Vol. XIV. No. 349. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 





Diseases of Para Rubber trees in Ceylon. 

 We have ' 5, 1915 



II ■ i 

 contrib I T. ] G VI3 



1 Id il I : ■ 

 year. I 



areas under tL der bad coi ditions, 



no very serious pai 1 



Fmif i orded by Llidley 



at Singapore in 1904, which v 1 feared, is proving to 



minor imp is the plantations increase in 



and as the jungle stumps on which it flourishes disap 

 The -''in diseases, of which six ed, are 



; these, pii 



lecially by 



disease, and 



cankei 1 Phytophth illy to be 



It is mixture may prove 



effect r reventive t< 



WEST INDIAN PRODUCTS. 



DRUGS AND SPICES IN THE LONDON 



MARKET. 



Mi .1. I!. Jackson, A.L.S., lias forwarded the follow- 

 eporl "ii the London drug and spire markets 

 for the month of Juh : 



In the early pari 1 Mincing Lane was 



somewhat hampered bj the usual half-yearlj stock-taking 

 which is always followed closi Ij by the annual summer 

 holidays, which at the time of writing ire being taken, 

 1 somewhat more subdued fashion than in ordinary 

 times. Xothwithstanding all these drawbacks, how- 

 ever, a fair amount of business has been transacted during 

 the month both in spices and drugs, with prices ruling in 

 favour of the seller rather than the buyer, as will be seen 

 from the following details. 



At auction mi the llth of the month as many a- 115 



packages of Jaimi ie;i were offered, and all bought in at 62s. 

 to 63s. for low middling. At the same auction, Cochin and 

 Calicut were represented by 960 packages, which were also 

 bought in at the following rates: good small cut Calicut 12s., 

 washed rough Cochin 29c, and brown rough Calicut 30». \t 

 the concluding sale of the month, namely on the 27th, 874 

 iges of Cochin and Calicut were offered and all bought 

 in, brown rough Calicut at 30s., fair bright at 35s., and 

 washed rough < 'ochin at .".i i 



\i i mi ..-. MACE iM' PIMJEK I'". 



At auction mi the 1 ith. 58 barrels of West Indian 

 nutmegs and 60 of limed Java were offered and - 



previous rates. At the last i . on the 27tb, lie 



were in very quiet demand at prices ranging from lie/, to 

 *\\d. fur West Indian. At the auction on the llth. mace 

 was in steady demand, II cases ol Java, fair bold curl} - , 

 fetching 2s. -'it/. ]it lie. partially broken Lis., and ordinary red 

 Is. ;if/. At thi ■'" auction pimento was represented by 

 i',7 1 bags, of which 200 sold at I ; r/ . for fair quality. 



At the drug 

 parilla was in go 



grey Jamaica, ol v I per lb 



for fair quality; 20 b 



and 16 sold at Ls. 2'/. to 1 . "•'/. for dull red mi 

 red; 52 bales ol I 10 of 



Mexii of which fn md buj 



LIME JUICE, LIME o 10. 



I \\1 MOM. 



V.SD KOLA. 



At the begini ing ol I he month it was i I hat. 



a limii ed ile in 



cl ion "ii the 2 



was stated that a limited i ol West [i 



oil of lime ed at 7s. per Dt>. In the 



previous week tl iile I he disl tiled 



oil was quote 1 al 6s. ' lout the monl b 



lias reiiiiiin n from 3*\ '}}.'/. to 3s. ii./. per lb. 



\ consignment of 91 I was 



offered at the beginning i 



il" buyers. It was said thai Indian 



were obtainable at 8rf., and dull at 7 1 ./. Al tl lasta 

 on the 27th. good new crop Barbados i tmarinds were 



at 1 7.«. '.it/, per cwt. Al the first ition on the 8th, 9 



i dull i leylon k"ln. in hal -r lb., 



while 2 bags of fair ' unaica realized Is. '.»'/. 



American versus Local Corn. The following 

 contains the results ol an experiment conducted with Indian 

 corn by the acting Curatos of the Experiment Sta 

 Tortola. 



Two plots 1 acre in area were laid "Mt. line planted 



with an American strain cf corn acclimatized to West Indian 

 conditions and grown in Anguilla, and the other with a local 

 variety. 



Previous to planting the field received a dressing of pen 

 manure at the rate of 1 •"> tons per acre, approximately. 



Both strains germinated well and were soon develoj 

 into vigorous and healthy trees. The imported emu e 



icillv developed the higher trees, 3 attaining a height. 



..1 9 feet. 



Striking differences in the characteristics of the matured 

 ears were to be noticed. The imported corn developed ears 

 only 8 inches long, and containing seventeen rows of kernels, 

 while the local corn produced ears 10 inches long with only 

 fourteen rows of kernels. 



The returns of the plots are as follows: — 



Variety. Size of Actual Seed corn Calculated yield 



plot. yield. per cent. per aire. 



Imported 



American 1 acre 273 lb. seed 80 1,911 It), or 



.'S4 bushels 

 Local 

 Strain 1-acre 274 „ „ 7-- 1,913 lb 



3 I ] bushels 

 The returns are very good and indicate that the local 

 breed of corn can, with proper cultivation, give hand 

 returns. 



\ supply of this seed corn is now kept at the Station 

 for distribution. 



It may be added that as a general rule American corn 

 does not d.o very well in the West I iblj the strain 



ised in 1 he a bove ' ,% peril ;h1 be useful foi ci 



purposes. 



