Vol. VIII. No. 194. 



THK AGitlCULTUKAL NEWS. 



3i:» 



Lime and Phosphates in Soils.. 



Experiments that have been conilucted for several 

 years in Russia appear to demonstrate that, in soils 

 containing a small amount of lime, the ab-^orbtion of 

 phosphoric acid by the plant takes place to such an 

 extent as to interfere with its i,nou-th, because "f the 

 iiiesem-e of an excessive amount of the acid. As the 

 amount <if calcium carbonate is increased in the soil 

 by applications of lime, the absorbtion of phosphoric 

 acid decreases, and eventually the stage is reached at 

 which this takes place to so small an extent as to cause 

 the plants growing in such a soil to exhibit all the 

 symptoms of a lack of phosphorus, even in the [iresence 

 of a good supply of that element. 



^ — — 



A Method for Destroying Rats. 



In the Joarn<(l iT Agru-ijlf arc Trupiralc for 

 July 1909, a method is described for destroying rats 

 uhich has been found effective against them in rice 

 stores in Java. In applying it, the holes that are being 

 used by the rats must fir^t be found. This is done by 

 stopping all the holes with clay : those that .ire found 

 open on the next day are the places of entrance and 

 exit of the rats. Into these, about half a teaspoonful 

 of carbon bisulphide is poured and then, after .i few 

 seconds, a light is brought near the holes ; there is 

 a slight explosion of the mixture of the vapour and 

 air, and the rats are killed by the priisonous products 

 of combustion. 



The usual precaution not to bring a light near the 

 liquid in quantity must, of course, be observed, and the 

 room should be left open for a time after tre.ument, so 

 that the f)oisonous vapour may escape. The cost of 

 the method is small, as one hundred holes only require 

 about 7 ounces of the bisulphide. 



estate cane, while B.l-i" was inferior to both of them. 

 In the third field, B.208 gave 47'5 tons, and the estate 

 cane ■23'2 tons, per acre, as first ratoons — a gain by 

 B.208 of slightly over 100 per cent. 



Seedling Canes in Jamaica. 



The Bidh'tin of llie Di'iiartni'-iH of A<irlcultur<', 

 Jamaica, for July, 1909, gives interesting information 

 in connexion with results that have been obtained with 

 the seedling canes B.20.S and B.147 at Sevens Estate 

 in Clarendon. In conducting the experiments, a fair 

 average for the estate, and for places similarly situated 

 in the island, was obtained by selecting canes for the 

 experiment from thri.'c fields in different parts of the 

 estate, which are not in receipt of manure, but \vhich 

 give large yields, owing to the fact that they are flooded 

 during heavy rains, and thus receive sediment from the 

 rich soil of other portions of the estate. This flooding 

 does no harm, as the fields are well drained. 



B.208 and the estate cane (White Transparent) 

 had been planted together in the first field cut, and had 

 reached the stage of first ratoons, there being 2,500 

 stools to the acre. The method adopted was to cut and 

 weigh carefully one hundred stools of each, when it was 

 found that B,20S gave :i51 tons, and the estate cane 21 

 tons, per acre — a gain by B.20S of 66 per cent. The 

 second field contained third ratoons, the varieties being 

 B.208, the estate cane, and B.147. In this case 

 a similar experiment gave: B.208, .5009 : the estate cane, 

 348 ; and B.147, 30'3, tons per acre, so that the yield 

 from B.208 was 46 per cent, greater than that from the 



Interaction of Stock and Scion. 



In a number of the CviitpfL'f< lii'iidus de I' Acade- 

 mic des Sciences (Paris), published during the present 

 year, there is an account of a large number of experi- 

 ments which were undertaken for the purpose of 

 finding out what effects take place when perennial plants 

 are grafted on to annuals. The plants that are more 

 especially considered in this paper are the potato on 

 the tomato, and rhizome-bcaring plants belonging to 

 the sunflower genus (Hclianthiis) on that plant. It 

 was discovered that, under certain abnormal conditions, 

 the slock and scion react upon one-another. The 

 scion formed aerial tubers on account of the fact that 

 it was unable to store its reserve materials in the stock. 

 It does, however, succeed in transferring a portion of 

 those materials to the stock, which utilizes part of this 

 additional nutriment in forming woody tissue that 

 it does not contain normally, thus causing it to take 

 on a resemblance to a woody perennial. This product- 

 ion of tubers on the scion, and of wood in the stock, 

 constantly took place when the sunflower was used as 

 a stock for tuber-bearing plants of the same genus, such 

 as the artichoke: but this was only occasional when 

 the potato was giafted on the tomato. 



The ' West Indian Bulletin'. 



The second number of Vol. X of the West Indian 

 BuUcfiii is now being issued. In it, the sugar industry 

 receives attention in the following papei's : ' Central 

 F.ictories ', by Dr. F. Watts, C.M.G.:' The Underground 

 System of the sugar-cane ', by G. G. Auchinleck, B.Sc; 

 ' Observations on Molasses', by H. A. Tempany, B.Sc; 

 ' The Packing for Trans[)ortation of Sugar-canes for 

 Planting ', by J. R. Bovell, I.S.O.: ' The Estimation of 

 Water in Molasses ', by R. R. Hall, B.A. In connexion 

 with the cotton industry, two papers appear, entitled 

 respectively : ' Observations on the Effects of Storage 

 on Cotton Seed ', by H. A. Tempany, B.Sc; and ' The 

 Cotton Industry in the West Indies '. 



Among the other papers, there is one entitled 

 ' Eucalyptus in the West Indies', which deals with the 

 distribution of the species belonging to this genus that 

 have been introduced into the Botanic and Experiment 

 Stations in these islands. These stations are also dealt 

 with, in connexion with their function as distributing 

 centres, in a paper entitled 'Distribution of Economic 

 Plants from West Indian Botanic Stations '. The subject 

 ' The Treatment of Soils in Orchard Cultivation in the 

 West Indies ', which has also received attention in 

 Vols. II, p. 96 ; V, p. 287 : VI, p. 258 ; VII, p. 201 ; 

 VIII, p. 131 : and IX, p. 138 of the West Indian 

 Bidlctln, is reviewed and brought up to date. 



The number closes with a paper on ' The Scarabee 

 of the Sweet Potato ', by. H. A. Ballon, M.Sc This, as 

 well as 'The Underground System of the Sugar-cane', 

 and ' The Packing for Transportation of Sugar-canes 

 for Planting', is accompanied by illustrations. 



