Vol. XIV. No. 348. 



THE ACIIK'ITLTURAL NEWS. 



',10 



tional work.' t lontrastir i ' l ' UDa w ' 1 '' 



thai of Louisian i, Java and it is clear!; 



that Cuba i far otl jrowing >' 



■Mt il wot !• I urged 'lei 



,.,. her sons up to the highest possible si mdard 



, : their industry 



,1 thai thi 3 b i ■ propi i road to 



fortunes than have hi d b) them. 



POSSIBLE EXTENSION OF SUGAR 



CULTIVATION IN TRINIDAD. 



,\- ;, result ol an enquiry on the above subject from the 



| ., . , i ommittee similar to those reported in the 



;ust 1 I. L915, the Board of 



Iture, Trinidad, recently app ... ed a committee whose 



was t be the collection of information as to the 



►ilities before an increase in the amount of sugar produced 



in the colony. It appears from the facts collected th 



Trinidad there are I •-'.•> II acres in sugar cultivation and 



30,981 regarded as available for sugar. As the result of the 



on of the replies received bj the c nittee, that 



no material extension of the sugar 

 industry is to be expected under present conditions, and that 

 a continuation of immigration on the scale oi the last few 

 years is necessary for the maintenai ce of the present normal 

 output. 



■The committee is also of opinion thai apart from the 



,,i of labour the dominant factor in any possible increase 



of the industry is the working capacity of the factories. To 



ise this -.inl to provide additional encouragement for 



cane farmers, fresh capital is absolutely necessary. This 



would not be forthcoming without a guarantee that the 



market price of sugar would be higher than during recent 



The only way in which this guarantee could be 



secured appears to the committee to be that a preference 



should be given by the Imperial Government to sugar produced 



in the British Empire;' 



It may be noted in conclusion that the output of sugar 

 from Trinidad has steadily fallen during the period 1895 to 

 1913. In 1912 and 1913 the reduction was due largely to 

 drought and froghopper attacks; in 1914 with more normal 

 climatic conditions and diminution in pests there was 

 a marked recovery. Finally an important factor which must 

 be taken into account in considering the reduction is that 

 other and more profitable crops have been substituted for 

 canes. Coconuts, and to a less degree limes and cacao are 

 being planted on former sugar estates on some of which 

 canes are still cultivated as a subsidiary crop. 



'Pui 



pp I m from 



1 yield is o 



•I'm . , the raw 



on, tl 



■ 



Sugar-cane wax. - The following note which appears 



in the International Sugar Jffwrnal for July L915 is likely to 



interest owing to the fact that attention has been 



given to the extrai tion of wax in Barbados and other places 



locally: 



'Cane wax, which occurs on the surface of the cane stalk. 

 is a wax of valuable properties, which could be substituted 

 for carnauba waxin some of its applications. 



'No practically successful meth been devised 



for the mechani tion of the was from the stalk. 



'The crude wax obtained from filter-press cake by 



extracting- oi mic solvents is very impure, containing 



well as the cane v i,1 elf, and thi refore is 



,- and of lower melting point cane wax. 



end 'ii pi al ■■' ■ ' idewax would pn 



in ifit ibl 



THE RESOURCES OF GERMAN SOUTH 

 WEST AFRICA. 



More than usual i the Gen 



ssion in South W cl that this 



territory, which has an about 322,450 square miles, 



is now occupied by the troops of tl South Africa. 



The subject of the lony is dealt 



with in a very comprehensive manner in th e of 



the Bulletin of the Imperial Institute. Primarily the wealth 

 of German South Wesl Africa lies in its minerals. Of first 



importance are diam I of which £1,520,704 worth v. 



exported entirely to Germany in 1912. Besidi 



considerable quantities Of copper ore are mined as well 8 

 till ore, lead and marble. The territory therefore is a very 

 valuable one. 



The next most important resoun f the colony is its 



pasture land. Stock raising is in son,,. ,, jpects a well 

 developed industry as is shown by the export figures. Most 

 of the live animals that are sold are sent to the I'nion of 

 South Africa, and it may be noted that the stock raisers of 

 German South West Africa, have obtained most of their 

 breeding animals from the neighbouring British 1 lominion. 

 The inter-relation between the trade of German South West 

 Africa and the Union of South Africa is most marked, par- 

 ticularly as regards the agriculture of the two countries. 

 Moreover there is quite a considerable settlement of British 

 subjects, chiefly Boers, in the south of the German possession. 

 The article in question gives a good deal of information 

 on animal production and the diseases of stock. In regard to 

 the latter, German South West Africa appears to have 

 represented in it most of the more serious maladies. 



As regards plant production there is not very much to 

 be said. Tobacco ami cotton are grown experimentally but 

 the country as a whole does not seem to be well adapted at 

 all for the ordinary tropical crops. In fact German South 

 West Africa, particularly the higher levels of the country, are 

 quite sub-tropical and in many districts night frosts are 

 experienced and curious mists which sometimes render the 

 vegetation so wet that water drops to the ground as if it had 

 been raining. 



For the compilation of the agricultural portion of the 

 article under review the Imperial Institute is indebted to 

 Mr. A. H. Kirby, 15. A.. Assistant Director of Agriculture, 

 Southern Provinces, Nigeria, ami formerly on the staff of tic 

 Imperial Department of Agriculture for the West Indies. 



A book culled Tim World's Cotton Crops, by John A. 

 Todd.B.L., published by A. and C. Black, London, at LOs. net, 



is favourably reviewed in the Botanical Journal (London, 

 July 1915). The book appears to deal with the subject in 

 a very comprehensive manner, and the author, if one maj 

 infer from the illustrations reproduced, is familiar with West 

 etui feature of the book is the ten excellent 

 ma p S 1 1 rpress. The bulk of the work 



ho iccounts of actual cotton growing is 



also favourablj pon. 



