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THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



Mapxii 29, 1913 



Coconut culture has been receiving considerable attetj- 

 tion recently in (^•ueensland. Much of the land has been cleared, 

 and already young plantations are being quickly established. 

 As would he expected, the estates already in bearing derive 

 an appreciable source of iacome from the sale of seed nuts. 

 Catch-cropping is advocated and pine-apples are suggested 

 as a suitable crop for growing amongst the trees. (Frona 

 the Queenslnnd A r/ii cultural Journal, for January 1013.) 



GLEANINGS. 



During February 1913 the following animals died in St. 

 Yincent: cattle 31, horses 3, asses 8, sheep 3, goats IS, pigg 

 11. In forwarding the information it is gratifying to note 

 that the Government Veterinary Surgeon records no deaths 

 from anthrax. 



In Montserrat the distillation of leave.s from individual 

 bay trees has been continued. Young bay trees have been 

 taken from mountain land and planted in the nursery. Oil 

 has been obtained from three different trees for the purpose 

 of determining any variation in quality. 



A Law has recently been passed in .Jamaica called the 

 Agricultural Societies (Special Loans) Law, 1912 This act 

 makes it possible for the society formed in connexion with it 

 to make loans to members not exceeding o£200. The main 

 object of the law is to provide assistance for tho.se who may 

 sustain damage by droughts and hurricanes. 



The Agricultural Instructor, Xevis, in a communication 

 to the Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture, states that the 

 cotton crop in that island is now almost all reaped but the 

 return is likely to be very poor. This is possibly to some 

 extent the results of a dry season. Cotton stainers are 

 still found in large numbers in some of the fields. 



In the St. \"u cent O'ortriiiiiriU (iazettr. for February 20, 

 1913, is published a lieport by the Entomologist of the 

 Imperial Department of Agriculture, embodying observations 

 made during his recent visit to that island. The subject- 

 matter concerns pests of cotton, coco-nuts, cacao, arrowroot, 

 lime, ground nuts, cassava and pigeon peas. Important infor- 

 mation is given in regard to the parasitization of these pests. 



Notice of judgment Xo. 18(52 i.ssued from the otlice of 

 Secretary, United States hepartmentof Agriculture, concerns 

 a case of misbranding of cotton seed meal. The food stuff 

 was guaranteed to contain; protein, 39 to -41 per cent.; fat, 

 6i to 7 per cent.; ammonia, 7s to 8 percent.; nitrogen, 6^ 

 to" 6i per cent.; crude fibre, 8 to 10 per cent. Analysis of 

 a .sample of the product by a chemist of the United States 

 Department of Agriculture showed the following results: 

 nitrogen, 5 07 per cent.; protein, 3.5'43 per cent. The 

 defecdant company entered a plea of guilty and the jury 

 imposed a fine of 8.'i0 and costs. 



The Sudan Onn rnnwnt Gay-ttr for January 28, contains 

 a notification to the effect that the Egyptian Government has 

 prohibited the importation of ci^tton seed into Egypt and that 

 no application to import unginned cotton will be entertained 

 by the Egyptian Director General of Agriculture except to 

 comply with existing contracts and then only in the case of 

 Tokar grown cotton. The importation into Egypt of cotton 

 ginned in the Sudan is absolutely prohibited (From Tli^ 

 Board of Trade Journal, for February 20, 1913 ) 



Fiubber planting in Formosa was commenced in 1908, at 

 which time experiments were made at the Ksgi government 

 rubber planting beds with all kinds of rubber seeds. The.«e ■ 

 included Hevea from South America, Manihot from Hawaii, 

 Castilloa from Central America, Ficu.s from Korneo and th& 

 South Sea, as well as Funtumia and Landolphia from Africa. 

 The present acreage under rubber amounts approximately to 

 1.5,310 acres, this land being distributed amongst five 

 owners. (From the India Rubber World, January 1, 1913.) 



The section in Trojnnd I.ip which is devoted to a des- 

 scription of the past and present activitie.s of distinguished 

 workers in the tropics, or connected with the tropics, con- 

 tains, in the February issue, an autobiography of the 

 night Hon. Austin Chamberlain, .M.P. It will be remem- 

 bered that Mr. Chamberlain was the Chairman of the 

 committee appointed to raise £100,000 for the London 

 School of Tropical Medicine. Half of this amount has 

 already been subscribed and there is every prospect of the 

 total amount being collected in the near future. 



The sugar crop in Mauritius begins on August 1 and 

 ends on July 31 of the following year. For the purpose of 

 comparing the yields this distinction is maintained in present- 

 ing the statistics. The crop for the year closing on .July 3), 

 1912, owing principally to the extreme low temperature during 

 the growing season, was deficient in most districts of the 

 island. The crop of 1910 produced 214,372 tons of sugar; 

 the crop of 1911 exclusive of local consumption was 16.5,806 

 tons or 23 per cent, less than that of the previous year. (From 

 Colonial 7(!fjB0)7.<— Annual, Xo. 7U) 



.•\n Ordinance has been passed in Papua which makes it 

 illegal to keep stallions without a license. The penalty is 

 £20. A vigorous system of inspection has been instituted. 

 If in carrying out his duties an inspector shall consider any 

 stallion is not a fit and proper animal to be kept for stud 

 purposes and for the purpose of breeding stock, he shall 

 direct the stallion to 'be castrated on or before a day not 

 earlier than one month after the date on which the directions 

 were given. The othcers are required to inspect at least onct' 

 in every twelve months every stallion within the proclaimed. 



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