Vol. XIV. No. 334. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



Agricultural Credit Societies. 



In a paper r< ad I" fore the Int. ruational ( 'on 

 oi Tropica] Agricultun M J M Doine deall with 

 co-operative societies, principally in regard to India; 

 Imt although personally unacquaii ted with the West 

 Indies, he made some observations on the position here. 

 The author looked to the Eas [ndian immigrants as the 

 mosl likely section of the people, in the Western 

 'I'ri. pics to take up sell governing socTeties successfully, 

 but he recognized thai the Land Settlement system is 



ii help in tin' establisl ml of societies among 



bhe native peasantry. He emphasized the folly of 

 adopting a too elaborate syste f accounts at the 



since this puts too much strain on the elected 

 officials. Mr. Doine regarded the co-operation of the 

 Church a very importanl factor in securing permanent 

 success. 



The writer is apparently unfamiliar with the more 

 recent W - [ndian literature on the subject. No 

 reference is made to the St. Vincent Agricultural 

 Credit Ordinance, which was passed in 1913, and pub- 

 lished in the Wett Indian Bulletin, Vol. XIV. No. I, 

 together with a report on the working ol the Credil 



ties in that Colony. <- . Vincent is the only 

 British possession, excluding India, which possesses 

 legislation for the provision ol Raiffeisen banks. The 

 circumstance is oi importano . even if only from the 

 point of view of its being a valuable experiment from 

 the results of which other Colonies are bound to 

 I :it negatively, if not posil ivel 



Agriculture in Zanzibar. 



By far the nest impi producl of Zanzibar 



(which now comes under the jurisdiction of the Colonial 

 Office) is cloves. The exports from this importanl 

 industry in 1913 were worth E42N.692. During thai 

 season the crop harvested v. - m xceedingly large one, 

 the value of the exports being greater than those of 

 previous years. The averag yield per annum from 

 a plantation of about 3,000 trees of about si.\t\ years 

 old, owned and managed bj Europeans, is £8 per tree. 

 Ninety-eight treesare planted to thi acre. 



Coco-nut cultivation ranks next in importance 

 alter cloves. It is estimated thai there are aboul 

 •1"),IK><) acres under coco-nuts in Zanzibar. Copra 

 produced on tie Government plantations has been most 

 favourably reported on by London brokers. The copra 

 exported in 1913 was worth £21(>,N42. 



As regards land grants il is interesting to note 

 then area number of plantations in the hands of the 

 (■ ernment, and under the control of the Department 



_-i culture, with an area ol about 16,000 acres. 



fine properties form< lj belonged to the Sultans 



ofZanzibar, and the Government policy in retaining 



them is influenced by the desire to keep them under 



hi management, and tree f'r morl gage,un1 il such 



as reliable planters are found to take them over. 

 As a general rule there is mucl scope for European 

 enterprise in Zanzibar. Communication and climatic 

 Conditions have greatlj improved during the last yeai 



or two, so that future prospects fm dovelopmi nl \ be 



regarded as favourabh . 



Utilization of Sun Power. 



\n interesting papi i was read a! i he Inti rn it mal 

 Congress of Tropical \ riculture on the Utilizati 



Sun Power for irrigation and other purposes co cted 



\\ ith agriculture in i he Tropics. The principle involved 



int hese machines is th i •. nl ral ion of radiant i 



by means of mirrors on to boilers enclosed in 

 cases to check radial ion. 



Mr. F. Shuman t ed I hat n suits of tests of the 

 sun power plant near Cairo in Egypt had been satis- 

 factory. It is est i mate. I that power can be produced in 



; Tropics al the same cost as if coal were less than 

 10s. per ton: and as coal in maii\ parts of the Tropica 

 costs £2 in*, per ton, upwards, thesaving to beeffected 

 by means of sun power plants is quite obvious. 

 Though sun power plants cost more than coal-burning 

 plants, the saving effected bj not requiring any fuel is 



sufficient to wipe out tl xtra capital cosl after two 



years, and in lour years to paj entirely for the whole 

 equipment. 



Discontinuity in sunlighl is overcome >>> thi 

 of using low pressure sham: boiling water is stored in 

 tanks and the steam drawn upon as required. 



British Agriculture and the War. 



An influential concourse ofexperl advisers recently 



assembled in London at a n ting of the Agricultural 



Education Association to discuss 'Agricultural Products 

 Deflected by the War.' Nature for December 31, 1914, 

 gives a summary of the remarks made 1>\ Dr. Russell, 

 Director of the Rothamsted Experimental Station, in 

 opening the discussion. The Director pointed out thas 

 the present duty of the farmer was to increase the 

 saleable output from his farm, particularly of those 



things which the community needs st. Reference 



was made to the importance of substituting for home- 

 grown foodstuffs, in the rations for British live stock, 

 by-products from the Tropics. In this direct ion,. as well 

 as in others, short rapid trials are necessary rather 

 than prolonged and more accurate ones. If changes 

 are to be made they must be effected at the earliest, 

 possible moment. 



In time of peace the price of cereals is lower than 

 at present. The reduction in the amount of produce 

 grown on the farm for farm consumption would make 

 room for a desirable increase in the area under wheat. 

 In considering substitution of crops, an importanl 



problem is the possibility of making rearrange nts, 



whereby products, nol likerj to he in much demand, shall 

 cease to be produced. Early cucumbers, for example, 

 have hitherto gone almost entirely to German)*, and 

 this fact has luckily been realized in time to prevent 

 usual production. 



In conclusion. I >r. Russell stated thai the time was 

 appropriate to urge on ill farmers the need for reducing 

 all waste to a minimum. It can never be too strongly 

 meed that waste is a sign of had farming, and the 

 present is a good time for reform. 



