

THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



October 9, 1915. 



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GLEANINGS. 



The death is recorded in Nature, of -Mr. M. Manson 

 Bailey, of Brisbane, at the age of eighty-eighl years. 



Mr. Bailey, who died on Ji 25, was Colonial Botanist for 



•Queensland from 1881 until within a short time of his death. 



According to the Louisiana Planter for August 28, 

 1915, the tremendous development of the cane-sugar industry 

 in Cuba during the past year is almost beyond conception, 



and is without parallel in the sugar industry of the world. 



The reports from the present Java sugar crop, says 

 the same journal, are very had: not only is the tonnage 

 of caue per acre uncommonly low in most districts, but 

 the sugar content is likewise ansatisfactory. This is 

 already the tilth year in succession of had results, which 

 in every case has been attributed to dry weather in the 

 months of Nbvembei and December. 



Although spraying or dipping is the best means of 

 eradicating ticks, the Planter's Chronicle for July 17. 191"), 

 says that a useful remedy consists in anointing the infested 

 parts of the animal's body with cod liver oil. Flies, 

 especially, are killed immediately by contact with the oil. It is 

 added that no caustic effect to the skin of the animal is 

 produced by this oil as in the case of other fish oils. 



The Proceedings of th Institute of Chemittry of Great 

 Britain and Ireland, Part •". of 1915, contains interesting 

 correspondence concerning the chemical aid given to certain 

 industries since the outbreak of war. In the case of 

 making it is evident that the Institute has done a greal deal 



iu order to enable English linns to produce articles that were 



previousl} obtainable onlj from German) or Austria. 



According to the Mindanao Serai d, a corporation has 



1 n organized with a capital of soo.OOO pesos, all private 



■i i dt o I. i nstruct a railroad on the island of Negros. The 



railroad will tr ersi the sugar district. Surveyors are 

 ilreadj at work on the right i An account of the 



industry in this port ion of the Philippines appeared in 

 the Wett Indian Bui it tin, Vol. X. 



In connexion with the articl i the cultivation of 



sesame which appeared in this journal some months ago, the 



following figures from Modern Cuba lor August, concerning 



the yield of p, . pom 100 kilogrammes of seed maybe 



interest. The figun a follow, . superfine oil." 30 



line oil, lii kgs.; imon oil, 10 kgs.; cakes, 18 legs.; 



u hen obtained bj i to- cold process, sesame oil 



tibstituted for olive 



■ iil for hoi,,. 



It is stated in the .'.' I I Entomology, Vol. 



is 11. part VII, that Dr. .1. I !. MacPherson, thi 



N| ml erra . says that, though it has often 

 bei d reported tha isted in the island i 



might act as malaria can of A I V'lia) 



argyrotars-i • :• ,,!,,,,. and that it 



interest ■ te that fever, possibly of malaria origin, was 



said a' one tune to I,. \ery common in this region. 



The editorial in Tropical Life for September 1, deals 



with the subji Ct ii liraging the expansion of agricultural 



industries. , i and helpful means would be for 



the higher educational institution of all nations, instead of 

 exchanging i curtesies through their team- ol athletes, to send 

 select bodies of their best students under competent leader- 

 ship for the purpose of studying specifically set problems. 



Agriculture in the real sense of the word may be des- 

 cribed as non-existent in the islands ol Grand Turk, Salt (.'ay, 

 and South Caicos. At Middle and North Caicos and at 

 Blue Hill, however, the outlook for agriculture is of a more 



hopeful character, and provided the people, who at present 

 possess iii knowledge whatsoever of the subject, can be 

 instructed and induced to take up the cultivation of cotton, 

 there seems to be no reason wh\ the condition of land owners 

 in these islands should not be materially improved (Colonial 

 Reports — A nnual, No 844.) 



Natun for August 26, 1915, reproduces an account of 



a new method of standardizing normal and decinormal 

 solutions of acid used in analysis. Use is made of potassium 

 hydrogen phthalate which is easily prepared in a pure state 

 by dissolving phthalate anhydride in potassium hydroxide 

 and recrystallizing tin- product. The salt, when dried at 



110 is anhydrous, ('.11,0, UK, ami behaves like a mono- 

 basic acid, the end-point in the titration being remarkably 

 sharp. We think that this method may be found useful in 



West Indian laboratories. 



The report on Land Settlements in St. Vincent (Colonial 

 Reports, Miscellaneous No. 90) hasjust come to hand and 

 contains an account of progress from January 1911 to March 

 1914. In regard to St. Vincent itself special mention is 

 mad.- of therecent acquisition of Belair estate. An independ- 

 ent report appears oh the Land Settlement Scheme of 

 Union Island iii the Grenadines. The Superintendent of 



Crown Lands concludes by saying that there can be no doubt, 



that the Land Settlement Scheme has continued, since 



Mr. Tatham's report, to improve theconditi f the labouring 



class in . st. Vincent. Equal!) satisfactory results have been 



obtained in the ( rrenadines. 



A new nitrite forming organism is described by Mr. X. V. 

 Joshi, I'.. A., in the Memoirs of thi Department <>/ Agriculture 

 in India, Bacteriological Series. Vol. 1, No. ■'! The organism 



described is a new one, differing morphol 'gically from others 



hitherto known. Its thermal death point lies between 70 C. 



and SIM '.; th.' optimum temperature for ilsactn i een 



25°C. and 35°C. The most effective base for nitrite formation 

 is calcium carbonate. An increased proportion of carbon 

 dioxide in the atmosphere (50 parts pei LOO) acts asa stim- 

 ulus to the activity of this organism: further increase of 

 carbon dioxidi ect. In solutions containing 



phosphates, ammonium chloride, si I nd carbonate, 



I urea, all scrw ., itrogeu foi nitrite 



formation. Iu th ie ol phosphates, ammonium 



carbonate is tl dy substance which i- easily changed into 



nitrite. 



