Vol. XII. Xo. 304. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS 



403 



trary, we have only published it as the lint word on 

 the 'luestions discussed. We have not gone to the 

 expense of collecting these essays, translating them 

 and binding them together in one book because they 

 show what is, but rather that they will lead the way 

 for planters to learn what moi/ he' 



( )ne great truth which reflection over the contents 

 of the book brings out is that the problems involved 

 are at the same time both steep and wide. A host 

 of scientiKc points requires close, technical investi- 

 gation. But that is not enough. The results from 

 all over the Tropics which could be obtained, in 

 conse(|uence of this work, would require to be 

 co-ordinated. And that is where agricultural colleges 

 would come in — incidentally themselves or rather their 

 institution, constituting one of the great current 

 problems in tropical agriculture. 



The present position of the rubber industry is 

 open to very much the same comments as that of the 

 cacao industry. There i.s the deep and the wide side 

 to the problems involved: the specialist, the organizer 

 and educationalist and the press must work together. 



As time goes on, tropical agriculture is likely to be- 

 come more and more complicated, and will have to take 

 far more upon itself than it has had to do in the past. 

 It is only necessary to think of the future of the sugar 

 industry — the practical outcome must be the manu- 

 facture of white sugar on the plantation or else the 

 preparation of syrup. Semi-refined products will slowly 

 die out. Xropical agriculture in the future will involve 

 huge interests and responsibilities, and the sooner 

 centralized research and education is instituted the 

 safer and quicker will be the path of progress. 



Destruction of Ticks: A New Idea. 



The enormous loss to stock owners in tropical 

 and sub-tropical countries which is occasioned by tick 

 parasitism, and the great expense necessarily incurred 

 in connexion with dipping and spraying, scarcely need 

 pointing out. Suffice it to say that this drain upon 

 the capital and profits of the breeder would be largely 

 reduced if the claims of Mr. Munro Hull of Queensland 

 prove to be scientifically sound. 



According to the Agricultwral Journal of the 

 Union of Soatli Africa (October 1913), a question 

 was asked recently in the South African House of 

 Assembly regarding the reported discovery in 

 Queensland, of a tick- destroying organism. The 

 Minister of Agriculture replied that all available 

 information had been cabled for from the Queensland 

 Government and that the discoverer I\[r. Hull had 

 also been communicated with. Mr Hull's claim was 

 that he had discovered a disease, which, although 

 harmless to cattle, is fatal to the cattle tick, and he 

 had arranged with Professors Wallace and Nutall of 

 Edinburgh and Cambridge Universities, for an 

 investigation as to whether a vaccine containing the 

 organism could not be elaborated. On the other hand, 

 it appears that the Queensland Department of 

 Agriculture have been engaged in testing the efficacy of 

 •the alleged discovery which yielded results of a negative 

 nature. 



The Gold Coast, 1912. 



Although the name of this Colony is justified by 

 the £1,439,2(J.S worth of gold exported during 1912, it 

 must be remembered that the value of the exports of 

 cacao was even greater; according to Colonial Reports 

 — Annual, No. 770, they were worth £1,(U2,733. As 

 already pointed out in this journal, the Gold Coast has 

 now to be considered the leading Kritish source of 

 supply. At present the cultivations are in the hands 

 of the native population and improvements are re(juire(i 

 in connexion with selection, fermentation, and transport. 

 To show the difficulties of transport, it may be men- 

 tioned that in some districts where the population i.s 

 sparse and labour hard to obtain, the farmer has 

 resorted to the expedient of selling his crop as ib 

 stands to itinerant middlemen, to be picked, cured and 

 transported to the nearest port — a system which results 

 in much injury' to the trees and in an indifferently 

 prepared product. To such problems as these the Agri- 

 cultural Department is giving very careful attention. 



The most notable increases in the value of the 

 Colony's exports during 1912, were: gold (including 

 auriferous by-products) £399,044; timber, £89,924; 

 kola nuts, £4-1,132; palm kernels, £29,474; cacao, 

 £29,2U.5. The principal decreases were: rubber, 

 £50,718; specie, £17,039; palm oil £10,031. 



The decrease in rubber is due to the low prices, 

 and to the diversion of labour to more profitable 

 occupations. The latter cause has also been partly 

 responsible for the reduction in the exports of palm oil. 



Cacao Estate Valuation. 



An interesting side of the subject of cacao plant- 

 ing, and one on which we seldom come across detailed 

 information, is the question of cacao estate valuation. 

 Mr. W. M. Malins-Smith, writing in the West In<l.ia 

 Committee Circular (December 2, 1913) on practical 

 cacao planting in (Jrenada, says that the value of an 

 estate may be arrived at cither by the crop or by the 

 estimated acreage. In the former case, the value is 

 ten times the annual net profits plus the value of the 

 uncultivated land and of the buildings. In the latter 

 case, it is worked out on the value per acre of culti- 

 vated and uncultivated land plus the value of the 

 buildings. In both methods, a maximum of 10 per cent, 

 is deducted for disadvantages relative to situation, 

 transport facilities, etc. 



It may be interesting to note that the value of 

 full bearing cacao in (irenada varies from £30 per acre 

 for cacao in very poor condition up to £120 per acre 

 for that in high class condition. 'Although much 

 higher prices have been paid in (Jren.ada, yet £120 for 

 one acre of bearing cacao is the limit of a business 

 proposition; more than that constitutes fancy or senti- 

 mental propositions.' 



The net profit on an acre of bearing cacao is taken 

 as £8. Assuming that an acre of bearing cacao is 

 worth £80, the annual return is at the rate of about 

 10 per cent. It must be remebered, however, that this 

 acre worth £80 has risen to this amount in a few years 

 from £1.5, which may be regarded as the average value 

 of an acre of young cacao. 



