Vol. XIV. X". 



THE AGRIC1 LT1 RAL NEWS 



237 



ALCOHOL AS FUEL IN CUBA. 



Possibly as the result of Mr. Noel Deerr's reporl 

 on the Cuban sugar industrj (i d -I in bhe West 



i,, Bulletin, Vol. XIV V.. I) practical trials 

 have recent!) been made in Cuba to run engines on 

 alcohol madi from exhausted m lasses. Readers will 

 remember that we published an editorial on the subject 

 in the last issue but one of this journal, and stronglj 

 advocated the carrying out of such demonstrations in 

 the British Wesl [ndies. 



The following information is taken from the 

 Louisiana Planter for Ma\ 29: — 



Expensive experiments are being carried on by Messrs. 

 Levy of Havana and Matanzas, looking toward the utilization 

 of alcohol here in place of gasoline to upprj the motive power 



utomobiles, tractor ploughs i > engines that are 



now gasoline driven. Thus far these trials have been eminently 



if til, for nol only have th ded in < . such 



internal conl ngines by niear of alcohol, butaredoing 



so at much less cost than with gasoline. Besides the satis- 

 factory experiments they have made with Ford automobiles 

 (which are to a ! at replacing the time-honoured cocfies 



thatan afeati i of every Spanish- A meri prominent 



isgenio owner between here and Matanzas, since changing 



gasoline to alcohol, reports that be is saving mere than 

 $10 a day in the cost ol big tractor that he 



The United States Department of Agriculture has 

 issued a very useful and instructive Farmers' Bulleti 

 No. 638, describing laboratory exerc les in farm mechanics. 

 These re intended for agricultural high schools and 



are verj practical and, in man) c . original. In each 

 exercise the equipment needed i u ; b n instructions 



are given as to how to pr :d Etopew irk figures as 



: are, including the tieing i knots and the 



employment of cope in the | animals. Other 



exercises concern the naming ol parts in various 

 implements. Si drainage, irrigation, and building 



construct ion are also included. ' ■■■■ 



branch of the subject of farm mecl ics, useful instructions 



are given as to the building of a poi ad it is 



md in other exerci n nee is made 



tn previous Farmers' Bulletins for more detailed information, 

 and advice is often given to communicate with thi 

 State Agricultural < lollegi 



The publication I nig] be used with 



advantage in some of our West Indian schools. Some of the 

 exercises are sufficiently simple and inexpensive to be used in 

 the higher standards of the elementary schools provided 

 arrangements could be made for giving this kind of 

 instruction. In the West [ndi < rk could be 



easily done out of doors in the scl i li us. 



Manurial Experiments with Bananas in 

 Queensland. -The I Seer 



i . : 



tion in the Queensland Agricultural J 

 1 'J 1 5, < if the results obti ma manurial 



ments atone of the S Scl Is nea Buderim 



Briefly, it is shown that is the supply the -nil is 



used up in the no-manure plot, tl urns show ad 



falling away, which will From this it 



: i hided that banana growing even on fairly good land 

 soon becomes unprofitable if syst is not 



ed to. An examination of the table ol figures shows 

 that the mot tj ing for n 



as follows for 1913-14: V- potash, £18 ■">•■. ld.\ complete 

 manure No. I, £53 "■-. lid.; Cot il i Manure No. i!, 

 £16 Is. ■><!. 



DEPARTMENT NEWS. 



Mr. H. A. Ballou, M.Sc., Entomologist on the S 

 of the Imperial Department of Agriculture, and Mr. \V. 

 Nbwell, D.I.C., Mycologist, returned to Barbados "ii 

 Jul) 14 by the C.R.M.S. 'Caraquet' from Monts 

 where the above officers hav< conducting in 



gations in regard to plant pests and dise 



The Russian G o the Zntt 



Sugar Journal for May 1915, is offering prizes for the inven- 

 tion of better denaturant i for alcohol. The new denaturant 

 should be a substance possessing a repugnan ph] • b)gical 

 action on the would-be drinker, while at the same time it 

 should be incapable of spreading any danger whether by 

 fumes or by possessinj lucl spontaneo tstion, 



and incapable likewise of being easily separated by simple 

 methods from the spirit in which it is combined. The 

 question of a suitabl trant for industrial alcohol is of 



Importance in connexion with the proposed manufacture of 

 alcohol from molasses, and it would seem to be a point to 

 which sugar chemists might profitably turn their attention. 



A special number ol the Perfumery and Essential Oil 

 Record for dune II, L915, contains or rather consists of 

 a valuable epitome of e ential oil knowledg 'y U P 



to date. It surveys the sources, constituents, separation; 

 chemistry, characters, analyses, and sophistication of the 



aromatic distillates in the light of the most recent in fun nation, 

 and its comprehensive ai ill secure it an 



immediate place aim , fen nee books of those intei I 



in essential oils. A grea deal of the matter is based upon 

 lectures delivered to the Pharmaceutical Societ] 

 William Tilde,,, Profe i VV. II. Perkin, and Mr. J. C. Umney 

 Editor ol the Journal). 



According to the Journal of Aaricultun ol N ' ' oid, 

 for April 20,1915, hine is now on the 



market for harvesting maize fi Not Only does the 



mical harvesting ol maize effect gn ' economy in labour 

 and time, but, most import ml ol all, it enabl i , ess of 



silage on a large scale to be carried out in a shorter pi 

 time, and with the desii 



