332 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS, 



October 16, 1909. 



It is announced that a Universal Exhibition will be 

 held in Brussels in September 1910. At the same time, 

 there will be an International Congress of Agricultural 

 Associations and lUiral Demography in that city, to which 

 all societies having for their object the improvement of agri- 

 culture, in its widest meaning, are invited to send delegates. 



GLEANINGS. 



In 1908, the Anglo-( 'eylon sugar estates in Mauritius 

 obtained 13,360 tons of sugar from 120,400 tons of cane, 

 a yield of 11 per cent, of sugar on the weight of cane ground. 



The quantity of raw sugar that was imported into the 

 United Kingdom for the i)re.sent year, up to the end of June, 

 was 400,98-5 tons. For a similar period in 1908, the amount 

 •was 363,225 tons. 



The Curator of the Botanic Station, Montserrat, states 

 that the area planted in cotton in that island during the 

 present season is about 1,800 acres. He further states that, 

 on the whole, there is promise of a good crop. 



The exports of cacao from the (Jernian Cameroons have 

 shown a steady increase. In 1904, they amounted to 209 

 cwt., valued at £43(i lO.s.; i;i 1907, the amount was 1,028 

 cwt., worth £2,496 9s. 



From an account of the scale insects of India, given in 

 the Memoirs of the Departineiil of Agriculture — EHtunioloiiical 

 tSeries, Vol. II, No. 7, it appears that there is no indication at 

 present that the.se and similar insects will ever become as 

 serious a pest in India as they have in .several other coun- 

 tries. 



It is reported in the Xen' Vor/,- E.rpei imint Station 

 Btdletin, No. 306, that an etticient means has been fouml for 

 controlling the apple leaf-blister mite, which is spreading in 

 the Eastern States. The remedy consists in the application 

 of lime-sulphur wash while the leaf-buds are growing, followed 

 by sprayings with Bordeaux mixture. 



'Hic Aninidl Rcjiort of the Coltcctoi' (f Viixtoins, 'Tr'im- 

 dad, for 1908-9, shows that, from the period 1876-80 to the 

 j)eriod 1906-9, the average ;innual value of the cacao exported 

 from that island has increased from £306,973 to £1,246,9 15. 

 In the case of sugar, theiic has been a decrease, similarly, 

 f-rom £800,621 to "£471,084. 



At the Botanic Station, Tortola, it has been found that 

 a modification of the Dutch, or scuffle, hoe is useful for 

 keeiiing the soil stirred round lime trees. This consists of 

 an old spade fixed on a straight handle, with which the 

 cultivation can be performed without risk of damage either 

 to the labourer or to the trees. 



The .7o«»')ia/ (f the J'lmaien AijrieitUural Societi/ states 

 that a grant of £10 has been made by that Society, and one 

 of £15 by the British Cotton Growing .\ssociation, for the 

 purpose of conducting experiments in cotton growing on tlie 

 land belonging to small settlers along the dry .seaboard of 

 St. Elizabeth, St. Ann, Trelawny, and St. James. These 

 experiments will be under the direction of the Agricultural 

 Instructors in those districts. 



In Bulletin No. 78 of the Bureau of Entomology of the 

 United States Department of Agriculture, it is stated that 

 the development of the StAte of New Jersey has l)een hindered 

 by the mosquito plague of that part of the country. It is 

 estimated that the annual co.st of screening houses against 

 mosquitos and the house tty exceeds £2,000,000. 



At the St. Kitts Grammar Scliool, eleven candidates 

 offered .science subjects in the Cambridge Local Examina- 

 tions held in 1908, and of these eight passed. Of two who 

 entered for Agricultural Science, and passed, one obtained 

 the mark of distinction in that subject. This is the first 

 time that such a success has been gained in the Leeward 

 Islands. 



In the Joiirmil of Eeonomu- Entomoloiji/, potassium 

 cyanide is suggested as a remedy for ants. A .solution of this 

 salt, containing loz. to a gallon of water, when poured into 

 the burrows made by these insects, was found to destroy 

 them to the depth of \h feet below the surface. The cost of 

 such a solution was about 1'/. per gallon. It is, however, 

 injurious to plant life. 



Experiments- at the Rome Agricultural Exjjeriment 

 Station have shown that an increase in the supply of 

 phosphates to a plant did not cause any variation in the 

 nitrogen content of the seed produced by it. The amount of 

 that element in the nitrogenous food bodies in the seed was 

 increased slightly, however, while there was a corresponding 

 decrease in the nou-proteid nitrogen. 



During the month of August in the pre.sant j'ear, the 

 plants and seeds distributed from the Antigua Botanic 

 Station consisted of : screw pine 1,475, lime 760, cacao 56, 

 sauian (rain tree) '53, mahogany 26, casuarina 22, grafted 

 mango 1, miscellaneous economic plants 16, broom corn 

 seed 142 lb., cot toil seed 117 lb., Cawinilia seed Ki Hi. In 

 addition, 322^ lb. of onion seed was distributed among 

 Antigua, St. Kitts-Nevis, Montserrat and the Virgin Islands. 



The Agricultural In.structor at Grenada states that tlie 

 palm Cori/pha elata (a native of India) is tioworing at i)resent ; 

 it is about 40 feet in height. He also states that one of the 

 trees of S/xithudia enmiiatmlatd (wliicli is indigenous to 

 tropical Africa) at the Station lias set viable seed during the 

 year — the first time that this has occurred, although the trees* 

 have flowered for several years. It would he interesting to 

 know if the .siiecimens ( f the plant at other r>otanic Stations 

 in the West Indies have produced seeds. 



