1 in 



THE AGRICULTURAL NKWS. 



Lphil 24 191",. 



* r -.^ .>. y u- •— ^r ■ 





If <£? 



GLEANINGS. 



Messrs. [de & Christie's Monthly Circular dated March 

 15. 1915, gives the current pri es for the principal fibres, 



ni'l is .i useful publication in this respect Sisal I p 



(Mexican) were up to 30*. to •">!• I on coir (coco-nut 



fibre i nj ■•< of 30s. to 63*. per ton. 



I: Fen ace to an interest i jetable fat Is made in t in- 



Experiment Station Record, Vol. \\\ll. No. 3. A physi 

 cal exam ; this substance which was said to 



in the East [ndies, showed ii to correspond to Malabar tallow 

 or Chinese tallow, from Stillpiniu and various 



vii ieties ol the Jatrophas. 



A notice ap] gin Tropical Life for February 1915, 



ites that the third volume of the Flora of Jamaica by 

 Fawcettand Rendal] has made its appearance. It deals with 

 the dicotyledon- and contains nearly 300 pages, 113 illus 

 tions in the text, and tivi- plates. Copies, price 15*., cat 

 obtained from the Natural History Section of the British 



Museum, London, S.W. 



The individual variation in the alkaloidal content of 

 Belladonna plant forms the subject of a paper in the 

 Journal of Argicultural Research, Vol. I, No. -. There 

 appears to be nothing to indicate any correlation between 

 the physical appearance of the plant and the alkaloidal 

 contents of its leaves. Variations in the percentage of 



alkaloids in the leaves of different plants is exceedingly large. 

 This appear- to be an hereditary characteristic. 



In accordance with the Act. the report of a Public 

 Audit into the financial position of the Agricultural Credit 

 Societies, St. Vincent, has recently been made and published 

 in the St. Vincent Government Gazette for February I, 1915. 

 The statement of assets and liabilities of >ix different 

 societies are given. The principal liability in each consists 

 in the loans from the < iovernment, which up to Januarj 191 5 

 ranged bet weiu £65 and £120 Eoi each society. 



It i- stated in the Gardeners' Chroniclt for Febri 

 '.'i. 1915, that rhubarb ; cessfully cultivated in 



i] I ' ■ - ol Qui There I he planl i 



an annual, The seed is -own in boxes in February 



in Man ii in the open ground. When 

 i , . tre tran planted, four months 

 owing, the stalks are ready to be pulled. After 

 mber, the plant- m tiled by the int 



Immediately after the roots of the sweet potato are 

 harvested there occurs a rapid i nation of starch into 

 cam i ' ami reducing During its growth the 



sweet potato root ischara ed byaverylov ontent, 



most o ch. If sweet potatoes 



pt in i pid increase in cane 



\ tempo iture, ol abi ml 1 5 I '. is sufficient toki 

 i Irak Utural R< i 



iry 15, 191 



The gutta p ii ha tree is more limited iii it- distribul 

 than th ; plants, owing to its climatic require- 



ments. According to the Botanical Journal, which gi< 



ii of this tree, it i- practically confined to 



Ii Straits Settlements, The life oi India rubber is strictly 

 limited; gutta percha, oh the other hand, will keep its proper- 

 ties unchanged !<" a large number of yi It is obtained 

 from the lea and pulverizing them and dissolving 



OUt the gutta percha. 



Attempts are being made at Buitenzorg to imp] 

 . : nid swei I - by develop 



- Llings. According to th 



Forester, Vol. Ill, No. 7. sixty-three varieties ol i issi 

 have been tested i I three years, of which 



me. Of th e, eight are varieties 



ol. tamed from Brazil, three are native Japanese, md is 



a - idling. The I I 'I pot ito prom 



results of surprising iral i 



According to the Monthly Bulletin of Agricultural 



Int. ii,, I, a,; and Plant D i iber 191 I, the food 



value of the Jack bean I mis) is well 



recognized in German Ea i \irica, and would be larg 

 consumed in that country and sell readily on the Europi 

 markets if it were conclusively ( stablished that the beans 

 not under some conditions poisonous. It appears that fr 

 experiments conducted in Germany, animals fed with 

 relatively high amounts of crushed beans suffered no ill 

 effects. Experience in the matter in the West Indie- is 

 present uncertain. 



An interesting note appears in the Journal of the 



Chemical Society. Vols. 107 and 108, on tl icurrence 



significance of manganese in the seed coat of various seed-. 



The amount of manganese | I was found to vary 



considerably in difl tmeBeed. Experime 



ate recorded which show that there is a clos am 



between the amount of manganese and the presence of 



oxidases in plant tissues, and it is therefore considi 



probable that the accumulation of m ■ in the 



coat hears an important relation to the vital proc 

 seed format ion and germination. 



The proceedin ol a 5i c I Indian Science Congn 



reviewed iii Natun for March 11, 1915. In the Agricult 

 ami Applied Sciei 3 ton, Dr. II. II. Mann, of I'" 

 presided, and bis address dealt with the lines of developm 

 of Indian agi ii alt re, In this n i mad 



unsal isfai ■ obtained in b.( rage 1 edian cultiva- 



tion. Theyii teat in that countr) was not mon 



|u bu he] pei .ere. compared with 30 in other countries: the 



cotton prod icre was about 7"> lb. lint against 200 ft>. 



per acre obtaii < while sugar-cane, even wl 



■ .M undei a, yields undei 1 ton of raw sugar 



ge ol about 2 tons at l< 



There is scope, therefore, for i he applicati I sciem 



agriculture in Bi itish India. 



