Vol. XII. No. 302. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



377 



years special 'cottoh stations' have been established 

 for the advancement of cotton cultivation in the pro- 

 tectorate. 



The Kameroou territory contains several cattle- 

 breeding stations together with rubber and cacao 

 ins|(ectorate cstablishnunts. (ieriu.in south-west Africa 

 possess*'s an experimental station for tobacco cultiv- 

 ation at Okahandj.-i. one fir tillage near Windhusk 

 and farms for breeding sheep and ostriches respectively. 

 Togoland possesses an institute of agriculture and 

 several cotton stations, whilst for (Jerman New CJninea 

 a coco-nut station, an animal breeding station and other 

 establishments, are now definitely projected. 



Position of the Bubber Plantation Industry. 



On the assumption that the demand for rubber 

 will increase 10 per cent, annually for the next ten 

 years, Mr. W. F. de B. MacUren (see India Rubber 

 Journal , October IN, 1913), is able to put a brighter 

 aspect on the present and future position of the 

 industry. The justitii-ation for looking forward tc this 

 increased demand rests upon the fact that during the 

 last three years — in spite of disturbances — the world s 

 average annual increased consumption was at the rate 

 of over 10 per cent. This was with rubber at about 

 double present prices. 



It is further argued that there will be years when 

 there must be an acute scarcity of rubber. The regula- 

 tion of supply, however, is a matter which in any 

 event could be easily controlled by the growers, provided 

 the companies decided to co-operate (see Agricultural 

 Kews,\o\. XII, p. 342). 



It does not seem, however, to follow necessarily, 

 that because the annual increased consumption for the 

 world has been 10 per cent., that the same rate of 

 increase will occur in the future in any one part of it. 

 It seems at any rate to be becoming clearer and clearer, 

 that the problem of the supply and demand of 

 plantation rubber must be regarded rather as an 

 international question than one affecting merely 

 London and the Federated jMalav States. 



Louisiana: Its Untold Treasures. 



An interesting publication has just been received 

 in the form of the Natimial Magazine for February 

 lftl2, containing an account of all the natural resources, 

 and of the improvements and the general progress 

 that have been made in Louisiana during recent 

 years, 'i'he distinctive feature of the publication is its 

 excellent illustrations. Views are given of most of the 

 principal cultivations which are of the most varied 

 kind, also of the chief buildings in New Orleans (the 

 great cotton port), and of the various factories con- 

 nected with the sugar industry. 



In the course of the descriptions it is pointed out 

 that the essential feature of agriculture in Louisiana 

 is diversification. In this scheme, wheat, potatoes, 

 ground nuts, sugar-cane, citrus cultivation, cotton and 

 rice each has its place. Considering the present 

 position of the sugar industry in Louisiana and the 



uncertainty surrounding the cotton crop, a still higher 

 diversification will in all probability be brought abofit 

 in the near future. 



The principal constructive work in Louisiana dur- 

 ing recent years has been the reclamation of swampy 

 land, and perhaps few countries in the world now 

 possess a better system of water and railway transport 

 than Louisiana. It may be added that the treasures of 

 this State include large mines of sulphur and numerous 

 oil fields. 



Ground Nut Trade with Canada. 



Reference has been made above to the pea nub 

 cultivation in Louisiana. This forms an extiemely 

 interesting subject, in view of the fact that the 

 Canadian demand for pea nuts is met very largely by 

 the United States. The trade Journals for the year 

 indicate that the trade in pea nuts is steady and that 

 the price for green and for roasted varies from 8ic. to 

 15c. per lb. 



The reason for approaching this subject rests 

 upon the circumstance chat enquiries have been made 

 at this Ofiice by the Canadian and West Indian League- 

 as to the possibility of the West Indies exporting suffi- 

 ciently large quantities of ground nuts to interest 

 Canadian merchants. It is pointed out that there is 

 a big demand for pea nuts in Canada, and the prefer- 

 ence that Canada now gives the West Indies on this' 

 article should greatly stimulate the industry in these 

 islands. 



Studies in Indian Tobaccos. 



The following general conclusions are drawn by 

 Cabrielle L. C. Howard, at Pusa, in regard to her 

 studies on the inheritance of characters in varieties of 

 Nicotiana tubaceuia, L: — 



'The data obtained b)' a study of the characters 

 of N. tobaccuin show that there is no inherent differ- 

 ence in the mode of inheritance of ordinary qualitative 

 characters (such as the colour of the corolla) and of 

 those characters connected with the size of the organs 

 which are subject to fluctuating variability. All the 

 results obtained can be explained by the Mondelian 

 assumption of segregation of characters, combined 

 with the hypothesis, that in connexion with each 

 character a large number of factors exist, each of 

 which can be inherited independently. This conclu- 

 sion is supported by the great range of variation in 

 the F.J generation, the formation of extreme forma 

 in this generation far outside the limits of the parents, 

 the differences and diminution in the range of varia- 

 tion in the F.; cultures raised from different variates 

 of the F.J generation, and by the isolation in the F., 

 and succeeding generations of forms like the parents, 

 and also of intermediate forms which breed true. 

 This isolation of new forms can easily be explained by 

 a re-arrangement of the factors.' 



A detailed account of the work is given in the 

 author's paper published in the Memoirs of the 

 Department of Agrieulture in India, Vol. VI, No. 3, 

 Hotanical Series. 



