Vol. XVir. No. 423. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



!15 



that country, we find for Germ.iny an available aggregate 

 of 340,000 tons of nitrate, if the production of cyanamide 

 in 1917 is estimated as eijual to those of 1916 and 1915. 



SULPHUR. 



Tiie Italian production of raw sulphur during the first 

 half of lyl7 was officially estimated at 100,l'40 metric tons, 

 as against 269,374 and .5-58,107 tons, respectively, for the 

 complete years 1916 and 1915. Almost the whole of the 

 sulphur produced in the United States at present comes from 

 deposits in Louisiana and Texas, but deposits that might 

 have been or might be productive are known in Wyoming, 

 Nevada, Utah, California, Colorala, Oregon, and Alaska. 

 Some authorities on the question reckon that the f nited 

 States have consumed about 900,000 tons in 1915 and 1916, 

 as compared with 300,000 in 1913. It is expected that the 

 demand in the States will have attained l,L'00,0i.)0 in 1917, 

 and may probably grow to 1,600,000 in 1918. 



The only other large producer is Japan, which had an 

 output of 01,000 tons in 191-5, and 93,000 tons in 1916. 



SULPHATE OK <i>PPEK. 



Subjoined are the items of information published by the 

 Institute; — 

 Sulphate of copper. 1916. 1915. 1914. 1913. 



Thousands of metric tons. 

 Spain 8 1 



France 27 16 21 26 



Great Britain 39 66 60 77 



Italy 48 41 31 44 



United States 6* 19 14 25 



* Froiluotinii of the .4i/(-:/'i'/-i/i Sineltiiiii and Il'jiniitii I'um- 

 jj'jHji "uly. 



Froni a summary of wholesale prices for fertilizers, we 

 find that the average prices for the first half of 1917, per 

 long ton, were as follows: — • 



Sulphate of potash (London;, £66. 



Nitrate of soda (Liverpool), £23. 



Sulphate of ammonia (Hull), £19. IOj.; (New York), £24. 



Raw sulphur (Sicily), £8 3s. 4</.; (London), £14 8/. 



Sulphate of copper (London), £63 7.f. 6i-/-; (New York), 

 £48 lO.f. 



LIMA BEANS. 



Wherever agriculture is practised, either in tropical or 

 temperate countries, some kind of leguminous crop is 

 grown. The seeds of such crops come ne.xt in importance to 

 cereals. Among the most widely grown of these are the 

 many varieties of Fhasccliis himitiis, known as Lima 

 beans, or butter beans, or white beans, and sometimes even 

 as haricot beans, although this name properly belongs to the 

 seeds of PJiascoliis ''uigan's. 



The seeds of the white or Lima bean vary considerably 

 in appearance, but they are usually flattened more or less, 

 kidney-shaped in profile, and from deep purple to red-brown 

 or white in colour. All the varieties of the .seed show lines 

 radiating from the hilum to the outer edge, usually strongly 

 marked in coloured forms, but only appearing as faint lines 

 in the white varieties. 



A native of .South America, /Viasoj/us liiiiatus is now 

 widely distributed in cultivation throughout the warmer 

 parts of the world. Under cultivation the size of the seed 

 has been much increased, and the colour has been changed in 

 many varieties from purplish red to white. 



The importation of these beans into the L^nited Kingdom, 

 as stated in an article on the Peas and Beans of Commerce in 

 the Bulletin vf the Imperial Institute, October-December 

 1917, amounted in 1916 to no less than 1,077,600 cwt., of 

 the value of £l,23!i,325. Of this total, 801 670 cwt. were 

 imported from countries within the Briti.^h Empire, chiefly 

 from Burma. The largest importation from foreign countries 

 was from Madagascar, to the amount of 138,570 cwt. 



In .Madaoascar the bean is said to receive but little 

 cultivation. Holes are made in the soft ground in which 

 two or three seeds are planted, but during the period of about 

 six months which the crop requires to ripen its seeds, the 

 plar receives no attention. The long twining stems are 

 simply allowed to trail over the ground. The harvesting is 

 done by hand, the ripe pods being plucked and thrown 

 together in heaps, and afterwards thrashed with a flail to 

 obtain the beans. These Madagascar beans are of large size, 

 flit, and kidney shaped, and of an ivory white colour. 



, The two most common forms known in Burma are the 

 red-seeded and the white-seeded kinds, the latter being known 

 as Rangoon beans, which are, however, much smaller than the 

 Madagascar butter Lean. In Burma no less than 240,000 

 acres were devoted to the cultivation of the white variety, 

 and 94,000 to the red in 1916-17, There the seeds are 

 usually dropped into furrows in rows of about 1 foot to a foot 

 and a half apart; they are also sometimes sown along with 

 maize. When sown with maize the stems of the maize plant 

 serve as supports to the trailing stems of the beans, but when 

 Sown alone the stems are allowed to trail over the gro.ind- 



The development of hydrocyanic acid in the beans of 

 riiaseohis linittits has been studied at the Imperial Institute 

 for several years. In the first instance, beans produced ia 

 Mauritius by wild plants were examined, and were found to 

 yield O'l per cent, of hydrocyanic acid- Soon after, when 

 large 'luantities of Lurma beans began to be placed on the 

 British market, sanii !es of these were examined, and found 

 to yield only traces of hydrocyanic acid which were too small 

 to be harmful- 



In 1905, beans derived from wild plants of P. litnitus 

 appeared on the market under the name of Java beans, and 

 these caused the death of a number of cattle in England, as 

 well as of some human beings on the Continent- Samples of 

 these beans were also examined at the Imperial Institute, 

 and were found t^ i furnish quantities of hydrocyanic acid 

 varying from 003 to 016 per cent. 



There is a great difference in the poisonous properties 

 of beans produced in Java and Mauritius by wild plants of 

 the species, and of those produced in Burma or elsewhere 

 from the cultivated varieties. Both the white and the red 

 form of Burma beans have been repeatedly examined. As 

 a rule, the white be.ins yield no prussic acid, though sonje- 

 times traces are present. The red beans usually yield traces, 

 but in no cases have ([uantities of prussic acid which can 

 be regarded as harmful been found at the Imperial Institute 

 in Burma beans of either type. 



White cultivated types of P. linuitus from South Africa 

 and Madagascar have also been examined, and found to yield 

 no hydrocyanic acid, or only mere traces. It is evident there- 

 fore, that the beans derived from cultivated forms of/", luna- 

 t//s which are obtaii>-d from Madagascar, South America, 

 and Burma, and probably also those produced in the United 

 States and Southern Europe, rarely, if ever, yield hydrocyanic 

 ai-id in quantities likely to be injurious, bat at the same time 

 it is advisable thai if the cultivation of any varieties of this 

 species be extensively undertaken on new areas, the product 

 should be examined before being placed on the market as an 

 article for human consumption. 



