Vol. VIII. No. 19G. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



34'.) 



STUDENTS' CORNER. 



OCTOBER. 



Secoxd Period. 

 Seasonal Notes. 



During this moutb, pieparatioii should be inaJe ia the 

 Xorlhern Islands for grafting caeao. The method lo be 

 followed is given full description and e.xjjlanation in Pamphlet 

 No. 61 of ihe Department, entithd 27i'j Graffiiii/ of C'ai-ao. 

 Vov the purpose, the C'alabacillo variety has been found most 

 .suitable as a stock, though there is no reason why some 

 other variety should not prove to be superior. The plant 

 providing the scions will, of course, have been selected on 

 account of the possession by it of desirable characters which 

 it is required to perpetuate- During the time in which the 

 union of the stock and scion is taking place, the stocks must 

 be kept well supplied with water and the soil in the pots 

 containing them should be mulched. The union may be 

 completed in thirty days, but the average time for thi>^ is 

 about six weeks, in the growing season. The whole time 

 occupied from the commencement of the growth of the stock 

 from the seed to the attainment of sufficient growth for the 

 grafted plant to be sold or planted out should not be more 

 than fifteen months, and it may be less if healthy stocks are 

 used. The cacao for the Christmas crop will have begun to 

 ripen early in this month. The work during the present 

 quarter will consist chiefly in gathering the crop, fermenting 

 and (ireparing the beans for market, kee[)ing down suckers, 

 and preventing drains from becoming filled. Where cacao is 

 being established, care should be taken to thin the .shade- 

 plants in order that the young cacao plants may obtain 

 sufficient sunlight for their development to take place 

 properly. 



The gathering of limes is now in full swing, and will 

 continue to the end of the year. The ripe fruits should be 

 collected as soon as possible after they fall to the ground, in 

 order to prevent the decay of the skin, which (|uickly arises 

 where it is in contact with the ground. At this time of the 

 year, beside the harvesting of the crop, little can be done 

 e.Kcept cutlassing the weeds and keeping the drains open. 

 The student should gain as much information as he can in 

 conue.xion with the following subjects : the gathering of the 

 crop, the crushing of the fruits, the care of mills, tayches, 

 and stills, the preparation of raw and concentrated juice fur 

 export, the preparation of hand-pressed and distilled lime oils 

 for export, the manufacture of citrate of lime. Where there 

 is an opportunity, observe the method of obtaining the essen- 

 tial oil by means of the ' ecuelle ', and note the way in which 

 the manipulation of the lime causes the oil glands in the skin 

 to burst. How is the oil that is obtained in this way enabled 

 to compete with that which is yielded by distillation i 



Make obsei-vations on the yield of lime trees and the 

 state of their health, and note that a heavy crop on a tree is 

 accompanied by the production of small fruits. Isolated 

 trees often show freedom from pests. Why is this t Cut 

 a lime into two piece.s, making the cut halfway between the 

 point of attachment of the stalk and the opposite end of the 

 fruit. What do you notice in connexion with the structure 

 of the fruit and the way in which the seeds are borne in it. 

 Compare such a fruit with the pod of the bean and the fruit 

 of the mango, with the object of determining tlie es.sential 

 diti'erences between them. 



Questions for Candidates. 



PKELIMIXAEY QUESTIONS. 



(1) What are the conditions (a) of the soil, (b) of the 

 air, (c) of the structure of the leaf, which regulate the amount 

 of evaporation from this organ ? 



(2) Why does an animal not thrive if it is fed entirely 

 on grass? 



(.3) Describe any parasitic plant that you have examined. 

 What measures would you adopt to get rid of it i 



INTEKMEDIATE QUESTIONS. 



(1) Compare the mode of growth in length of a stem 

 with that of a root. What is the chief significance of the 

 differences between them '? 



(2) Give an account of the arrangements that should be 

 made in connexion with the picking of a crop of cotton. 



(3) What is Paris green, and what test affords some 

 indication as to the purity of a sample i 



RUBBER IN THE FEDERATED MALAY 



STATES. 



The information which is given below appears in 

 the Annitdl Report for 1908 of the Resident General 

 of the Federated Malay States : — 



According to the Report of the Director of Agriculture, 

 Mr. J. B. Carruthers, for 1008, the agricultural acreage of 

 the Federated Malay State.s, excluding padi lands and 

 horticulture, was planted with staple products as follows : — • 

 Cocoa-nuts 118,697 acres 



Rubber 168,048 „ 



Coffee 8,431 „ 



Other forms of cultivation, 



chietiy tapioca 24,546 ,, 



Total 319,722 acres 

 The lands under rublier in the several states were 



Perak 

 Selangor 

 Negri Sembilan 

 Pahang 



56,706 acres 

 82,246 „ 

 27,305 „ 

 1,791 „ 



Total 168,048 acres 



A feature of rubber cultivation is the extent to which 

 Para rubber holds the field to the almost entire exclusion of 

 rambong (Fiscus elastiai), which, as being indigenous, as grow- 

 ing freely, and as yielding a rubber of excellent quality, was 

 regarded with favour by many a few years ago. 



The yield of rubber trees is, of course, a matter of the 

 first imjiortance, and in this connexion the Director gives 

 some interesting figures. The average yield for 1908 over 

 the whole Peninsula, the Director puts at lib. 15| oz. — an 

 increase of 1 1 per cent., as compared with the preceding 

 year. This, he considers to be a satisfactory yield, having 

 regard to the fact that most of the trees that were tapped 

 were in the first year. In Negri Sembilan the average was 

 3 ib. 2| oz., and as this is the average yield of nearly 

 a million trees, he regards it as extraordinarily high. Negri 

 Sembilan trees .show a higher average th.an other trees because 

 of their greater ago, but the figure in question is satisfactory 

 as showing what may be expected in respect of trees that 

 have been tapped for two or three years. {Jfi/n// JLiil, .July 

 10, 1909.) 



