:c 



THE AGEICLLTUliAL NEWS. 



JiLv 27, 191; 



I'rom Doiuineittary Leaflets of the International Insti- 

 tute of Agriculture, Tloine. for May 191.^, it appears that 

 the deiniind for the vegetable fibie produced iu the capsules 

 of n<>mli<t.\ ma/a/mrhi/m is continuallj" increasing, and it 

 may be accepted on the market ^s true kapok. The Anna jiese 

 are becoming more interested in thi.^ product, and collect it, 

 though they take very little care of it, and are apt to ask 

 high prices. This industry is capAble of rtipid development, 

 as the Hoinb;i!c tree grows .(uickly, and bear.* in a very few 

 year.- 



GLEANINGS. 



A correspondect of the Jamaica Gleaner, June 11, 191^, 

 «tiitc? that the pimento crop will be very poor this year, 

 •owing to the continuous rains, although the price is pretty 

 good. He also states that in some parts of the island, if the 

 lieavy rains continue, a large proportion of corn vpill be spoilt. 



More than 4^7,000,000 was paid out by the Hawaiian 

 plantations in bonuses to labour during 1917, according to 

 figures just completed by the Bureau of Labour and 

 Statistics of the Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association. The 

 rate of bonus was 7? per cent. (The Low'siaria Planter, June 

 29. 1918.) 



The Louisiana Planter, June 21;, 1918, draws attentiou 

 tc- the labour difficulty in Louisiana. It is stated that in 

 some parts of the State there is hardly enough labour avail- 

 able to harvest the corn crop, and to harvest the cane crop 

 eequires about thirty times more men than the corn harvest- 

 ing doe.-t 



Botanist? will be interested to know that the botanical 

 eollectioni and the library of the Boissier Herbarium have 

 fceen presented to the University of Geneva by the children 

 cf the late Madarne Barbey-Boissier, who have made arrange- 

 ments that this valuable collection shall remain accessible to 

 the scientific world 



Dv- George \ . Perez, in referring again to the e.ttraordi- 

 iiaiy vitality of Bougainvillaea root cuttings, says that some of 

 tiSi are still alive, although they have been out of the ground 

 for eighteen n^onths. He rij/htly considers that these 

 cuttings wo'ild be a very convenient way for .sending Bougain- 

 ■viMaea plants far and wide for striking them afterward.s. 



The Jamaica correspondent of The Times writes in the 

 ^rade Supplement of that JonrDal, June 191i^, that flie 

 ^erfiand for Jatnaica honey is exceptionally great The price 

 hin jumped frdfei a couple of shillings almost to iO.v. per 

 gallon. In view of the shortage of butter, and the restrictions 

 CD sugar, a considerable increase of the industry appears to 

 be likely, 



Ample scope exists in Jaiuaica for British investors in 

 the direction of the development of coffee, oacao, and sugar, 

 and of other industries, but it is noteworthy that while 

 Americans and others are turning their attention to this 

 island, and are acquiring properties for the purpose, the 

 British capitalists have so far not shown miich enterprise. 

 Possibly this is due to war conditions: but it is hoped that 

 the British investor will not forget the warm welcome that 

 awaits him in this the second oldest colony of Britain. — ■ 

 (77/, Times Trade Supplement. .Tune 1918.) ' 



The IriternatioLskl Sugar Committee ha.s issued a circular, 

 <lated June 27, 1916, in which the following resolution of the 

 Coniniittee is brought to the notice of the .seller and all 

 parties to the agreement as to Cuban .-tugars, 1917-18 crop, to 

 the effect that the International Sugar Committee avails 

 itself of the option to purcha.se a second additional 2.')0,000 

 ton- of DUgar, an provided for in paragraph \ of the agree- 

 ment referred to. 



In addition to the two concrete corn bins erected last 

 year, the Trinidad Government has erected at the Government 

 Farm, St. Joseph, two concrete silos to hold about l-:)O,0i'0 Dt). 

 each of black-eye peas, corn, or other perishable crops. 

 These will be available this year for food crops, and with the 

 return to normal conditions be used as silos. An e.xisting 

 building at the farm has also been altered slightly, so that 

 fumigation can be done in it, and it is estimated that this 

 will hold about another 200,00(1 fc. of peas. etc. The total 

 storage -room will amount to about 65(1,000 Dt». (The Bitlletiu 

 of file Departmciil n/ Agrieiiltitr,. , Tri>iida,i an-.i To/mgo, 

 Vol. Wll, fart 1.) ' 



A letter received by the Imperial Commissioner of 

 Agriculture for the West Indies from the Adjutant-General 

 of the State of New York encloses a General Order of 

 March 23, 1918, which shows that it is the policy of the 

 Military Department of the State of New York to assist in 

 every way in guarding against an international food shortage. 

 The General Order states that iu order to assist those engaged 

 in agricultural pursuits. Commanding Ofheers of the New 

 ^'ork Guard are directed to excuse from attendance at drills 

 those members of their commands who are actually engaged 

 in civil life in farm labour, whenever their attendance at 

 drill would interfere with their agricultural employment 



Liider the administration of the Department of Agri- 

 culture and Technical Instruction for Ireland, according to 

 a circular i.'-sued by that Department, dated May 1918, the 

 production of food in Ireland, especially food exported to 

 Tireat I'.ritain, has for several years past been steadily grow- 

 ing The value of food and drink stuffs imported into Great 

 Britain from Ireland anil retained for consumption there in 

 191.3 was £.36,000,000, only exceeded in that year by the 

 value of the imports of the same articles from the United 

 States, which was £.39.000,000. Since the war the supply 

 coining from the I'nited States has abnormally increased, 

 amounting to the value ot £116.000,000 in 1916. The lush 

 supply, though not in this proportion, has gone on increasing 

 during these years ulso, the value of this in the same vear,. 

 being £59,0O0,00n 



