Vol. XK. Xo. 283 



THE AGKICULTURAL NEWS. 



International Organization of Agricultural 



Meteorology. 



Important work has been done, in the course of 

 a few sittings, b}' the C'unimission nominated by the 

 International .Meterological Comnjittee, to consider the 

 /development of an e.xtensive scheme whereby system- 

 atic observations of atmospheric phenomena may be 

 instituted in different countries in a co-operative 

 ■way, for the direct benefit of agriculturists in 

 general. It is stated in the Bulletin of the 

 Bureau, of Agricultural Intelligence and of Plant 

 Diseases, for December 1912. that the Committee 

 attached the greatest importance to the regular publi- 

 cation of statistics, and to their thorough distribution 

 among rural populations by means of special distinct 

 -centres. It is suggested, too, that the price of these 

 publications should be kept as low as possible. To 

 •ensure the proper utilization of the information, it is 

 suggested that these publications should be used for 

 educational purposes in schools and colleges. 



Variability in the Quality of Seeds and 

 Cuttings. 



The relatively large number of crops that are pro- 

 pagated by the use of cuttings and by other vegetative 

 means, is a characteristic feature of tropical agriculture. 

 Another notable feature is the relatively large size of 

 the seeds of those plants which are reproduced sexually, 

 as well as the fact that generally this seed is sown in 

 nursery beds previous to planting out the seedlings in 

 the field or orchard. There are one or two exceptions, 

 for instance, cotton, maize and sometimes rice are sown 

 in the field direct; but, in a general way, it may be 

 stated that the reproduction and establishment of 

 economic plants, together with methods of 'seed' supply 

 receive greater personal supervision in the tropics than 

 ■do these matters in other parts of the world. 



In commenting on several interesting points 

 brought out in an article on Seed Analyses, in a recent 

 number of the Journal of the Boa^xl of Agriculture, 

 it is necessary to take into consideration these general 

 features of tropical plant reproduction. 



It is pointed out in the article referred to, 

 that seeds — a better term under tropical conditions 

 would be 'planting material' — are by far the most 

 variable things the agriculturist has to purchase or 

 produce: weight for weight they are the most costly, 

 and finally the entire success or failure of a crop (and 

 even of succeeding crops) may be wholly determined by 

 the kind or condition of the material planted. 



Variability in quality shows itself mainly in the 

 degree of purity and germination capacity. For 

 reasons already indicated, degree of purity cannot vary 

 to a large extent in tropical planting material unless 

 the intermixture of different strains, or infection with 

 disease, be included under this heading. On the other 

 band, germination capacity varies very much, the chief 

 causes being maturity of 'seed' at time of collection, 

 cHniatic conditions and exposure during the flowering 



jieriod, age of 'seed', and lastly, mechanical injury 

 cau.scd by careless handling, or by insect pests in tho 

 field or during storage. 



Age is perhaps the most important cause, ia the 

 Tropics, of variation in germination cap.icity. Planting 

 matei'ial in the Tropics is typically succulent : the 

 long- distanced and necessarily slow, distribution under 

 warm conditions reduces germination capacity mainly 

 through the loss of moisture, and unless special packing 

 is resorted to, and unless the matters attendant on this 

 distribution bo dealt with promptly and with care, 

 there must always bo variability in the germination 

 capacity of the transported material. 



Citrus Exports from South Africa, in 1912. 



The large amount of organized attention which 

 the South African citrus industry receives, is made 

 evident in an article on the above subject, which 

 appears in the Agricultural Journal of the Union of 

 South Africa, for December 1912. 



In this it is stated that during May to September, 

 nearly ■2-5,000 boxes of fruit, consisting principally of 

 orange?, were exported from South Africa for the London 

 market, this being an increase over the exports for the 

 previous years. Reports on the condition of the fruit, 

 on its arrival in England were x-eceived regularly 

 fi'om the Trades Commissioner in London, and from 

 many of the leading fruit merchants of Covent 

 Garden. Their reports, on the whole, were not of 

 a satisfactory nature: sometimes the oranges were not) 

 sweet enough and had apparently been packed too 

 green: often there was a considerable amount of scale 

 on the fruit, and frequently the fruits were badly 

 sized. In several boxes of navel oranges, the fruit had 

 even been damaged by the packers. 



The importance of standard boxes is strongly 

 emphasized. The proper size is 26 inches by 12 J. inches 

 by 12i inches, outside. The Government Fruili 

 Inspectors at the ports will not pass any but boxes 

 made in accordance with the regulation size, so that; 

 should any odd sizes be offered for shipment they can 

 only go forward in the ordinary hold and not in the 

 cool chambers provided by the steamship company for 

 inspected fruit. Shippers of extra selected oranges, 

 however, have been catered for in future by the quotinij 

 of a special single-layer box. In connexion with 

 packing, considerable dissatisfaction has been created 

 on the market through the employment of 'wood-wool' 

 for purposes of protecting the fruit. 



To show in a concrete manner the value of good 

 packing, it may be stated that careful shipj)ers have 

 been getting lis. (id. per box, whilst the careless ones 

 obtained only -is. Vxl. to 6.s. tj(/. per box. 



It is further pointed out in the same article that) 

 although these adverse reports may not prove, in all 

 cases, pleasant reading, they should nevertheless be 

 accepted in the proper spirit, and made to serve as 

 a foundation on which to ba.se a general all-round 

 improvement. The same principle applies to similar 

 affairs in the West Indies. 



