Vol. VIII. No. 197. 



THE AGRICULTtJRAL NEWS. 



3G\ 



The Manufacture of Nitrates from Air. 



The British Consul-General ab Berlin states that 

 the niaiiiit'actiii'e of nitrates fioni air in Germany is 

 still in its tir.st stages. The principal German works 

 can produce about 21,500 tons of nitrate of lime per 

 annum ; but this quantity will be increased to over 

 40,000 toiis when the new works that have been 

 projected aie iti operation. A factory has also been 

 built in the Tyrol, which is capable of producing about 

 7,000 tons of nitrate of lime. 



At the rate at which nitr.Ue of lime is being sold 

 in Germany, the sales for the whole year will amount 

 to over 7,-500 tons ; this is about li per cent, of the 

 total quantity of nitrate of soda-annually consumed in 

 that countrj'. 



Agricultural Instruction in California. 



A new departure has been made in the direction 

 of agricultural instruction in California duiing 1908. 

 In this, a special train, supplied without charge by the 

 Southern Pacific Railroad Company, made a tour of the 

 northern part of the State, carrying a body of horti- 

 cultural and agricultural instructors for the purpose of 

 giving information to farmers on agricultural subjects. 

 The University of California and the State Horti- 

 cultural Commission ecpiipped a car with exhibits, 

 which was attached to the train carrying the inscruc- 

 tors to serve as an illustration of the results that could 

 be obtained by the adoption of scientific methods. 



In the event of the e.xperinient proving successful, 

 the train will make visits to all parts of the State, and 

 these will be repeated at intervals. 



Times for Tapping Rubber Trees. 



Information that has been supplied to the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture of the Federated Malay States 

 shows that, in some cases, the continuous tappmg of 

 rubber trees causes the amount of late.x that is obtained 

 from each tree to decrease to such an extent that it 

 becomes of less value than the cost of tapping, while in 

 other cases the amount obtained only varies slightly, 

 never steadily decreasing. The variation in the latter 

 case is caused by climatic conditions, chieflj' rainfall. 



Some planters cease tapping when the trees are 

 leafless. Experiments have been carried on for 

 eighteen months by the Department, on seventeen- 

 year old trees, which show that there is a slight decrease 

 of yield during the leafless period. There is also 

 a similar decrease during the fruiting period, but this 

 is not sufficient to increase seriously the cost of ta]iping. 

 As a matter of fact, the cutting of the bark which takes 

 place when a tree of 20 inches or more in girth is 

 tapped causes so slight an injury as to be negligible. 



The same Department suggests a simple way of 

 deciding how long tapping shoulfl be continued. This 

 consists in keeping a record of the amount of latex 

 from each tree, from 1,000 trees, or from a field. If no 

 serious and continuous decline is shown by the figures, 

 there is no need to stop tapping. If, however, after 



a series of tappings, say forty or fifty, there is a marked 

 constant decrease in the amount of latex obtained, it is 

 then advisable to let the trees rest for a month at least, 

 and not to begin to tap them again until it is found by 

 trial that the rate of How has been restored. 



West Indian Exlaibits in Canada. 



The Morning Cliroalcle, of Halifax, N.S., states 

 that the West Indian exhibit at the Provincial Exhibi- 

 tion was among the most interesting and instructive of 

 the displays there, and that it has excited much favour- 

 able comment. It states further: the collection was 

 an extensive one, occupying a space 45 feet by 28 feet 

 in area, and arranged in such a manner as to allow 

 a thorough inspection of each article : besides being 

 a great attraction, the exhibit gave the thousands of 

 visitors to the Exhibition a ftxirly thorough idea of the 

 resources of the various British West Indian islands; 

 the arrangement of the exhibit is one of neatness and 

 utility; most of the exhibits are in glass, and all are 

 plainly labelled. 



Particulars of the exhibits from the various West 

 Indian islands have already been given in the Agri- 

 cultural News. (Vol. VIII, pp. 233, 285 and 318.) 



The Relationship of Manuring to Meat Produc- 

 tion. 



A paper on this subject was read by Professor 

 Somerviile before the agricultural sub-section of the 

 British Association this year. It presented results 

 of experiments which have been conducted over 

 a period of nine years. They show that the manuring 

 of pastures with lime does not lead to profitable increase 

 in the amount of meat produced. When lime and 

 superphosphate were used there was a small profit. 

 By the use of basic slag, in the first year only, a large 

 gain was obtained, and even at the end of nine years, 

 the effects of the manure were not exhausted. This 

 result has been obtained in other, duplicate, experiments; 

 it shows that it is better to stimulate the growth of the 

 best plants in a mixed pasture by a large initial applica- 

 tion of phosphate than to apply it year after year. 

 With superphosphate, the annual profit was reduced. 

 No monetary gain resulted from the emplo3'ment of 

 potash and phosphate. 



Nitrogen in the form of sidphate of ammonia 

 increased the yield of hay, but actually reduced the 

 annual production of meat. This result shows that the 

 weighing of the produce of a pasture as a method of 

 determining its value for feeding purposes is not 

 reliable. 



Further trials with basic slag show that as good 

 results were obtained from an application when the 

 herbage is growing vigorously as from an application 

 given several months before the growing period. 



It seems to be indicated by the experiments that 

 no crops offer better opportunities for the employment 

 of artificial manures that those on poor, worn-out 

 pasture. 



