Vol. XIV. No. 347. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS 



263 



/; [RB IDOS REPORTON THELOCAL DEPART- 

 MENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR 1918 I ',. 



The importanl work of the Departmei Lgriculturej 



namely, the experiments with h each 



year in a separate publication, bui in the presenl report there 

 a pp eal references to this work which arc of special 



, I,, re gard to the yields of different plant canes 

 lD) the following is stated: B.6450, cultivated 

 on 1,07'.! icn ■ '■ 25*63 toi cane per acre; B.376 



from 3g !3"33 ton cane per acre; B.l I i 



from 203 acres, gave 22 - 97 tons of canes per acre; and 

 White Transpan nt from 67"75 acres, 20'57 tons of cane per 

 arl , ; , oil districts. In the 



oil districts, the yields of the'plant canes were, on the 



average, as 



follows: B.6450 from III acres, 32 85 tons of 



. . ion, there ire ind hat this 



variety of maize maj i ited for cult ivat ion in 

 districts of the island. 



Turning to the subji cl of the exportation of fi 



ibles, a somwha ' nt is givi Sorts 



made during the past two years to work up 



melons between Barl and Sew ■> ork. in spite oi 



continued difficulties rd to steann 



ound at the end of tl tha 



ized from 1 \ acres was £ 1 5 9*. 



The remaining portion of the Superintendent - reporl 

 deals principally with matters concerning exhibitions, fumi 

 gation troubles, and education, and is followed bya special 

 report by the Assistant Superintendent of Agriculture on the 

 entomological and mycological work carried out during 

 a portion of the year under review. Lengthy rainfall statis- 

 tics are appended. 



re; B.376 from 229 -. 28 D3 oi canes 



,,1 White Transparent fron LO acres, 24'21 tons ol 

 jdugg I regard B 6450 has also behaved 



satisfactorily in "son with White Transparent. In 



referring to the financial gain realized by the island through 

 the introduction of B.6450, it is estimated that the increased 



yields would be, ii 30, » acres were of B.6450, about 



[5000 tons of sugar. The value of this would be about 



£160, 



Proceeding to an account oi the cotton industry, mention 

 jg ma de of the selection work that i being continued from 



and in the case oi tw ieties phenomenallj high 



yields are re led, oi which tl significance cannot be 



gauged without further information as to the number of 

 plant- on which the calculation is based. As regards the 



manuring of cott it is stated that the best result was 



obtained where 30 lb ilphate of ammonia, 60 lb. 



of phosphoric acid, and 10 lb. of pojtash were applied per acre. 

 In this case, after deducting the cost of the manure from 

 the value of the incremental cottoi d in excess of that 



yielded by the no manure plot, there remained a balance of 

 $4-41 as the gain from the application of manure. 



in the report are devoted to provision crops. 

 Trials nave been made with different varieties of cassava, 



including B eedlings, and an effort has beei ide to 



instruct the peasantry in the ma of making farine, meal, 



starch, and cakes. Oi f the Barbados cassava seedlings, 



namely B.1012 yielded during the year under review, over 



«i it, per acre, • ompared n ith an average of ibout 



t OOOBb. It would -can that 10,000 B>. is a maximum limit 



ee of yields, and 2,000 lb. the minimum limit. That 



ier the highei - i the lower figure c 



depended on Closelj connected with the cassava trials 



avt . ,1 , ments with \ i li guminosae \ 



nnmbei oi beans and pea- havebeen under trial, and the 



results obtained are likelj o much value, in regard 



to maize, an interesting evenl during the year under review 



was the importation of a drought resisting form described iii 



thi Journal of Agricultural R n Eerred to in the 



Agric < \ . which is - the Indians of New 



jlexico and Arizona Uth ficienl time has not 



THE EFFECT OF CANE TOP FODDER 



ON THE CONSISTENCY OF 



BUTTER. 



A- a result of feeding sugar-cane tops to dairy cattle in 

 Barbados, the statement is definitely made i i i one 



dairyman, that the con istencj of the butter produced is 

 adversely affected as soon as the cows '-tops. 



Cane tops are the most readilj available green fodder on 

 certain estates for a con iderable part of the year, and would 

 seem to be a food eminently suited to the production of milk 

 and butter. It is found, however, that a diet of sugar-cane 

 tops results in the production of a soft butter without grain. 

 This is an undesirable quality, and iii addition, such but i 

 more difficult to work and to free from the butter-milk. 



It would be interesting and useful to have the result 

 experience in other tropical localities with regard to tie 

 ing of sugarcane tops to dairy cattle. 



MANURING OF CACAO. 



Bulletin X<>. / /, issued by the Department ol 

 Agriculture, Ceylon, contains the results of manurial 

 experiments with cacao, carried on over a series of 

 years. The following are some of the more important 



conclusions: — 



Ammonium sulphate gave the best results for the six 

 years' manuring. There was an increase in the crop the first 

 year after manuring ceased, and then the yield fell off rapidly. 



Potassium chloride plot yield fell off rapidly after the 

 manuring stopped, while potassium sulphate had a more 

 lasting effect. 



Potassium sulphate and precipitated phosphate 

 showed a marked increase the year after manuring ceased, 

 and then fell off to the lowest position. 



The effect of fish was marked for one yen after the 



manure -topped, but the j ield then fell off rapidly. 



i .: tor cake, alone, or with basic slag, had sting 



effi i than ground nut cake, alone, or with potassium sulph 



Bloodmeal also had a g 1 effect over the two years 



after the last application, this plot rising to the sec >nd place 



Trenching and burying organic matter with lime had 

 little beneficial effect, but with basic slag the results were 



slightly more satisfactory. 



The three plots 99, 1 |>(| . and L 07 were treated with 



organic nitrogenous manures. Tin i having d best, it. 



would seem thai : ' i ! io, nitrogen i- best applied in this 

 form. 



