Vol. XII. Xo. 287 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



131 



make.s the folk.vving statements: (1) that there would be a lar- 

 ger income from a ton of oane; (2) that the expense of manu- 

 facture would be less; (3) grindiosj; could begin two weeks 

 earlier (4) canecucting machines coiij.l be used: and (5) that 

 by manufacturing syrup from the same kind of cane a standard 

 grade could l)e produced which would find u market in all 

 parts of the I'nited Slates. 



The reason for the first statement is,api)arenlly the fact 

 that, in Louisiana, one-third ot tht- cane is worked at a loss 

 owing tu the low sucrose and purity ratios of the upper 

 part of the cane. It is held that the tops would yield 

 a greater financial return if made into syrup than they would 

 if ground togetlier with the lower part of the cane in the 

 ordinary way. Figures are given in support of this con- 

 tention. 



In the factory, however, it would be necessary to make 

 considerable changes in order to manufacture Ijoth sugar 

 and molasses at the same time; ami it is advocated that the 

 mill might either grind three watches a day on bottoms and 

 one on top.«, or three days on the former and one on the 

 latter, depending on the amount of each. 



An important advantage is the indication that the 

 adoption of the system would make the commencement of 

 grinding earlier, but it is not altogether certain whether the 

 separation of tops and bottoms in the field could be as 

 easily dealt with by machinery as the author maintains it 

 could. If it had to be done by hand, the Cuban custom 

 would have to be followed, where the men cut the canes in 

 pieces in the field, and throw them into heaps. In the case 

 ot the new system which is advocated, the cutters would 

 have to throw the tops and bottoms in different piles; and it 

 may be added incidentally, that if the method ever became 

 established, it would be extremely advantageous as a means 

 of eliminating diseased canes which often cannot be detected 

 before they are cut 



Although, as already stated, the subject is chiefly of aca- 

 demic interest and of little practical importance in the West 

 Indies, still the question of topping 'short' or 'long' is a prac- 

 tical matter which has occas-ioned some local controver.?y. 

 In St. Kilts the question has already received some experi- 

 mental investigation, and the foregoing information may be 

 found of use in its relation to this more limited aspect of the 

 relative value of the upper and lower halves of the sugarcane. 



Effect of the Plough Hitch on Draft. -The 



following results of a graphical and mathematical analysis of 

 draft in relation to the hitching of engine ploughs, will be of 

 particular interest in places where steam or motor cultivation 

 is employed. The extract is taken from the Erperinient 

 Station ktcord, Vol. XW'II, No. 7:— 



'Conclusions are drawn that the best results are obtained 

 by making the hitch a little to the right of the centre of the 

 plough, ar.d liy hitrhing as high on the engine as possible 

 without carrying the front end of the plough off the ground, 

 and that the larger the plough the more economical it is in 

 power. From the graphical analysis the formula is deduced 

 for the desired hitch for any sized plough of D = — i,y-Tu — 

 in which !> = the distance in inches from the first plough 

 centre to the hitch, A = distance frim the centre of the first 

 plough to the centre of the last plough measured at right 

 angles to the furrow, B = the distance from the centre of the 

 fir.-t plough to the centre of the lai-t plough, measured parallel 

 to the furrow, and ( ' = the di.-tanco in inches from the 

 front plough bottom to the engine draw bar. For [iraclical 

 conditions 1'2 inches should be added to I).' 



AMERICAN VIEWS ON A rROPICAL 



UNIVERSITY. 



Quite recently a very deliberate and impartial treatment 

 of the subject of an agricultural university for the British 

 Tropical Possessions has comprised an editorial in the New 

 York India JitMer World This article calls altentio:i to 

 the recent advocacy in The Times (see A'/iicu/tma/. iWws, 

 Vol. XII, pp. 49, .59, 87 and 97) for the immediate estab- 

 lishment of the institution in the West Indies and, in 

 continuation states; 'The Times does not designate any par- 

 ticular island, but to anyone who has travelled extensively 

 through the West Indies, Trinidad will immediately suggest 

 itself as an ideal location for such an institution.' 



A considerable part of the editorial is naturally devot- 

 ed to rertections on the benefits that would accrue from 

 a materialization of the scheme in regard to America 

 and the rubber industry, but evidence of a broad- 

 minded appreciation of the wide scope of the proposed 

 University is clearly indicated in the following pa.ssage 

 referring to the question of location in Trinidad: 'It is 

 readily accessible, not only to the English, but to Canadians 

 and to the United States, and it (the University) would natur- 

 ally draw its student supply, not only from the mother 

 country, but from the surrounding islands, from South 



America, and from North America and train them so 



broadly that after leaving its doors they would be at home 

 in any tropical country — whether the West Indies, South 

 America, Africa or the Far East.' 



These and other statements make it evident that 

 the central idea or spirit of the movement has been 

 fully comprehended by the writer, namely that one 

 self contained institution and not an extension of exist- 

 ing educational units is the crying need in tropical agri- 

 culture — an institution that is big enough to undertake 

 abstract research, to train experts and practical agricul- 

 turists, to exercise an economic and moral influence over 

 tropica! affairs, and at the same time central enough to 

 administer, and to collate the scientiBc results of isolated 

 investigators. 



The Campaign Against Tuberculosis. — The 

 following extract dealing with bovine tuberculosis is taken 

 from The Tivtes Weekiy Edition (March 14, 1913) where an 

 account is given of the proposals contained in the final report 

 of the Departmental Committee on tuberculosis, appointed in 

 February 1912:— 



'The Committee are of opinion that the bacillus of bovine 

 tuberculosis is a cause of tuberculosis in man, and to a greater 

 extent in children, and that the best way to attain complete 

 security from the danger of bovine infection is entirely to 

 eradicate tuberculosis from the cattle of this country. They 

 think thit this is not impossible of achievement, but is likely 

 to be a slow process, and must depend upon co-ordinated and 

 continuous effort No single or purely local effort wiil suffice 

 to eliminate such tuberculosis. The Committee welcome the 

 proposed legislation dealing with the question of milk supply, 

 which they consider should be upon the widest possible basis 

 and should include the whole country. They are of opinion 

 that county and county borough councils should have power 

 to inspect herds, dairies, and farm buildings, to administer all 

 enactments relating thereto, and to require that certain cows 

 should be slaughtered, in the interest both of the public and 

 of the dairy industry.' 



