Vol. XII. No. 294. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



243 



of depreciation. For tractors, it is estimated that at 

 least 10 per cent, must be allowed for wear and tear. 

 Slotor-ploughs are still too recent to permit of their 

 durability being definitely determined. Dr. Fischer 

 states: 'It is usual to calculate for interest, amortizement 

 and repairs, 25 per cent, of the purchase price which 

 amounts for Stock's and similar ploughs to about £S:?0, 

 for the large Ihace ploughs £1,1 :!0, and for the smaller 

 ones £7;Jo.' Such figures have to be reckoned with, even 

 with competent drivers, because the machines have to 

 work under unfavourable conditians, and the quick-run- 

 ning engines (720 revolutions per minute) soon wear 

 out. It must be remembered, too, that, apart from wear 

 and tear, the constant introduction of new types lowers 

 at least the selling-price of the less up-to-date machines 

 already in use. 



As a fitting conclusion to this review, reference 

 may be made briefiy to the employment of motor culti- 

 vation in the West Indies. For some years, in British 

 (iuiana, 'l"rinidad and in Antigua, steam power has been 

 employed for ploughing purposes, but of Utp, oil locomo- 

 tives have been introduced into l)emerrfra in connexion 

 with rice cultivation. The possibility of their employ- 

 u'.ent in Antigua has been brought to the notice of 

 planters', but in that island haulage of implements by 

 stationarj' engines seems best suited to the soil con- 

 ditions obtaining in that Presidency. 



In any consideration of the employment of motor 

 cultivation, it must always be remembered that 

 although efficient machines exist, both in the form ot 

 tractors and self-contained iuiplements, their econ- 

 omic employment depends upon two outstanding 

 factors: lab'>ur conditions and soil conditions. That 

 circumstances may actually demand their introduc- 

 tion into some of these islands is made evident bv 

 the recent decision of the Government of St. Croix'" 

 to vote 30,000 francs for the purchase of a motor- 

 plough with accessories, which will be at the 

 service of planters. The Government has furthermore 

 authorized the employment of an engineer, and the 

 expenditure of a sum not exceeding oOO francs monthly, 

 to defray the expenses connected with the working of 

 the machine. 



'Moidhlii BviWin of Arjiiculturot Intelliqeuce and of Pktiit 

 DUenses iJiuie l!tl3). 



-Agrkvltiiial Neirx, Veil. XI. p. 408. 



•' Mj-pniiment Stalioii Rtcoiil. Vol. XXVII, No 7, jj. tJ8.o. 



■* E.irpeiiineid >tatior) Hecoiil. Vol. XX. VIII, No. ;», p. K!I2 



5 Louisiana Planler (.Tune 21, 1913). 



" Peiti Today (May 1913). 



" Aiistrolir.ni S^igar Jo'inml (Miiy ,S. 1913). 



^ Jovrnol of the l!oiial A/fiic"lti'nil eiocieti/ of Enqhind 

 Vol. 71, p. 179. _ ■ ■ . . n , 



'•' Aaiicydlmal Nen-s, Vol. X. p. l.')9. 



>'■ St. Croix Avis (June 25, 1913; 



The figures in the following table have been d»rive(i 

 from the references quoted. The table is intended to serve 

 purposes of general comi>ari,son, and to give an idea a.- to- 

 what the motor-plough and tractor can do; but too much 

 importance must not be attached to the figures individually. 



SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



THE DATE SUGAR INDUSTRY 

 IN BENGAL. 



In Bengal, the date palm is planted at the rate of some 

 3-50 trees to the acre, preferably in light soils in humid local- 

 ities. The trees take some five or six years to come into- 

 bearing 



In a valuable paper in the .l/e»toM« of l/m Depdrtmenl 

 of Agrkidturc in India, Vol. If, No. 6, it is stated that 

 one hundred and .seventy pounds of juice per tree per 

 annum is regarded as a fair average yield throughout the 

 date sugar district, and, at a conservative estimate, the profit 

 is 3i annas (about od) per tree. The date palm yields its juice 

 in the cold season. The writer makes the important sugi^estion 

 that the Palmyra Palm (L'omssus flaMliforinis), which^jields 

 its juice in the hot season, might be planted with the date 

 palm, in order to produce a regular supply. This would 

 render practicable the establishment of central factories ia 

 place of the crude and wasteful native arrangements for 

 manufacture and refining. 



The feature of the industry which requires improvement 

 most is the operation of tapping. The date palm is not 

 punctured as is the maple tree, but is systematically pared, 

 and the proper How of juice appears to depend upon" a kind 

 of wound response. A number of difi'erent factors affect the 

 yields, but the chief point is that the juice necessarily 

 remains in contact with the air for a considerable time and 

 great losses occur through fermentation. Annett (the writer 

 of the paper) found that sponging the wounds with dilute 

 formaldehyde solution greatly retarded inversion — much 

 more so than the native smoke method does. 



As regards manufacture, the average loss of sucros« on. 

 boiling worked out al 12 5 per cent, and of total sugar 12 2 

 per cent. This could be reduced by the adoption of cleanly 

 methods in the native factories. 



In conntxion with the purely chemical aspects of date 

 .sugar, the following facts should be of interest. In compar- 

 ing date palin jnic^- with that from the Red Mauritius sugar- 

 cane, it was found that a sample of the former contained 

 sucro.se, IIGI per cent., reducing fugar, 083 per cent. 

 A sample of the cane juice gave: sucrose 1880 percent, 

 reducing sugar 0*26 per cent. 



