71 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



I'li:i:i VE1 



1915. 



GLEANINGS. 



The rainfall al the Experiment Station T..it..l . Virgin 



Isl Is, during January, was 2*42 inches. Theearlyparl oi 



onth was exceedingly dry, and retarded progress in all 

 [tural operations. The distribution of plants from the 

 Station was affected to some extent. 



In Nature for January 21, 1915, appears a review "I 



I >i II. II. Dixon's monograph cm transpiration and the 



iscent of sap in plants. The substance of the book consists oi 



iciiiriii of the cohesion theory of the ascent of water. 



Tin so-called 'vital' theories are disproved. 



The Monthly Bulletin of Agricultural Intelligence 

 and I'lant Diseases for October 1914 mentions that two 

 agricultural schools are to be established in Panama. One 

 -r will be located near New Gorgona. The Go\ 

 ernment is also contemplating the establishment of an 

 agricultural experiment station. 



It is stated in the Planters' Ohroniclt Fi i December 25, 



thai the world's total tea producti luring L913 vva? 



307,097,1 ll>.. of which Southern [ndia contributed 



22,245,000 ft>. or 7 '2 per cent. It is interesting to observe 

 thai the West Indies, with ithe exception of a small quan- 

 tity from Jamaica, contribute nothing t" the world's output 

 of tea. 



The flowering of the baml is always a periodical 



event of great inti rest. Reference is made in the Gardener? 

 ,,,■/. for January 23, 1915, to the flowering of Bamiuta 

 polynwrpha in Burma, during L914. The last outbreak of 

 [lowering, when .ill the plants burst into blossom, was in 

 1859-60. The seed then produced gave rise to the plants, 

 which aftra fifty -four years of preparation, burst into flower 

 simultaneously towards the end "t last year. 



The important work "I the Imperial Department "I 

 Agriculture for the West Indies is referred to in Nature for 

 I !\ II. L915. The Hoi.- in question rails attention to 



the efforts that are being made to improve the cultivate i 



cro] in the Virgin Islands, mongst other places. Mention 

 i i de pi the Report of the Botanic Station in the Virgin 

 Islands. 1913 14. 



I'.\ means of electricity it has 1 n found possible to 



destroy completelj tubercle bacilli i milk. According to 

 tin Journal of tht Board of Agri--»lture (England) foi 

 December 1914, the total bacterial counl is greatly reduced 

 (bj about 99"93 per cent.); all Bacillus colt and its allies 

 are destroyed; tubercle bacilli are also destroyed; no chemical 



ge in the milk can be detected, and the taste is quite 

 unaltered. 



Recent investigations into the possibilities of using 

 specii - of Bedychium as a source ol material for paper-making 

 have made it particularly desirable that a clear understand- 

 ing "I the exact botanical positions of the plants experimented 



with should I btaiued. As a result of this, a useful article 



appears in the Keiv Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information, 

 Kb. in. L91 4, entitled Bedychium coronarium and Allied 

 Species. This key will no doubt be found very useful in the 

 West Indies and Tropical America. 



Attention is given in the Monthly Bulletin of Agricul- 

 tural Intelligence and Plant Diseises for August 1914, to 

 work conducted at Budapest in connexion with the importance 

 of inorganic constituents in feeding stuffs. Pigs fed exclu- 

 sively on maize excreted, in spite of putting mi muscle, more 

 calcium than they i itained, and made up the difference with 

 magnesium. This lack of calcium is liable to interfere with 

 the proper development of bone. When- necessary, small 

 quantities of calcium carbonate, or perhaps calcium phosphate 

 might be aihleil to the ration. 



Panama hats are made of Toquilla straw derived li 



., species ot jtemless screw pines, the most important growing 

 wild in the hot moist regions of Ecuador and Columbia, and 

 m the waters oi the Amazon. The Journal of the 

 I; , J Society of Arts for January I 5, 1915, says many 

 attempts ha vi be n made to cultivate the plants but unsuc 

 cessfully, for it seem- to be inly in the wild state that the 

 i i istic qualities are developed. 



An a< tint appears in the St. Vincent Sentry for 



February 5, of Mr. J. L. Fonda's address to the cotton 

 growers of that island. At this meeting the chair was taken 

 by Dr. Watts. C.M.G., Imperial Commissioner of Agricul- 

 ture. The principal point raised by the growers was whether 

 the Fine Spinners' Association would guarantee a minimum 

 price based on the grade of cotton without necessarily involv- 

 ing a contract to make sale by the growers compulsory. It 



i- understood that Mr. Fonda has pr ised to bring the 



matter before the notice of his principals. 



The question of the supply of potash manure has for 

 .some months engaged the at tent inn of the American < mi\ ern- 

 ment. The Boar I of Trade Journal (January II, 1915,) 



states that the most promising American sourx f potash ia 



found to !"• the annual crop of giant kelp on the Pacific 

 Coast. The area of the commercially available beds aggre- 

 gates nearly 400 square miles, capable of yielding annually, 

 either as dried kelp or as potassium chloride, over six times the 

 present consumption of soluble potash salts in the United 

 States, or something mure than the world's present production. 

 The development ot a great potash producing industry in the 

 United States seems now to be a matter of time only. 



An account appears in the Trinidad Mirror for January 



27, 1915, of the | edingsat a meeting arranged to inspect 



the new cassava factory in Trinidad, and the cassava lands in 

 that island specially cultivated by Sir Norman Lamont as 

 a pioneering effort. It would appear that the factory works 

 satisfactorily, with the exception that some difficulty has 

 Keen experienced in connexion with the transport of cassava 

 roots from distant points. Asa remedy for this, it is sug- 

 gested that central Iep6ts should In- established where the 

 farmer can deposit his cassava, get paid for it. and the 

 factory collect it as required. It is understood that the 

 present factor] i only of a temporary nature, and its 

 capacity of using 30,000 tons of cassava will lie increased, if 

 people can be induced to plant -till more land in this crop. 



