332 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



OlTOBEE 11, 1913. 



GLEANINGS. 



Some damage lias been occasioned in Nevis to cotton 

 by the leaf-blister mite. This is believed to be due to an 

 insiitticient interval having been allowed to elapse between 

 the destruction of the old, and the planting of th" new crop. 

 iJry weather has no doubt also been an encouragement. 



The total area under bananas in Costa Rica at the end 

 of 1912 was about 94.200 acres, and new plantations 

 amounting to about 7, -500 acres were made during the year. 

 The export of bananas during 1912 was 10 647,702 bunches, 

 an increase of 14' 37 per cent, on the e.xport of the previous 

 year. 



In St. Vincent, experiments are being started to test the 

 keeping qualities of arrowroot and its use for storing steel 

 instruments. 



Farmers' Bulletin No. 537 of the United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture is entitled: Hovsr to Grow an Acre of 

 Corn. This should prove useful in the West Indies. 



According to Diplomatic <i>id Consular Reporls, 

 No. 5130 — Annual Series, high-bred cattle are imported 

 into the Rio Grande district of Brazil from Germany. 



The Bulletin de la Association de Plante de C'loutc/wuc 

 (August 1913) calls attention to possibilities in regard to 

 the production of oil from Hevea rubber seed. 



A handbook of general information as to the Nyasaland 

 Protectorate has just been received from the Emigrants 

 Information Office, 34 Broadway, Westminster, London. 



According to /-<; Bulletin A;jricole, a new fungus disease 

 of the sugarcane, known as 'leaf disease', has been observed 

 in New South Wales. It is stated to be causing very serious 

 damage. The scientific name is not recorded. 



It is stated in Dijiloi/tatic and Confidar Reports, 

 No. 5146 — Annual Series, that the exports of coffee from 

 Antioquia, Columbia, amounted to about 156,000 bags of 

 140 B) each. Most of this went to the I'nited States. 



In consequence of the dry weather experienced during 

 the past month in Montserrat, it is considered likely that 

 a considera.ile proportion of the cotton crop may be reaped 

 as a result of .second growth as.,\yas the case in 1912. 



The Loiiisi'inn Flmter for .July 19, 1913, calls attention 

 to the possibility of central sugar factories co-operating with 

 municipal authorities for supplying towns with light and 

 power and, perhaps, with water. If this could be carried 

 into effect it is believed it would reduce the cost of sugar 

 manufacture. 



Referring to the Imperial resources for mineral oil on 

 this side of the Atlantic, the United Empire (September 1913) 

 refers to Barbados as a field wliich gives excellent promise. 

 Reference is made to the recent surveys that have been made. 



According to the Department of Land Records and 

 Agriculture, Assam, the area under cotton for 1913-14 is 

 estimated at 34,700 acres as against 34,900 acres estimated 

 last year. The decrease is mainly due to want of timely 

 rain. The prospects of the crop are at present fair. 



Up to August 1913, several thousand patents had been 

 taken out in the United States on sugar-making machinery, 

 processes, etc. There are in the Patent Office, forty-three 

 divisions or Vmreaus, each devoted to one definite subject or 

 'group of subjects, and each division is in charge of an 

 examiner' and sevewl assistant examiners. {^American iSugar 

 Industry, August 1913.) 



In the fourteenth century, when the African historian 

 Ibn Batuta made his journey across the desert from Morocco 

 to the Niger, he found that it was the custom for the people 

 to store water in trees — a practice still common in Kordofan 

 to this day. The tree chiefly u.sed for this purpose is the 

 Baobab tree, vlrf'inso/u'a digitata. {The Geoyr'ip/iical Jotn-- 

 mil, September 1913.) 



The General Cultivation Committee for coco-nuts 

 appointed by the Agricultural Society of Trinidad and 

 Tobago, are of opinion that the crime of praedial larceny 

 will never receive any appreciable check in the colony unless 

 the penalti<?s for the crime inc-lude the intliction of corporal 

 punishment. {Proceedings of the Agricultural Society of 

 Trinidad and Tobago for August 1913). 



In Nyasaland the question of improved transport 

 facilities continues to receive discussion. As regards cotton 

 in Uganda, it is stated that the ginnery buildings and the 

 equipment supplied. by the A.ssociation to the British East 

 Africa Corporation have been erected in the remarkably 

 short period of .six months. It is anticipated that the cotton 

 crop in Uganda this year will amount to 30,000 bales, and 

 it is hoped that next season's crop will exceed 40,000 bales. 



According t" the Report of the Commissioner, Southern 

 Grenadines, for the year 1912-13, publis.hed in the St. Vincent 

 Gorernment Ga:ette for September 4, 1913, the exports of 

 cotton amounted to 117 bales of Marie Galante and 9 bales 

 of Sea Island, of the total value, £1,150. This is an increase 

 of 36 bales as compared with the year 1911-12. Reforest- 

 ation efforts continue to make satisfactory progress. Much 

 use is being made of the West Indian ebony tree {AUiizJa. 

 Lehhek). 



