Vol. XVn. No. 413. 



THE AGRICULTUKAL NEWS 



57 



Tapioca Starch from Rhodesia. 



Cassava or manihot (from the roots of which 

 tapioca and tapioca starch are prepared) has been grown 

 for several years past at the Agricultural Experiment 

 Station, Salisbury, Rhodesia. The climate appears to 

 be well suited for its cultivation, and 10 to 20 acres are 

 being planted with the crop at the Government 

 Experiment Farm, Gwebi. The roots, it is said, 

 have been fed to stock experimentally without ill 

 effects, and in view also of the existence of a South 

 African market for tapioca, and the possibility of export- 

 ing cassava starch to Europe, the Director of Agri- 



k culture considers that the prospects of this crop for 



" Rhodesia are good. 



A small quantity of starch, prepared experiment- 

 ally from cassava grown at Salisbury, was examined 

 recently at the Imperial Institute. Microscopic 

 examination showed that the sample consisted entirely 

 of tapioca starch granules. A firm of importers in 

 Liverpool, to whom samples of the material were sub- 

 mitted for valuation and report, stated that in their 

 opinion the (piality of the starch was good, and that 

 the product would have a ready sale, provided the 

 commt-rcial shipments were equal to the sample. They 

 valued the product at about £28 per ton less 21 per 

 cent, ex quaj Liverpool, war risks included. 



The results of examination indicate that the 

 present sample represented a fairly good quality of tapi- 

 oca starch which, in the opinion ot the Bulletin of the 

 hnpetioi Institute (Vol. XV, No. 2), from which this 

 infoi-maiion is obtained, should find a ready market 

 in the United Kingdom, if offered in commercial 

 quantities. 



Electrical Stimulation of Crops. 



Among the many uses to which electiicity is now 

 being put, perhaps one of the most interesting and 

 far-reaching is its application to the stimulation of 

 plant growth. In view of the increasing food shortage 

 of the world at the present time, any means whereby 

 stimulation of crops can be effected is of immense 

 importance. 



Many in\estigators are now in the field, and are 

 obtaining distinct results. The English Board of 

 Agriculture is turning serious attention to the question 

 of the utilization of electricity in agriculture, and it is 

 thought that by its aid the people of Gr-eat Britain, 

 may be made lar more independent of imported iood 

 without calling on the scanty reserves of man power. 

 From an article in the Journal of Agriculture, New 

 Zealand, October 1917, it appears that experiments 

 are being made in the province of Canterbury as t'> 

 the stimulation of crops by electricity, both in glass 

 houses and in or-chards. The electric installation in 

 a glass house .SO feet by HO feet, in which 1,4-00 tomato 

 plants were set out, consisted nf fifteen 100-candle power 

 nitrogen-filled lamps with frosted globes. The lamps, 

 each provided with a 9-inch enamelled iron shade, were 

 hung at a height of 2 feet from the ground, the area 

 under the influence of each lamp being 100 square feet. 

 "The current was switched on each night at !) p.m., and 



switched oti" at b a.m. each morning. As the height of 

 the plants increased, the lamps were raised accordingly, 

 unttl the tops of the plants completely enveloped them. 

 Unfortunately there was no control to this experiment, 

 but there was sufficient evidence, according to the 

 article, to establish the fact that the electrical treat- 

 ment resiilted in a definite stimulation of growth, with 

 a proportionate increase in the yield, the resulting crop 

 being a very heavy one and maturing relatively early. 



The experiment on oi-chard cultivation consisted of 

 attaching in the centre of each of twenty-four trees 

 a 2.50- watt radiator lamp. In this case the crop of 

 apples on these trees, in addition to being a heavier 

 one than on others in the orchard, was ready for 

 picking fully a fortnight earlier. 



For use as a crop stimulant, electric power must of 

 course be obtainable at a cl.eap rate. With the abundant 

 water-power in New Zealand these experiments were 

 condr.cted at a cost of Id. per utnt, which is verv 

 low. Most of the British and American experiments 

 have been worked out on the basis of cost at 2d. to bd. 

 per unit, and, even at these prices, the electrical 

 stimulation of crops is found to pay well. 



The Guatemalan Sugar Industry. 



Next to coffee, sugar is the most important crop 

 of Guatemala. The chief sugar disti-icts are all on the 

 Pacific coast. There the chief varieties of cane grown 

 are (l)the variety known as Jainaiquina, and (2) 

 a variety planted extensively in the coast district, and 

 known as Cristalina. The area devoted to the culti- 

 vation of sugar in 191(j, according to an article in the 

 International Sugar Journal, December 1917, was 

 76,3.52 acres. From a report by the United States 

 Consul at (Juatemala (_'ity, it appears that there are 

 twenty sugar mills in the Pacific coast region, having 

 each an average crushing capacity of 540 tons per day, 

 along with several smaller mills. The machinery u.sed 

 is modern, and was imported mainly from the United 

 Kingdom and Germany. The grades of sugar manufac- 

 tured are HQ" to .S9° brown sugar, and 96° to 99" white 

 sugar. The quality of sugar produced is declared to 

 be excellent, and ther? is a large locil market for the 

 product. The sugar exported is principally the raw 

 product known in Guatemala as 'Moscabado'. The 

 exports of sugar from Guatemala in 19L5 were valued ' 

 at £67,000 



Antigua Corn Granary. 



Frotn a report forwarded to this Office by the 

 Superintendent of Agriculture for the Leeward Islands, 

 it appears that alter repairs and alterations the 

 Antigua Government Corn Granary is now in good 

 working order, and capable of producing, on an average, 

 800 ft. of corn meal per working day. The present 

 difficulty is the little siock of corn in the island. Of the 

 2,672 ft. of corn gruund in ih(. three days, February 

 (i to 8, 1 02.5 ft. were sent fiom St. Kitts, to be returned 

 as meal. It may be mentioned that the two bins 

 attached to the granary have each a storage capacity 

 of 1 ,600 bushels of shelled corn. 



