44 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



Jam vm 30, 191"). 



The following fi 'in Katun foi I 1 mber 17, 1914 

 imp] lie success attending a highly perfected sj 



I agriculture. Although the production of ri 



Spain is the lowesi of the six rice-growing countries, the 

 yield per acre is double thai obtained in Italy and Egypt, 

 and more than six times the official figures for India. This 

 resull i- due to the tuprougli cultivation of the fields, I 

 system of transplantation, and I i the use "I large qu: 

 of nitrogenous and phosphatic manui e 



GLEANINGS. 



At the Royal Eorticultural Society's Show, held al their 



hall "ii December 15, 1914, a plant that attracted a g 1 



deal of attend especially at ig experts, was a splendid 



pink Poinsettia rosea, a new plant which has been obtained 

 by crossing the red with the white variety. It was shown 

 by Messrs. II. B. May of Edmonton. (Thi Timet, December 

 16, 191 I.) 



Mr. A. S. Archer of St. John, Antigua, has communi- 

 cated with the [mpei ial < lommissioner of Agriculture, express 

 ing his desire to obtain 5,000 fertile nuts of Pandanns utilif. 



Anyone w] in supply the whole amount, or any part of it, 



should write to Mr. Archer, who will be glad to state the 

 price he would be willing to pay per I. nun, andalso give 

 instructions as to modeoi shipment. 



The ■ itton boll worm is unhappily creating serious 

 _.• to this year's cotton crop in Cyprus, in some cases 

 causing a loss of 50 per cent, in yield, it has been no doubt 

 present here and there in Cyprus for some time, but as no 

 reports were made to the officers of the agricultural depart- 

 ment, no remedial measures have been applied, and thus the 

 trouble has gr idually spread. (The Cyprus Journal, • (ctober 

 1914.) 



The eleventh and twelth annual report of the West of 

 Scotland Agricultural College liafe been received at the Office 

 of the Imperial Department of Agriculture. It contains 

 ting bulletins (1) on the conduct of school gardens, 

 (2) on manures, their composition, etc., (3) on the results of 

 some experiments with farmyard manure, (I) on poultry 

 keeping. Allowing for diffen ncesin el i ma tie conditions, etc., 

 these provide suggestive reading for West Indian agricul- 

 turists. 



At Magaliesberg, South Africa, some wonderful returns 



have Keen obtained from orange trees. It is n rded by 



a grower, in South African Gardening and Agriculture, 



August 1914, that from thre range trees, estimated to be 



old, he has taken 11,030 fruits this season, 

 some of which were •>.'. inches in diameter, and he expei ts 

 get another 2, 3,1 yet. 



It would appear from Circular No. IT, issued bj the 

 Bureau ol Standards al Washington, that fur all practical, 

 and most scientific purposes, the Dnited States yard and 

 pound are the same as those in the t'nited Kingdom. The 

 United States gallon, used for the measurement of liquids 

 only, i- however, onlj jj ol the Imperial gallon, while the 



-I state, bushel, used in the measurement of drj g Is, 



is approximately ol the [mpcrial bushel. <A 



December 17, 191 i'.'i 



From the resull ol a series ol experiments made at the 

 Tucnman agricultural experimental station in Argentina, to 

 compare the relative merits ol the pi ating of thick and thin 

 cane, it would appear thai provided the sort planted is 

 healthy, the thickness of the cane used is of little impoi 

 Arigorous selection from the point of view ol healthy con- 

 dition and freedom from disease, is much more valuable 

 a selection regulated merely by the size of the cane. (The 

 Inti rnational Sugar Journal, December 1 '.M 1. 1 



The idea of sending a Cnited Stairs tradi ition 



ship to South America, in ordei to develop the market, there 

 for exporters, has taken practical shape. The International 



Mercantile C pany's Steamer 'Finland' has hem cha 



for the purpose, and will sail from New Vork on January ^s. 

 Her itinerary includes the principal ports of the Wesl I lies, 

 and of Central America as well. She will cany about 100 

 representative manufacturers and salesmen, whose exhibits 

 will l>e adequately displayed on board. (Yorkshin Post, 

 December 22, 1914.) 



[n his recent lecture on the Trinidad oilfields, al the 

 House of the Royal Societj ol Arts, London, Professot John 

 Cadman stated, with Regard to theii prospects, that: 'whilst 

 the rate of development has nol been as rapid as one might 



\|" cted i in some respects thi re may be roo 



criticism, to which the writer is nol prepared to sub 

 much good work has been accomplished, many ditti 

 have been overcome, manj uen problems have been solved, 

 and sufficient work has been accomplished to di 

 unquestionably the potential value of Trinidad as a sot 

 petroleum.' (Oil Xeivs, Di mber 19, 191 l.t 



The use of tish its cattle food has a nov< I sound, but it 

 appeal'- to be a common practice in various parts of the 

 world. In Shetland and Iceland drj sail fish is fi d to cattle, 

 sheep, and even to horses. So long ago as 1853, Sir John 

 Lawes carried oul experiments al Rothainsted on the feeding 

 of pigs with dry Newfoundland cod fish. He found that 

 thi fish-fed pigs were fal and well .row , and thei 



a very good proportionate increase to f I i 



Although tish does not ( ipare favourablj with ground nuts, 



-o far as fattening value is concerned, il is suggest 



ast a considi ruble saving might be effected by its 

 ( tVulure, December 17, L914.) 



Maize is cultivated in Mauritius almost entirely by 

 small planters, who find a ready local sale for their pr< 

 The methods of cultivation leave much to be desired, and no 



attention whatever is given to the selecti f seed for 



planting purposes. It has ; lemonstrated repeatedly 



that with careful selection ol eed for -owe;-, considerably 

 increased yields maj be obtained. The work of selection is 

 ol the simplest, and can be readily carried out by the 



planters themselves. By attention to this selecti in i rl 



cropyieldsof 10 to 20 per cent, may n idilj I I 



(Bulletin Ao -J, General Seriet, Wl.f, Department ol Vgri 

 culture, Mauritius, i 



