Vol. XVII. No, 423. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



2i; 



carriers is far in excess of the means to move it, and war 

 material has the first call, ^^'hatever each of us can do 

 to relieve the situation is a real help. More than ever 

 ■\ve must use good judgment in our gardens, and never 

 was there more inspiration to du our best. Seeds, 

 fertilizers, and labour are scarce. Let us show our 

 patriotism b}- using these to the best advantage. Let 

 us have the best gardens we can with the least waste of 

 an}' of these precious items. Buy the best grades of 

 seeds, and only as much as is needed. Plant these 

 seeds carefully, with special attention to spacing in 

 the rows, and between the rows, so that there will be 

 less thinning this year than usual. Let us plant 

 or transplant this year into gardens that have the 

 soil better prepared than ever before, deeply dug, free 

 from weeds, well cultivated. Let novices grow what is 

 reasonably sure of success, and leave to the experienced 

 growers the special, the difficult, and the fieM crops. 



Green foods are especially valuable in the dietary, 

 and the fresher they are, the more valuable they are. 

 f'nly from the home garden can they be gathered just 

 at the right stage of development, and a few minutes 

 before using. 



The war is rapidly teaching us to nieasuie many 

 things by their service value rather than by the dollar 

 value. The dollar value in times like this is uncertain. 

 Plan your food gardens and measure their results with 

 rations. Moso of the garden vegetables may be canned 

 profitably at home, and only when young and fresh 

 are they at their best for canning. The more of these 

 vegetables that are canned for family use this year, the 

 longer they can be substituted for the foods we are 

 urged to save. 



An Efficient, Quick, and Safe Insecticide. 



The following note appeared in the Medical Press, 

 April 10, 1918, and the subject seems worth drawing 

 attention to again. 



Dr. George V. Pei'ez writes from Santa Ursula, 

 Teneriffe: 'The practical knowledge acquired by horti- 

 culturists ought to be made use of in modern hygiene 

 where the destruction of insects such as fleas and 

 'pediculi have been shown by modern investigators to 

 play such an important pirt in the prophylaxis of 

 disease. 



'An emulsion of petroleum and soft soap was used 

 in India with the greatest success for ridding the floors 

 of houses infested by fleas, where cases of bubonic 

 plague had occurred, and it was confirmed that no 

 antiseptic substances acted better than this emulsion 

 as a flea exterminator. 



'In the number for August 29, 1914, page 282, of 

 the Agriculturcd Neivs, full details are given of an 

 insecticide, to which its discoverer, Mr. H. H. Cousins, 

 who was also the aathorof a book entitled The Chemis- 

 try of the Garden, Yinhlished in 1898, gave the name 

 ot Paranaph, and patented it in 1895; besides soft soap 

 and petroleum, naphthalene enters into its composi- 

 tion, and the combination of those three insecticides 

 seems to enhance the action of each in a remarkable 

 way: this compound, which is i(uite easy to prepare, 

 following the instructions given, keeps indefinitely, 



and is a soapy .substance readily dis.sohed in coldi 

 water. 



'In the proportions of about one ounce to the 

 quart of w'ater, it forms a most wonderful wash in 

 which fleas arid jyedicidi perish al moso instantaneously, 

 as can be seen during the washing of a dog infested 

 with fleas, or in the case of a human head full of 

 pediculi: this would be a very ready and practical 

 way of dipping and washing clothes infested with 

 pediculi ■'estivienti, and one which deserves to be 

 known far and wide, which is the only object of these 

 lines.' 



It may be mentioned that the Mr. Cousins re- _ 

 feired to above, is the present Director of Agricul- 

 ture, Jamaica. The formula for making Paranaph is 

 given fts follows: — 



'To 56 lb. of the best soft soap add 2 gallons of 

 water. Simmer over a fire with constant stirring until 

 all lumps have disappeared and a perfectly uniform 

 melt has been obtained. Add 6 ft. of naphthalene. Stir 

 until dissolved. Remove from the fire, and add 2 

 Imperial gallons of ordinarj' kerosene oil. Stir until 

 uniform. The finished product is semi-solid, and dis- 

 solves readily in cold water so as to give a milky 

 emulsion." 



Perennial Forage Shrubs. 



Experiments which are being made in the 

 Botanic Gardens, Sydney, as to the fodder value of 

 three useful leguminous shrubs from Teneriffe, are 

 noticed in the Agricultural Gazette of New South 

 TFaies, April 191S. The first of these, Cijtisus proli- 

 ferus, is known in its native island as Tagasaste. This 

 is stated to be a leafy shrub with a graceful drooping 

 habit, which does well under dry conditions, and stands 

 considerable variations in temperature from hot tocold. 

 Its Quick growth makes it useful as a wind-break, and 

 if kept trimmed, it grows into a pleasing shrub from 8 

 to 15 feet high. For fodder purposes it should never 

 be allowed to grow into a small tree, but should be 

 cut regularly at least twice a year: the foliage is then 

 always young and soft, and in this state it is readily eaten 

 by all kinds of stock It is recommended as a safe and 

 profitable stand by in districts where droughts interfere 

 with the cultivation of better fodder. 



The second shrub of the same genus is G.sieno- 

 petcdus, called Gacia in Tenerifife. This makes a 

 beautiful, sweet-scented, yellow-flowering shrub, not so 

 large in growth as the Tagasaste, but just as robust, 

 producing thick green foliage. 



The third of these shrubs, G. pallidus, is known as 

 Gacia blanca, and is even more beautiful as a shrub than 

 the Gacia, because of its charming silvery foliage, 

 although both species bear the same yellow flowers. 



Both the Gacias make excellent fresh fodder and 

 silo material, if cut in the same way as the Tagasaste. 

 The flowers also of but h of them yield large quantities 

 of nectar, and are exceedingly useful to bee-keepers. 



Dr. (t. V. Perez of Teneriffe, is interested in having 

 these three plants experimented with in various parts 

 of the world, and would probably be glad to supply 

 seeds for trial in anv of the drier West Indies. 



