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THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



November 8, 1913. 



GLEANINGS. 



According to the Demerara Daily ilri/osy (October 11, 

 191.'?), the youDg canes are making very good progress, but 

 the canes now being reaped are lacking in age. The weather 

 "has lately been very dry, hot and sukry. 



Legislation has been enacted in Jamaica for the com- 

 pulsory destruction of cotton plants affected with leaf-blister 

 mite. The importation of cotton seed is also put under 

 control (The Journal of the Jamaica Agricultural Society, 

 September 1913.) 



In an article in the Kev Bulhtin of Miscellaneous 

 Injwtiiation (No. 7, 1913), dealing with the Hull Museum, 

 it is noted that the list of presentations includes samples of 

 lime products received from the Curator, Botanic Station, 

 Dominica. 



The Cuba Review, iff referring to the British Vice Con- 

 sul's report at Havana, says that steam ploughing is coming 

 into much more extensive use in the cane fields than formerly. 

 JV decided preference is, in general, shown for liritish 

 machinery of all kinds. 



According to 7'lic Board of Trade Juurnal (October 2, 

 1913), India produced in 1912, 295,870,296 5). of tea com- 

 pared with 208,526,197 &. in 1911. The area under culti- 

 vation has increased since 1885 by 108 per cent. The increase 

 in production has been 314 per cent. 



A letter has been received pointing out that the address 

 of Mr. T. A. Siddall, maker of lime-crushing machines, 

 given in Pamphlet No. 72 (Lime Cultivation in the West 

 Indies) as 31, Duke Street, Aldgate, London, E.C , should 

 be 109a l)alniain Itoad, Brockley Itise, London, S.E. 



According to the (Jueeuslund Agricultural Journal 

 {September 9, 1913), success is likely to attend the intro- 

 duction of one-farui exhibits in the agricultural shows of 

 that country. The idea is that the exhibit shall represent 

 the result of a diverse and intensive^cultivation, and the inno- 

 vation would seem to be particularly well suited for com- 

 munities of small holders in the West Indies. 



. The enormous increase of the pine-apple industry in 

 Hawaii is brought out in an article in the Loui^ana Planter 

 (October 4, 1913). The account referred to shows that in 

 1901 the number of oases of pineapples canned in Hawaii 

 was 2,000; in 1912 this reached the enormous figure of 

 1,318,336. For 1913, the estimated production is 1,600,000. 



An interesting publication entitled Notes on the Geology 

 of Jamaica, to which is appended a coloured geological map 

 of the island, has just been received at this ofHce. The 

 author is Mr. Maxwell Hall, M.A , etc. Agriculturally, the 

 information should be useful in regard to soil survey work 

 and in connexion with the question of areas suitable for 

 certain cultivations. 



At recent meetings of the Trinidad Board of Agricul- 

 ture, the proceedings of which were published in the Port-of- 

 Spain Gazette (October 12 and 18, 1913), attention was 

 given to the St. Vincent Agricultural Credit Society Ordin- 

 ance, an account of which has already appeared in the 

 Agricidtnrnl News. Copies of this Ordinance were dis- 

 tributed amongst the members present. 



It is stated in the rep3rt issued by the Imperial Educa^ 

 tion Conference, that the Education Department in Queensland 

 encourages the formation of school gardens. An Arbor Day 

 has been instituted on which prizes are awarded for the 

 best kept garden, and applications for material, tools, etc., 

 are liberally dealt with. A winter course instruction for the 

 teachers at one of the Agricultural Colleges is provided for. 



The United Empire (October 1913) in referring t& 

 Professor Kirkaldy's paper on the Panama Canal read at the 

 recent meeting of the British Association, states that it is 

 believed the West Indies will enter upon a new period of 

 prosperity, especially when the internal combustion engine 

 takes the place of steam, and oil replaces coal. The impor- 

 tance of increasing all British trade with the Centrakl 

 American republics is also referred to. 



Several suggestive and interesting articles appear in th& 

 Barbados Education Gazette, September 15, 1913. One 

 dealing with the typhoid fly explains in simple but expressive 

 terms how human diseases are spread by this insect ; whilst 

 the information dealing with nature study, together with 

 other articles of more general interest should do much to 

 make this useful publication increase in educational value 

 amongst those for whom it is primarily intended. 



In the Journal of the Royal Society of Arts (October 3, 

 1913) an interesting list of statistics relating to the Panama 

 Canal is given, from which it is learnt that the total length 

 of the Canal from deep water to deep water is 50 miles. 

 The minimum depth of the Canal is 41 feet, whilst the time 

 of pas.sage of steamers through the completed canal will be 

 ten to twelve hours, three hours being taken during the 

 passage through the locks. The total estimated cost of the 

 canal is £75,000,000. 



H.M. Vice-Consul at Fernando I'o reports that a conces- 

 sion has been awarded by the GoviTniiient of the Spanish 

 possessions in the Gulf of Guinea for the working and 

 utilization of the fruit of the oil palm tree, of all the state- 

 owned woods of Fernando Po. The concession, which is for 

 a period of twenty years, does not carry with it any right of 

 ownership to the land covered by the woods. There is 

 a special duty incident on the concession. (The Board of 

 Trade Jourua', for September 25, 1913.) 



