172 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS 



JlSe 1, 1918. 



GLEANINGS. 



The extraordinary price ot £236 per ton hiis' been paid 

 for flax in Dundee. The tias was part of a consignment 

 <1aniaged by water, and this is perhaps the highest figure 

 ever paid for the fibre. (77/< Times, February "28, 1918.) 



The future position of the world's sugar as regards pro- 

 duction and distribution depends entirely upon the position 

 of the British Empire in the direction of fostering sugar 

 production, and upon the future attitude of the T'nited 

 States towards its protective policy in that direction. (The 

 West India CommHtee Circular, April 4, 191t<.) 



The Louisiana Planter for April 20, 101 S, says that 

 Canada is coming to the fore with her maple sugar produc- 

 tion. It is reported that the output for the present season 

 will be 40 million ft), with 4 million gallons of syrup. 

 It is estimated that at the present prices of majile sugar and 

 syrup this crop will be worth close on to 810,000,000. 



The average price being jtained for plantation rubber 

 is lower than it has been for (juite a long period, and, in view 

 of the continued ri.se in the cost of most estate requisites, 

 and the restriction of output hading to a higher C(ist per ft), 

 of raw rubber collected, the total profits from plantations 

 will be appreciably affected. (The India Riiliher /oiirnal 

 April 6, 1918.) 



The .Japanese are very food of the 'Morning (ilory' 

 (J/'iiinea .sp.), of which they have a great number of varieties, 

 They grow them in [wts for house and t;ible decorations, and 

 keep them compact by pinching oil' the climbing stems. The 

 result is a compact bush from I to 2 feet high which bears 

 from two to five blooms a day. (The Egyptian Hortieultii- 

 rat /i'<7vV7i-', .laiiuary 1918.) 



Bee«-wax is not .■suitable as a seal for bottled fruit 

 because it shrinks in cooling, leaving a space tlirough which 

 air with the genus of decay can penetrate. The best preser 

 vative for household use is the tasteless |)aratiin oil now 

 largely used for medical purposes. The oil may be removed 

 by mean> of a salt spoon when the fruit is re(|uired for use, 

 and may be utilized again for the same purpose. (The Hilil 

 April l.\ 1918.) 



Kadioactivity is normally a factor of plant environment: 

 it has been shown that freshly fallen rain and snow, Roll, 

 common rocks, soil air, and in fact practically every kind 

 and form of matter is more or less radio-active. Itadium, 

 however, is not a plant food, and the necessity of fertilizers 

 does not seem to be decreased by its application to the 

 soil. {Memoirs nf tin Ne;v York /intnnieal Garden, 

 August 191C.) 



According to JVa/ure, April 11, 1918, the Bulletin des 

 I'sine.i de Guerre for March 18, gives particulars of a motor 

 ( ar propelled by hydrogen, which is probably the first of its 

 kind. Experiments made with the vehicle show: (1) that 

 a car motor can be made to work perfectly well with a mix- 

 ture of pure hydrogen and air: (2) that it is not necessary to- 

 modify the construction of the motor; and ('>) that the motor 

 can be worked with a simple type of carburettor. 



In a note on the demand for onions in the /-ield for 

 April 27, 1918, it is stated that in 1914 no less than 

 7,499,31.3 bushels of foreign-grown onions were imported 

 into England. It is strongly urged that more extensive 

 cultivation of this indispensable vegetable be undertaken. 

 For culinary purposes it may be said to be in almost hourly 

 demand. For small holdings the onion is a most valuable 

 crop, as there is no vegetable that better repays care in 

 cultivation. 



T/w Board <if Trade /oiirnal for April 11, 1918, draws 

 attention to the appointment of Mr. A. J. Pavitt, as His 

 Majesty's Trade Commissioner in Trinidad. Mr. Pavitt will 

 have within his sphere of duty the whole of the British West 

 Indian islands and a number of adjacent foreign West Indian 

 islands as well as the British, French and liutch Guianas. 

 His services are placed at the disposal of British firms who 

 are desirous of extending nr developing their export trade 

 in the area included within his sphere of operations. 



The Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, April 5, 

 1918, has a note on the exploitation in Argentina of a new 

 dye material 'algarobin', obtained from the wood of the 

 Carob tree {Cera ton ia silii/u a). The materi.il is said to be 

 giving good results in its industrial use. in addition to being 

 economical in comparison with other dye material. Algarobin 

 imparts a light brown colour to anj- textile fibre, cotton, 

 wool, silk, etc. In combina'ion with other vegetable 

 extracts, such as fustic, logwood, etc , it gives a number of 

 varied and fast colours. 



Guinea grass, a native of tropical Africa, is cultivated at 

 the present time for forage purposes practically through- 

 out the tropics. Its introduction into the Philippine Islands 

 only dates from 1907, with the shipment of twenty root- 

 clumps from Hawaii to -Manila. It is estimated that at the 

 present time — 1917 — the twenty root clumps received in 

 1907 are now the parents of some millions of plants distri- 

 buted tliroughout the archipelago, the crop being in high 

 favour as a frirage for horses and cattle. (The Tnfieal 

 Agriculturist, l-'ebruary 1918.) 



For .some time the deposits of monazite sand in Brazil 

 were the only commercial source from which to obtain com- 

 mercial supplies of thorium rei|uired for the manufacture of 

 incandescent gas mantles, but this monopoly was broken up 

 by the discovery of deposits of monazite in the native .State 

 of Travimcore, India, which was found to contain nearly 

 twice as much thorium as the Brazilian monazite. As a result 

 of the recent mineral survey being conducted in Ceylon, 

 there has also been discovered valuable deposits of monazite 

 sand in that island. {United Empire, April 1918.) 



