92 



'111 i: AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



March 13, 1915. 



^SU/A 



GLEANINGS. 



According' to Thi Board oj Tradi Journal for Januarj 

 28, 1915, the attempts made in Tunis during 1913 to produce 

 cotton did not yield any satisfactory results. The year 19] I 

 has been even Less encouraging. The limiting factor appears 



drought. 



The cultivation of tea is in an ezperi nta] stage, or is 



not being actively exploited in the following countries: 

 Uganda and Nigeria, Siam and the Straits Settlements, 

 Brazil and Peru, Mauritius, the Azores, Fiji [sles, South 

 Carolina, and Natal. (The Planter's Chronicle of Southern 

 India. December 10, 1914.) 



Sunn hemp fibre (Crotolaria juncea) is dealt within an 

 article in the Wealth »J India for December 1914. It is 

 used in tlit- inmiilartnrr.il' ropes, fishing nets, saddles for 

 pack horses, hosepipes, etc. Sunn hemp has considerable 

 tensile strength, and like European hemp, its tendency to 

 rut under water seems to be very slight. 



The pruning of tiers i-, discussed in the Planters' 

 Chronith of Southern India (November 7, 1914). It is 

 pointed out that bad and useless wood must be removed 

 bi fore the bushes ran benefit fully from intensive treatment 

 of the soil. The article in question contains a considerable 

 amount of practical information, which should lie useful to 

 i hose interested in tliis crop. 



The Castor "il plant, according to the Journal oj the 

 Eoyal Horticultural Society (November 1914), should prove 

 extremely useful as a detective of ethylene in laboratories, 



green houses md r ns where coal gas is burnt. A very 



small amount, OOOOl per erut. of ethylene produced a definite 

 response, and 1 part per million produced drooping of 



petioles or folding dow n of laminas. 



The St. Vincent Agricultural Department is prepared 

 to distribute disinfected cuttings of the besl varieties of 

 sugar-cane at 6rf. per 100. The following kinds are included 

 in the li-t published in the St. Vincent Government Ga ette: 

 B. 208, B. 1753, D. 95, B. 6450, Sealy Seedling, B. 1596. 

 It will be noticed that all these are very well known varie- 

 ties, both in Barbados and the I ward islands. 



The summary of results of the soil investigation work in 

 Assam, for the year 1913 I I. is given in the Annual Report 

 on the Agricultural Experiments and Demonstn 

 Experiment Fi i i mi time have shown that in order to grovi 

 ordinary crops a preliminary dressing of lime i ubsi 



lutely e ential [t is hoped that in future years e light 



will be thrown on the problem of the right quantitj to apply. 



The Agricultural Supei . Si L ia, reporte as 



follows on the condition of the staple crops in December 1'.' 1 I. 

 The cacao crop was heavy and early; the reaping of 

 had begun on the large estates; the lime crop was slackening. 



The rainfall at the Botanic Station during December was 



10:87 or hi it 1 ii tnion - 2 I In 



It is stated in the Journal Agricultun ol New 



Zealand for November 20, 1914, that the Phormium fibre 

 industrj is feeling the effects of the war, probably more 

 seriously than anj other branch oi production in thatcountry. 

 During the quartet ended Septi mber 191 I. only I 1,899 bales 

 of hemp were milled, as against 28,65] hales in the corre&. 

 ponding quarter of last year. However, the hemp has been 

 of .' bettt r quality during the past sis months. 



The yield of pigeon peas obtained at Salisbury in 

 Rhodesia was al the rate of 1,350 B>. of seed per acre. The 

 stalks of pigeon peas are largely used as fodder, and it has 

 hern suggested that a mixture ol p i and Napier's fodder 

 would provide an excellent green pasture mixture, the 

 Napier's fodder being cut for ensilage. The admixture of 

 orage crops, so common in I tlture, is worth 



more attention in the Tropics, particularly combination 

 between the graminaceous and leguminous crops. 



Useful bulletins are being issued by the Agricultural 

 Department of the Southern Provinc Nigeria, A. copy has 

 recently been received of Bulletin No. 2 Myology. Part 1, 

 entitled Fungus Diseases of Plants and Their Treatment. 

 The subject-matter is well written, and deals in a general 

 way with the prevention of plant diseases. It is proposed 

 to follow up the present publication with a series of papers 

 on special diseases of different crops. The next of the 

 series will deal with root disease of Para rubbei and 



Agricultural education in the primary schools of Grenada 



is reported on Iii the < ,'i it'trnmt nt f/nj'/i for Januarj I. 1915. 



Five schools offered this subject, but only three of them 



possessed gardens. It is important to note that four of the 

 five teachers who ottered this subject had gone through at 

 least one full course of lectures under the .inspires of the 



Imperial Department of Agriculture. The usual com 

 elementary instruction in plant life, with its application 

 local conditions was done satisfactot ily, An Assistant Inspector 

 of Schools arrived from England last March. In view of the 



fact that this officer has science qualifications, it is likely that, 

 the study and teaching of agriculture will be advanced iii the 

 ( Irenada elementary schools. 



The Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture has forwarded I i 

 this Office a copj of Circular No. 60, dealing with the pre- 

 vention of the re-infection of fumigated citrus trees in that 



country. It is pointed out thai re-infecti tomes, to a 



very great extent, from scale insects left on dead I 

 fruit lying on the ground near by the trees. Two imp 

 rules are deduced (1) orange trees should have all theit 

 lower bra runed off, and hould have bared trunks for 



the iii-' ■"'" ot 60 ' errtimel n above thi I 1 2) it. 



is absolutely necessary to keep thi -round near by the 



free from .had leaves and fallen fruit. The interlacing 

 of branch hould be prevented also byjudicious pruning. 

 The above instructions apply to a larj I to West 



Indian conditions. 



