Xoveraber 1.!, 1917.) 



t)ut of the 49,'_'01 tons of palm kernel exported from 

 oierra Leone in 1913 Germany secured 43,016 tons. The 

 position is now reversed. ( )f the total quantity exported in 

 1916. which amounted to 45,316 tons valued at £680,705, 

 practically the whole went to the United Kingdom {Cnlonial 

 Jieports — Annual, \o.939. i 



The advent of the first mill making white sugar direct 

 in Porto Rico marks a new era in the industry in the island. 

 [t has been put up at Central Constancia at Ponce. The 

 installation cost 82r)0,000, and the plant will be capable of 

 dealing with 250 tons of cane daily. ( iMiihiana Planter. 

 "November 10, 1917.) 



A note in the Luttiiiund J'l.iinttr, November 3. 1917, saj's 

 it is well known that cane planters and beet growers are 

 more and more solving the problem of labour on their fields, in 

 ploughing and cultivating by the use of tractors. A recent 

 report states that there are now 34,371 tractors in use all 

 over the I'nited States. This number has certainly increased 

 .'■ince that report. 



Mr. H. B Cowgill, of the Experiment Station in Porto 

 I;ico, has published in the Jimrnal nf tin Depirti/ienl of 

 Agriculture of Porto Rico for July 1917, a method of identi 

 lication and description of sugarcane varieties. He truly 

 ways that the number of varii ties of sugar cane is increasing 

 rapidly, and for this rea.'son it is desirable to have a method 

 i>( accurately describing and identifying them 



In Piritish Guiana the iirl of straw plaiting for making 

 ^-'anaiiia hats is being regularly taught in some of the Girls 

 ''rimary Schools, the young leaf .shoots of C'orludnnird 

 ■/Mhwita grown at the Botanic tiardens, Georgetown, anri 

 the Experimental ISubbtr Farm, Issororo, N. W. Oistrict, being 

 .'Upplicd to the school.", as the raw material for the purpose, 

 l>y tie Oepartrnent of Science and Agriculture. (Coni'-iind 

 Court A/inntf /'nj,n; 'So. 927, 1917. Piriti.'-li ( iuiana ' 



It is contended, and the contention is supported by 

 a great and growing volume of evidence, that where tractors 

 have been properly used and ade']uately supervised they are 

 progres-ively useful in agricultural operations. It may be 

 impossible entirely to guard again-t bad weather, shortage of 

 spare parts, and various other cau>es: but doubtless in the past 

 much of the indifferent work done by tractors has been due^ 

 to an unwise selection of the land on which they were put 

 to work, slack control, or want of skill on the part of the 

 men entrusted with them. (The Jo%onnl of the Hoard of 

 Agricidiure, November 1917.) 



The utilization of kelp for obtaining a supply of potash 

 in California was noticed in a recent issue of this Journal. 

 Similar experiments which are rer-orded in the Agricidtiiral 

 Ga.ette qt Cunadti, November 1017, have been conduc- 

 ted in Nova Scotia on a seaweed of the Atlantic coast, ■ 

 fucus nodofus. The sea-weed is dried and ground until 

 the finished product bears a clo>e resemblance to coffee in 

 appearance. As a fertilizer it ha.- given good results. ^\'hen, 

 however, normal prices for nitrogen and potash obtained, 

 this product could not have been preparetl and used econom- 

 ically; but under existing conditions the possibilities of this 

 source of potash seem to invite further investigations. 



Two .lapanese cotnjianies are being formed fc.r the 

 purpose of engaging in the sugar industry in the Dutch East 

 Indies. ( )ne compiny, it is understood, has purchased a large 

 sugar mill in Java. The other company is being established 

 for the purpose o| purchasing suilable cane growing land in 

 •lava and Sumatra. The capital of this company is stated 

 to be about .£61 2, (lOQ. It has already purchased a sugar 

 estate in Sumatra, and a ttact of land in Java to be brouKht. 

 under cane cultivation. MaDulacturing operations will 

 be commenced wiili a plant of a daily capacity of 300 tons, 

 which it is inteiiii'd to increase later to a capacity of l,50(»- 

 tons. iT/if llonrd <,t Tr.i(d' ./•<») «.(/, November 8,1917.) 



