124 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



Ai-KiL 12. 1913. 



>**' 



GLEANINGS. 



The Leeward Islands Government Gazette for March 13, 

 1913, contiiiiis a draft of a Bill which is designed to regulate 

 the imiHirtiition into, and the storage and disposal of, opium, 

 morphine, cocaine, and similar drugs in the Presidency of 

 Antigua. 



The British Government propose to introduce a Bill which 

 will authorize the Treasury to guarantee payment of interest 

 on a loan to be raised by the Government of the Sudan to 

 the extent of three millions, for the purpose of developing the 

 Egyptian cotton industry. 



The Antigua Sun for March 11, 1913, contains an 

 account of the first meeting of the Antigua Horticultural 

 Society. Preliminary matters of organization were discussed 

 at this meeting and expressions made of the benefits that are 

 likely to accrue from the establishment of the society. 



According to The JSoard of Trade Journal for March 6, 

 ltil3, a suitable opening exists for the cultivation of rubber 

 in the Kasai district of the Congo. The most fertile land 

 lies along the banks of the rivers, and may be purchased 

 from the State at the minimum price of £40 per hectare 

 (about £1G per acre). 



The output of sugar from Barbados during the past 

 three years has been as follows: 1909, 40,375 hogsheads; 

 1910, .59,771 hogsheads; 1911, 54,411 hogsheads. The 

 crop was therefore appreciably less than that for the prev- 

 ious year but still greatly in excess of that for 1909. (From 

 ■(Jolonia' Reports, Annual, No. 748.) 



A resolution was unanimou.-^ly carried at a recent 

 iiieeling of the Antigua Agricultural and Commercial Society 

 regarding the necessity for taking steps towards preserving 

 txisting trees in the island, and increasing the area under 

 timber, both for the purpo.se of conserving water-supply and 

 for providing adequate supplies of timber as reipiiroil. 



An account is given in the Journal of tin Roy d Hoelety 

 or' Alts (March 7, 1913) of a sun power plant which has been 

 erected on the banks of the Nile. This machine is u.sed for 

 l>uniping w ater for irrigation purposes from that river, and is 

 provid'.'d with five reflectors mounted on steel frames 204 feet 

 long, with an area of 13,500 sq. feet, and 20 feet apart. 

 There is an automatic movement of the mirrors which is 

 actuated by a thermostat, and causes them to maintain a con- 

 stant position relative to tho sun. In the middle of each 

 retlector i.« the boiler, heated by the concentrated rays of the 

 .sun in such a manner as to raise steam to a pressure of 1008). 

 to the square inch. 



A lecture was given in Barbados on April 1, 1913, by 

 Dr. Anderson, of the University of Oxford, on the subject of 

 the Transmission of Tropical Diseases by Insects. The 

 lecture was well illustrated by lantern slides of microscopic 

 preparations. The chair was taken by Dr. Francis Watts, 

 C.M.G., Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture for the West 

 Indies. ' 



Sugar-cane is at present one of the most remunerative 

 crops under cultivation in Paraguay. It would doubtless be 

 more extensively grown if labour conditions could be 

 depended upon. The greater part of the sugar produced is- 

 used in the manufacture of rum, but in one district there is- 

 a large factory for the, manufacture of crystal sugar. (From: 

 Diplomatir and Consular Bejiorts, No. 5040 — Annual Series.) 



A letter which has recently been received at this office 

 contains the information that a large 300 ton hand-power 

 patent baling press h>is lately been completed for the 

 Government of India. This press, which has been tested and 

 approved, has a Robert's patent swinging box, and is worked 

 by a winch fitted with long handles for sixteen men. It is- 

 capable of turning out 27 bales per day of eight hours. 



Information has been received from the editor of Tropical 

 Life to the effect that seven gold medals will be offered by 

 that journal for competition at the Rubber, Fibres and Cotton. 

 Tropical Products Exhibition, to be held in London during 

 June 1914. Enquiries should be addressed to Mr. A. Staines- 

 ^Nlanders, Organizing Manager, 75^ Chancery Lane, London, 

 W.C. In no case should enquiries be addressed to Tropical 

 Lite. 



The Garden mid Field for February 13, 1913, states 

 that of the 100,000,000 horses known to exist in the world, 

 80,000,000,or four-fifths of the entire number are found in the 

 temperate zone; the remaining 20,000,000, scattered through 

 the tropics, are largely employed in the service of temperate 

 zone visitors or residents. In the L^nited States and Canada, 

 there is said to be one horse for every 372 persons: in South. 

 America there is only one for every seven. 



Notice of Judgement No. 1983 of the United States 

 Department of Agriculture describes a case of adulteration of 

 milk which was [iroceeded against under section 4 of the 

 Foods and Drugs Act. A sample of milk was found to con- 

 tain 26,000,000 bacteria per cubic centimetre, plain a^ar, 

 after two days at 37° C. More detailed analysis made it 

 evident that the sample was compo.sed in part 'of a filthy, 

 decomposed, and putrid animal substance,' and the court im- 

 posed sentence to be satisfied on payment of i'537'50. 



The American Sw/ai- Judustry, for March 1913, contains 

 a note on the so-called Hoffman method of water determina- 

 tion applied to honey. It was found that by distilling 

 50 grams of honey with 200 c.c. of oil of turpentine in 

 a 500 c.c flasks, results were obtained identical with those got 

 by drying the honey on sand for nearly thirty hours iv. 

 a vacuum pan at G0°C. This method would seem to be 

 valuable chiefly as a rapid control, since it requires rather too 

 much attention where many routine determinations have to be 

 made. 



