V^OL. VIII. No. 195. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



329 



cal Agriculture, (b) Sanitation and Hygiene. With 

 regard to the first, bonuses will be granted to a head 

 teacher in respect of each pujiil teacher or examin- 

 able male pupil in standard VI or VII who, having 

 been taught by him, gains a certificate from the 

 Imperial Department of Agriculture for a pass in its 

 Preliminary Examination in Agriculture. In the case 

 of Sanitation and Hygiene, similar grants will be made 

 in respect of classes composed of pupils belonging to 

 Standards V, VI and VII, wlio show a comjietent 

 knowledge of these subjects at the annual examination. 



New Plants in the United States. 



The VcarhiHi!,- of the United States Department 

 of Agriculture for 1908 gives an account of explora- 

 tions that have been undertaken in various countries 

 by that Department for the purpose of securing new 

 crops and establishing new agricultural industries. 

 Among the discoveries is a new forage plant, in the 

 shape of a promising clover, called ' Shaftal ', froni the 

 valleys of the Himalayas. This is stated to have 

 produced exceedingly good crops in the hottest part of 

 the south-western States, and it is expected to ]jrove 

 valuable in rotations in that part of the country, 

 especially with the advent of Egyptian cotton 

 cultivation. 



According to the same publication, an unusual 

 number of East Indian varieties of the mango have 

 fruited during the year, and advant.age will be taken 

 of the fact to extend the area on which this plant is 

 grown, especially in Florida. The statement is also 

 made that the discovery that the bamboo can be grown 

 successfully in the Gulf States and California has led 

 to the importation of several thousand plants from 

 Japan, with a view to its production for extended use 

 in the country. 



Transference of Salts in Soils. 



An account is given, in the Experiment Stafliui 

 Record of the United States Department of Agri- 

 culture, of experiments which were made with soils 

 from some of the Russian steppes for the purpose of 

 gaining information as to the rate at which alkali soils 

 are formed in those regions. The salts which cause 

 the alkalinity are, of course, carried up in the capillary 

 water of the soil. Tiie rate at which this water rises 

 was found to be greatest at first where the soil particles 

 are largest, but it becomes smaller in the course of time, 

 more quickly with coarse soils thari with fine soils. 

 When the layers of soil of different degrees of coarse- 

 ness were placed in tubes in the order in wliich they 

 occurred naturally, the rise of water appeared todejiend 

 entirely on the capillary state of the lowest layer, that 

 is the one -in contact with the water-supply. 



Determinations of the salt content of the samples 

 of soil at ditt'erent levels disclosed the fact that complete 

 transfer of the salt from the lowest to the highest layers 

 took place in about four months. 



The interesting observation was. also made that 

 water travelled as far in an hour, in a horizontal 

 direction, in the soil experimented on, as it did in 

 a month in a vertical direction. 



Prize-holding-s Competitions in Grenada. 



During the year l!)08-9, three prize-holdings 

 competitions were held in Grenada. Two of these 

 were in the parishes of St. David and St. John, and 

 had been initiated in the period 1907-8; the third took 

 place in St. Patrick's parish for the first time. In the 

 first, there were forty-three entries and nineteen 

 prizes were awarded. It was not intended, originally, 

 to award this number of prizes, but it was subsequent- 

 ly found advisable, in view of the high percentages of 

 marks gained, to divide some of them. In St. John's 

 parish, the number of entries was twenty-nine, and 

 fifteen prizes were aw.arded ;, here the high standard 

 attained by the recipients of the lowest prizes necessita- 

 ted an addition to their value. In the third-men- 

 tioned parish, notwithstanding the existence of 

 a certain amount of suspicion on the part of the 

 peasants, on the introduction of the competition, 

 there were twenty-four entries: twenty competitors 

 worked for prizes under the scheme, and eleven prizes 

 were awarded. In all cases, the judges recommended 

 the continuation of the scheme. 



In consequence of the success of the competitions, 

 it has been decided to continue them, and to extend 

 them to every parish m the island. 



Underground Stem of the Sugar-cane. 



In the last number of the Agricaltural News, 

 an account of the contents of Vol. X, No. 2 of the West 

 Indian Bulletin, which has just been issued,, was 

 given. Among these is a paper by G. G. Auchin- 

 leck, B.Sc, Science blaster at the St. Kitts Grammar 

 School, which is specially interesting as it shows that 

 the sugar-cane possesses a true rhizome, or under- 

 ground stem, the existence of which does not appear to 

 have been suspected hitherto. Leading from the 

 observation that a clump of well-grown canes which has 

 been removed from the ground shows a connexion 

 between its parts and a rigidity that do not seem to be 

 sufficiently explained by a supposition that they are 

 due to an entanglement of roots, th'i writer goes on to 

 demonstrate that, by suitable removal of these organs, 

 it becomes apparent that the means of the connexion 

 and the cause of the rigidity are supplied by a true 

 rhizome, that is a horizontal underground stem. 

 A description of the appearance and mode of growth of 

 this structure follows, and from the latter the way in 

 which the sugar-cane is enabled to ratoon continuously 

 and the fact that a clump of canes can arise from the 

 growth of one eye of a cuttiitg are demonstrated and 

 accounted for in a plain and satisfactory manner. At 

 the end of the paper, the practical applications of the 

 facts disclosed are considered. These are, briefly, two : 

 care must be taken not to injure the stools during 

 cultivation, for the loss of a rbizome means the loss of 

 next year's stalks ; tillage of ratoons, if it is necessary, 

 should take place as soon after reaping as possible, so 

 that the cutting of the roots may be avoided, for the 

 ratoon quickly becomes independent of the plant, and 

 the latter is sure to die after it has flowered. 



The paper is illustrated by a useful diagram, and 

 its iriterest will repay perusal, i 



