Vot. XII. No. 282. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS 



61 



STUDENTS' CORNER. 



FEBRUARY. 



Rkconip Period. 

 Seasonal Notes. 



The establishment of the sugarcane crop requires the 

 exercise of care in tlie choice of planting material, as well as 

 the use of Bordeaux mixture. It must be remembered that 

 proper attention to these matters (if favourable weather is 

 experienced) is rewarded not only with a good stand of canes 

 at the beginning of the crop season, but with evenly ripening 

 plants at the end. Give an account of any experience with 

 the juice from canes of uneven ripenes.s, that you may have 

 had in sugar-making. State how Bordeaux mixture is usually 

 made, and supply an account of a useful method for making 

 it in very large quantities. Why is it not feasible to make 

 up Bordeaux mixture in slock solutions, to be kept and 

 diluted as they are wanted! 



The qualities of the cane, its suitability to the district 

 where it is grown, and the evenness of ripening are all 

 matters that show themselves to be much greater in their 

 respective effects where muscovado sugar is made than in 

 the work of central factories. State the chief reason for this 

 circumstance, and indicate its importance in comparing the 

 economy of the central factory system for sugar-making with 

 that of other, older methods. Give an account of the 

 characteristics in ripening of some of the seedling sugar-canes 

 with which you are best acquainted. 



Useful observations on the root and rind diseases of 

 sugar-cane can be well made at the time of harvesting. If 

 there i.s opportunity, it is a good plan to watch, and 

 make notes on, the canes coming into the carrier during 

 a certain period of time each day, marking more particularly 

 the amount of disease that is present and the parts of the 

 estate, or district, from which the canes come. In this way, 

 information will be obtained that may be valuable at a future 

 time when a general consideration of the diseases is being made. 



The editorial on Division of Labour which appeared in 

 a recent issue of the Af/riculUiral ]\^eH:<<, should be considered 

 in relation to the notes on labour and co-operation already 

 given in the Students' Corner. Divi.sion of Labour is also 

 referred to in the current issue of the Agricultural News, in 

 the review of the CJeneral Administration Report on the 

 Agricultural Department, Grenada. 



The student will appreciate the importance of discoveries 

 of new sources of vegetable products. This matter has 

 received considerable attention recently in the Agricultural 

 Nevs, and the information contained under the following 

 references .«hould be correlated: Vegetable Silks (Vol. XII, p. 

 29); New Sources of Pauer {ibid. p. 30), [c/. Manila hemp, 

 i'Md. p. 21]; Vanillin (Vol. XII, p. 47). 



The suitability of different crops for various places is 

 not only determined by soil and climate, labour conditions, 

 communication and external demand. The question as to 

 whether their cultivation forms suitaVile employment for 

 different classes of the community is equally important. 

 Compare what has recently been said in the Agrindtural JS'eirs 

 in regard to cacao for peasants in Dominica (see Vol. XII, 

 p. 39); European vegetables in St. Lucia {Yo\. XII, p. 19); peas- 

 ant cultivation in f Irenada, in the review of the report on the 

 Agricultural Department of that Colony, in the current issue 

 of this journal. Why are cotton and provision crops 

 particularly suited to peasant cultivation? 



Questions for Candidates. 



I'RELIMIN.^RY QUESTIONS. 



(1) What is transpiration, and what are its uses? 



(2) ■ Describe the changes that take place in a growing 

 cutting of a plant. 



INTERMEDI4a;E QUESTIONS. 



(1) Write a description of three seedling sugar-canes 

 with which you arc acquainted. 



(2) Give an account of vegetable fibres that you have 

 examined. Write a short account of the economic uses of 

 fibres. 



I'lSAL QUESTIONS. 



(1) E.xplain the principle of 'double entry'. What are 

 the differences between a profit, an asset, and a bad debt? 



(2) Give characters of, and describe the sources of: 

 (a) citric acid, (b) tannin, (c) sugar, (d) theobromine, 

 (e) charcoal, (f) caoutchouc. 



Development of the German Colonies, 1912.— 



The exportation of oil palm products from Togoland was very 

 good during 1912, and the market price for palm oil and 

 palm nuts was satisfactory. In spite of the best efforts, how- 

 ever, of both Government authorities and private persons, 

 little progress was made in the cultivation of cotton. 



Trade in the Cameroons was also good as a result of the 

 high prices for palm oil and palm nuts, but the low prices of 

 gums had a detrimental effect on the gum trade, especially in 

 the southern districts. This is attributed to the unsound 

 principle of the trust system, in virtue of which negroes are 

 able to secure advance payments in respect of future deliveries. 

 Xo improvement may be expected until the system of making 

 payments in advance has been done away with. The new 

 territory, which has been ceded by virtue of the Morocco 

 Agreement, has up to the present not been opened up to 

 commerce to any great extent The French River Navigation 

 Company ('Messageries Fluviales du Congo') will shortly pass 

 into the hands of Germans, and will later be under German 

 management. The cacao crop this year exceeded that of 1 91 1, 

 but the figures were not so good as in 191l». 



Owing to the termination of railway construction in 

 German South West Africa, there was a considerable falling 

 oft" in the movement of trade in that Colony. Moreover, 

 scarcity of capital was very marked, and was very much felt 

 by those colonists who are dependent on credit for farming 

 purposes. It is hoped, however, to establish a new Mortgage 

 Bank, by means of which farmers wiil get State assistance for 

 the development of agriculture. 



Very considerable develojjment is recorded in the case of 

 German East Africa, but this is also due in great measure to 

 railway construction. The export trade in oil, fruits, and 

 hides was quite good, owing to the prevailing high prices, but 

 on the other hand, the low price of wild rubber tended to 

 check the collection of this product. It is anticipated that 

 there will be a considerable development in this Colony in the 

 cultivation of the sisal plant. Cotton cultivation on a large 

 scale showed even less progress than formerly, but on the other 

 hand, better results appear to have been obtained by indivi- 

 dual European settlers and natives in a smaller way. A good 

 future is predicted for the coffee plantations. (Summary 

 of a Report of the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce; in 

 Th'i Board of Trade Journal, -January 9, 1913.) 



