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THE AGKICULTUKAL NEWS. 



t)t roBKR 5. 1918. 



GLEANINGS. 



Hitherto tht oil-palm (iT/.jtvV ^///wttv/j/V) has only been 

 a wild crop, but it is of interest to note that recent attempts 

 to cultivate it on the (iold Coast have met with remaikable 

 success, the yield obtained in tilled soil at fair distances apart 

 being more than three times as large as that from palms 

 under native conditions. The establishment of similar 

 plantations in the federated Malay States and the 

 iSeychelles may therefore lead U< far-reaching results, 

 and under these more favourable conditions the oil-palm 

 may so flourish that the native industry, unless properly 

 cared for. may collapse and disappear. (A^aiiire. August 

 1.5, 191S.) 



We regret to have to record the death in Antigua, after 

 but a few days illness, of Mr. Walter Conacher, the Manager 

 of the Basseterre Sugar Factory, St. Kitts- Mr. Conacher 

 had just returned from America, where he had successfully 

 undergone a serious operation 



The bleeding of balata trees in British Guiana was 

 actively carried on in 1916 in consequence of the high prices 

 obtaining, and the record quantity of l,450,70i' lb. of balata 

 was e.xported, the previous highest output being 1,300,526 8). 

 in 191.^ 1 I. {Cn/,.:,/',yl /?,;vrA«— Annual, No. ii.^iT). 



In the rreiiuiinary Report of the Water-l-'ower Commit- 

 tee of the Conjoint Board of Scientific Societies, which was 

 issued in July 191t<, it is noted that the falls of Kaieteur in 

 British Guiana are said to form perhaps the finest untouched 

 wafer power in the Kmpire- It is also noted that the water- 

 p<:>wer possibilities of British Honduras are known to be 

 large. 



It is stated in Cohniiul Reporls — Annual, Xc 93(i, that 

 the piassava palm is abundant along the river banks of one 

 district of the Gambia for a distance of about 30 miles. 

 The piasaava industry lias been in abeyance for several 

 years, but in 1915 the cutting and preparation of the fibre 

 was begun by a British firm. The work had not advanced 

 .Nufficientl •, however, by the end of. 1916 to eni^ble exports 

 to be made. 



The typical oil-palm, which is so widely distributed in the 

 Canieroon."-, is called I)ilombeor Dipobe, and its fruit contains 

 ■A. hard shell. A different variety (E/iuis gi/i>ietwisis, var. 

 miinnptrmn), which is known as fJaombe, differs in having a 

 fruit with a thin shell, and is of only isolated occurrence; it 

 never is gregarious, and in some districts it does not occur at 

 all. Germany consumed more than half the world's commer- 

 cial supply of the produce of oi|.[)altns. (The AV?.' Bulk I in, 

 Nn 6, 101 S.I 



The Ajfru-uiiural Super inicndent of St. Kitts, Mr. !•'. U. 

 Shepherd, writing on September 13, reports that good rains 

 had fallen in that Presidency. Since September 9 there 

 had been a precipitation of 4 inches without any wash. This 

 must benefit the cane crop, althr>ugh Mr. Shepherd fears that 

 some of the ratoons are (last recotery He further reports a 

 go<d rainfall at Nevi.s: nr> news had been received from 

 Aneuillu. 



The improvement of the natural indigo industry is a 

 subject receiving much attention from scientific workers in 

 India. A note in Natures August 15, 191f<, points out that 

 Mr. C'. H. Hutchinson has published a paper entitled 'The 

 Importance of Bacterial Action in Indigo Manufacture', 

 which shows that the yield of indigo from a given weight 

 of indigo plant is found to depend upon the intervention of 

 bacteria during the steeping process, and that while some bac- 

 teria operate beneficially, others are detrimental. In the 

 absence of the former the yield is reduced, and the author 

 considers that the presence of these beneficial forms could be 

 secured by artificial inoculation. 



Coffee cultivation continues to be an industry of increas- 

 ing importance in the North Western l)istrict of Briti,sL 

 Guiana, according to ih^ jfourna/ o/fht Board of Agricultiiri 

 of British Guiana, July 1918. The coffee farms are well 

 laid out into rectangular fields, and are maintained under a 

 proper system of drainage. The coffee, which is of the Liberian 

 variety, grows luxuriantly, and bears prolifically. The soil 

 of the district is so well suited t(i the cultivation of this crop . 

 that even in their early years of growth the young trees are 

 capable of yielding4!S cwt. of coffee per acre, with trees planted 

 at 300 to the acre. In 1917 the census returns show the 

 area under cultivation to be !^00 acres 



Ground nut oilcake has been imported from India to. 

 the United Kingdom. Ceylon, and Germany. Ceylon has 

 increa.sed her imports from 17,000 tons in i;>r213. to 

 35,000 tons in 1915-16. These supplies come chiefly from 

 Madras, and are largely used as a manure for tea. etc. In 

 Kurope, ground nut cake, as is well known, is regarded as a 

 very valuable cattle food, and the manure produced by the 

 animals fed on the cake is 'exceptionally rich in manurial 

 value.' In India, interest is being directed towards the 

 utilization of such oil-cake for sugar-cane and for wet lands. 

 (The Trifical AgriailtiiHst, -lune lOls.") 



'How to Pay tor the War by Developing the Latest 

 Be.scurces of the Empire' is the title of a recently published 

 book by Mr. Harold llamel Smith, the well known editor ot 

 Tropical Lift. The book contains an outline cf the authors 

 views in ci)nnexion with the development of the tropical and 

 subtro[)ical [wrtionsof the Knipire, and of our trade relation? 

 with the nations of Latin America, and with Russia. The 

 book is very suggestive, and is of great interest to those 

 connected with agriculture or commerce in the regions referred 

 to. Some of the view.'i expressed may be Icgimately open X.<> 

 di.scufsion, which will no doubt be welcomed by the author, 

 as a means of ilrawiiii.' further attention to the object he hai 

 in mind. 



