364 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS 



November 16, 1918. 



According to an address, on the fertilizer requirements 

 on citrus trees, by H. J. Webber, Director of the Citrns 

 Eiperiment Station, Kiverside, California, delivered before 

 the State Fruit Growers' Convention in 191-1:, it would seem 

 that, in general, one of the factors of fundamental importance 

 in citrus groves is to increase the amount of organic matter 

 in the soil; and this can probably best be done by the regular 

 use of a cover crop. This bears out the results of .similar 

 e.Kperiments undertaken on lime plots in some of these West 

 Indian islands. 



GLEANINGS. 



According to The Tnms. September 13, 19 IS, the area 

 under wheat in England and Wales is 2 556,000 acres, and 

 a production for this harvest may be anticipated nf 10,500,000 

 quarters, or fully 3 300,000 cjuarters more than last year. 



It IS expected that the corn crop in .lamaici will finish 

 much earlier that was anticipated. The dry weather has had a 

 good deal to do with curtailing the production. In certain 

 well informed circles it ha.i been stated that the dry weather 

 has caused a shortage o! fully 33,000 bushels in the is'and'.s 

 supply. (The Jamaica Gleaner, October 4, 1918.) 



The Department of Agriculture, Commerce, and Labour, 

 Cuba issued a statement on August 10, announcing that 

 the total sugar production of the crop of 1917-18 amounts 

 to 3 408,S78 tons. No decision has yet been arrived at 

 als to the' price to be allowed by the International Sugar 

 Committee for Cuban sugars during the next season. (The 

 r.'/"/ A'.?/'r,', September 1918.) 



Bulletin 32^ ot the Ohio Agricultural Experiment 

 Station says that an acre of land devoted to the growing of 

 corn with an average yield of :i5 bushels, will produce more 

 than' four 'imes as much energy if used directly as a human 

 food than if devoted to pork production in the growing of 

 corn and clover in the most desirable proportion lor economic 

 nork production. An acre of wheat, with an average yield 

 of 23 bushels, will furni.sh more than thirteen times s.s much 

 energy as an acre devoted to beef production. 



The Ni-v York Journal of Comnitru is quoted in the 

 p„rt„f Spain Gazelle, October 17. 1918, as staling that the 

 imDortation of copra into the United States grew from 

 5™ W)0 000 n.. in the fiscal year 1914 to •247,000 000 lb. in 

 1917 The imports are drawn from more than thirty coun- 

 tries and islands, the Philippine Islands supplying nearly one- 

 1..11 The .luantitv of >^oco-nut oil imported has also i^rown 

 fanidly from 74,000()001b. in 1914 to about 250,000.(100 tt.., 

 the Philippines, as in the case of copra, contributing about 

 one-half. 



In Mauritius, according lo'.Colonial Reports — .Annual, 

 No. 961, the fibre industry has been much hampered 

 by lack of shipping facilities. However, with the 

 satisfactory prices in the home markets, remuner- 

 ative prices were obtained locally, and a certain quantity of 

 good fibre turned out. Experiments with the new Corona 

 decorticating machine were continued during the year. In 

 the treatment of sisal leaves (Agave) it has proved to be 

 a complete success, and further trials are contemplated for 

 dealing with the local fibre plant (Furcraea). 



The Revista dc Agriciiltura de Puerto Rico, .June 1916, 

 contains on article by Mr. .1. X. Stevenson, of the Insular 

 Agricultural Station, drawing the attention of the planters in 

 that island to .Johnson grass as a particularly dangerous 

 plant. The writer says that, unfortunately, by some means 

 or other, this grass has obtained an entry into Porto Rico. 

 It has been noticed in different situations in the sur- 

 roundings of Rio Piedras, and is very common in the district 

 of pine-apjile cultivations, around Vega Raja. Planters are 

 warned that it is very ditficult to eradicate if once it has 

 established itself, both on account of its perennial root sys- 

 tem, and also on account of the number of seeds it produces. 



The cultivation of onions, potatoes, and other vegetables 

 for the United States markets still continues to be the chief 

 agricultural industry of the Rermuda Islands. The principal 

 market is New York. From figures given in Colonial Reports — 

 Annual, No. 960, it appears that the quantity of potatoes 

 exported from those islands in)91Gwas 55, 150 barrels, of 

 a declared value ( if £58,414. The quantity of the onions 

 exported during the same year was 147,000 crates, of the 

 value of £33,44(1: while the quantity of other green veget- 

 ables exported also in 191() was 252,233 crates, valued at 

 ,£36,817. It is also to be noticed that there were exported 

 during the same year 1,224 packages of the well-known 

 ISermuda lily bulbs, valued at ,£1,305. 



The International Institute ol Agriculture has laid down 

 a definite system for forming its estimates of crop condition. 

 The fixed basis (100) was a definitimi formulated by the 

 General .\ssenibly of that Institute during the se.ssion of 

 1911. The number. 100, which is the basis of the system, is 

 defined as representing a condition which, apart from any 

 subsequent extraordinary ocfiurrencte, forecasts a yield for each 

 unit of area equivalent to the last ten years. Every possible 

 crop condition is slated in percentage-, of this fundaio'Pntal 

 basis. For example, if the average yield of a given cereal is 

 20 bushels, and the forecast is a yield of 21 bushels per acre, 

 that will be represented by 105. Rut a forecast of 19 will 

 be represented by 95» (Docnmentary /.eofle/s oi the Interna* 

 tioDal Institute ot Agriculture, Rome, August 15, 1918.) 



