236 



THE AC KICULTURAL NEWS. 



July 17, 1915. 



The efii I ol the cattle tick upon milk production pf 

 dairy cows i- the subje^ of Bulletin .V.<. / /-' of the Bureau 

 of Animal Industry, United States Department of Agricul- 

 ture. Ii was found that at the c lusion of the tests tiot- 



infested cattle gave only 65-8 percent, as much milk as the 

 tick-free. The tick-free group gained 6"1 per cent, in body 

 weight; the tick-inl ted e I 6. Spraying temporarily 



reduces the milk yield. 



GLEANINGS. 



It is stated in the Louisiana Planter for June 5, 1915, 

 that next year Cuba will produce over 3,000,000 bags of 

 sugar made in electrified factories. The smut- journal referr 

 ing to sugar in Europe puts the l>eet crop reduction for next 

 yeai at about l"> to i.' 11 pei cent. 



Efforts are being made in Cyprus to extend the cultiva- 

 tion of certain spiers like Coriander, Carraway,and Fenugrec. 

 Cultivation experiments are soon to be started and the 

 Imperial Intitutehas offered to receive samples of the produce 

 for examination and valuation. (The Cyprus Journal, 

 April 1915.) 



Herbarium specimens of the mistletoe which attacks lime 

 trees in Dominica have recently been determined at Kew as 

 Dendropemon caribaeus, drug e( Urban. Apparently D. cari- 

 l/aeus is a synonym for Loranthus emarginatus, a description 

 of which will be found on page .">li! of Griesbach's Flora of 

 the British West Indies. 



The Perfumery ami Essential Oil Record for May 191"), 

 refers to the rising market for distilled lime oil. It is 

 mentioned that this matter was referred to in the last two 

 issues of that journal, and has been further evidenced since 

 the last issue by the price Is. •'!</. reported, paid; for large 

 quantities of hand pressed 6s. 6rf. to Is. would buy, but 7s. 6c?. 



was W rated for smaller lots. 



In the issueof Nature for June ■''>, 1 915, appears a review 

 ol the Mora of Jamaica, Vol. in, Dicotyledons: Families 

 Piperaceae to • lonnaraceae, by W. Eawcett and Dr. A. B. Ken 

 dall. of the British Museum. Although the work is essentially 

 systematic, it is mentioned thai here and there economic and 

 other untechnical notes are introduced, as in the Auonaceae. 

 The prii e oi the volume is 15s. 



In the India Rubber Journal for June 5, 1915, appears 



an article by Dr. II. P. Stephen- oh the function of lit] 



iii the vulcanization of rubber. It is shown that the addi- 

 tion of litharge in moderate quantities increases the coefficient 

 of vulcanization, but increasing proportions cause a progres- 

 sive reduction in the i ffioienl of vulcanization. 



Published in the Dominica Official Ga.ette for June 14, 



1915, is the annual report on the vital statistics of the Colony, 



I i i timated that the population of the Colony on 



Decembei 31, 1914, was 36,645, The birth rate for 1914 



7-84per 1,000 against 34-70 j»r 1,000 in 1913. The 



rate foi '■•>■■ .- - p -' ' ' '■ 



913 



According to the Dcinerara Daily Agrosy (Mail Edition), 

 for June 26, 1915, great success has attended the sinking of 



a new artesian well at Onderneeming Industrial School. It 

 was expected thai tour or five week-, drilling would be 

 necessary to reach water, which would mean boring to a depth 

 of over 1,000 feet, but it was found that good water was 



obtainable at a depth of only 320 feet. The artesian well at 



Onderneeming is the shallowest in the Colony; 



In feeding experiments with ten dairy COWS, in which 

 1 1 : i \ and wheat bran constituted the basal ration, and gluten 

 feed and coc> nut meal the supplementary feeds, substantially 

 the same results in milk yield and slightly more butter fat 

 were obtained from the COCO-nut meal than with the gluten 

 feed ration. In amounts of from :i if., to tlh. daily per head, 

 coco-nut meal is considered to be a desirable dairy feed in 

 Massachusetts ( Experiment Station Record, January l'.'l.i.) 



The Act to regulate the registration and inspection of 

 commercial fertilizers, fertilizer materials, and chemicals in 

 Porto Rico will be found reproduced in Bulletin No. 3, of the 

 Board of Commissioners of Agriculture, Porto Rico. In this 

 publication also is given the result- of analyses made in 

 connexion with this law. It appears that from eighty- 

 seven fertilizer analyses, twenty-three were found -hurt 

 in one or more constituents. Phosphoric acid was up to 

 the guarantee in all but four sample-, and in many samples 

 was above. 



Information i- published in Th> Board of Trade Journal 

 for May 27, 1915, to the effect that the shortage of the supply 

 of synthetic indigo and the consequent high price,- tor 

 imported indigo have led to a revival of the native production 

 of indigo in various parts of China. Ii i- impossible to 

 estimate the increase in, the productionof the dye, but it is 

 well to recognize that indigo production is one of China's 

 oldest industries. It is unlikely, however, that there will be 

 anj of the product available for export, for the time being 

 at any rate. 



Reference is made" in Natun for June 10, l*)13, to the 

 recent discover} that X-rays can be defracted into spectra by 



the natural grating contained in the ordinary -tincture of 

 crystals, which ete at rest the question as to the nature of 

 these radiations. They are of the same nature as light waves, 

 lini oi \,i\ much higher fie, |ueue\ .from 10,000 to 100,000 

 limes as high, t »n the living cell \ rays produce remarkable 

 effects. The study of these effects in plants ha- shown that 

 the rays may retard cell division, and more especially affect 

 the germinating embryo. When present in large amounts, 

 they may kill such cells but. On the other hand, may in very 

 feeble doses have i stimulating effecl upon cell division. 



