76 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



March 6, 1909.. 



A great decrease in the number of sugar factories in- 

 France has been noticeable for man}- years past. Tliirty 

 years ago there were .535 factories in working : these have 

 successively declined to 37-5 in 1888, 292 in 1906, and 2.5.5 

 in 1907, the lowest total for fifty years. The decrease is- 

 attributable in a great measure to the transformation of 

 refineries into distillerie,s, the production of alcohol being 

 more remunerative than that of sugar. {Lomirin Standard.)- 



GLEANINGS. 



It should be mentioned that the samples of Dominica 

 lime juice, of which a report on the quality and value was 

 summarized in the A(/ricii/fura/ J\'eic>! of February 6 last 

 (p. 41), were forwarded to England from St. Aroment 

 estate, the property of Dr. H. A. Alford Xicholls. 



The Canadian Trade and Commerce returns show that 

 the imports made from Harbados by the Dominion increased 

 in value from $980,190 in 1904 "to $1,5.52,428 in 1907. 

 During the same period the value of the expoits from Canada 

 to l'.ar"bados increased from $335,313 to $496,122. 



The Board of Agriculture and the Agricultural Society 

 of Jamaica, acting in accordance with suggestions from 

 the Government, have appointed a committee to consider the 

 question as to what steps (if any) should be taken to 

 encourage cotton growing in the island, more especially 

 among small settlers. 



With the object of improving the efficiency of the 

 agricultural teaching given to boys' classes at Trinidad, it 

 has been arranged that ^Ir. H. A. Nur.se, one of the Agri- 

 cultural In.structors, shall in future be solely engaged in 

 giving agricultural instruction in the various .schools of the 

 colony. 



Cane reaping operations were commenced in the Carib 

 Country of .St. Vincent during the last week in January. 

 The land in question, which includes many fertile estates, 

 Las been practically abandoned since the volcanic eruptions 

 of 1902, and this is the first sugar crop that has been 

 obtained for seven years past. (St. Vim-ent Timt-s.) 



A note in the A(/n'cii/turid Jiidlethi of the Federated 

 Malay States suggests that a profitable use may possibly be 

 found for cocoa-nut .shells by e.\|)urting them to Europe for 

 button manufacture. It is nientioneil that natives in the 

 Malay States make buttons from the shells, and llicse 

 command a good .sale locally. 



Lately i.ssued statistics j)lace the total production of 

 sulphate of ammonia for the whole world in 1907 at 845,000 

 metric tons [1 metric ton = 2,200 lb.], valued at $50,700,000. 

 Of this, England produced 361,000 tons, and the Ignited 

 States 36,000 tons. The production in Germany has 

 increased from 55,000 tons iu. 1896, to 287,000 tons in 1907. 



In the latest report f>f the Woburn Experimental Fruit 

 Farm, England, it is stated that arsenate of lead has proved 

 a very .satisfactory insecticide on fruit trees, though scorching 

 of the leaves occurred in some ca.ses unless great care was 

 exercised in spraying. Calcium arsenate was also tried, and 

 gave results almost as good as those efiectcd by the lead .salt, 

 and at smaller expen.se. 



An entomologist (Mr. Muir), sent to the Malay .States- 

 by the Hawaiian .Agricultural Experiment .Station has- 

 discovered predaceous beetles feeding on sugar-cane borers in. 

 those States. These have been successfully .shipped through^ 

 the half-way station establislied at Hong Kong, and received 

 at Honolulu in good condition. Certain of the beetles have- 

 been liberated in districts of Hawaii where cane borers are- 

 abundant. (Amiiial Report, 1907-8.) 



The fltictuations in the price of rubber that occurred' 

 during the year 1908 are described by the India Buliher 

 Journal as having constituted a record. In January 1908,. 

 the market i)rice of tine hard Para rubber was 3s. 2d. per It)., 

 but declined in February to is. 9d. per fi)., the lowest figure- 

 reached in the year. The highest price of the year — 5.<. -i'^d. 

 per ft. for fine haril Para was reached in November, and at 

 the close of the year the price stood at 5-s. 2d. per lb. 



Probably the smallest sheep in the world are those of 

 a breed which is found in the Cameroon regicm of \\'est- 

 Africa. A specimen lately sent to the Natural History 

 Department of the British .Museum is described as being only 

 19 inches high, though an adult ram. It had stout horn.s- 

 about 1 i inches long, and the coat consisted of coarse hair 

 about 1 inch long, with no trace of wool. The general colour 

 of the animal was cliestnut-red. 



In connexion with the note on cane farming in Trinidad^ 

 and the price of farmers' canes that appeared in the 

 A;/ricu/fiiral Scics of February 6 last (page 35), it may be- 

 mentioned that estate owners in the south of the ishind have 

 agreed to pay a >i>hii,mvm price of 9.<. per ton for all farmer- 

 grown canes purcha.sed. This step, if adhered to, is expected 

 to have a stimulating ett'ect on the cane-farming industry. 

 {Port-of-Spain Oa-.itti-.^ 



The latest rejiort of the Warden, Naparima I'nion, 

 Trinidad, makes reference to rubber planting on Sir lidward 

 Tennant's estate in the Pointe-a-Pierre district. The area 

 jilanted with rubber contains 18,000 Castilloa trees, and 

 experimental plantings of Hevea and Funtumia trees are also 

 being made. About forty trees, of .seven years old, were 

 tapped in August last, and yielded 4 lb. of dried rubber, or 

 an average of al)OUt 1| oz. per tree, wliich is considered a fair 

 result. 



In reference to'thc value of stirring the surface of the 

 soil in dry weather to proviilc a dust nudch, the American 

 experimenter. King, .states that he found that 6'24 tons of 

 water a day were evaporated from I acre of unstirred soil, 

 while when the surface was raked or harrowed to a depth of 

 0'8 inch, only 4 52 tons of water were evaporated. Again, 

 it was observed that a mulch of dry day loam spread on the 

 surface to a depth of 0'8 inch, saved nearly 4 tons of water 

 per day. 



