118 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



ArRiL 17, 1909. 





'*«» 





WEST INDIAN COT ION. 



Jfessrs. Wolstenliolme &;, HdII.uhI, of Liverpool, 

 write .as follows under d.ite of i\[nreli 2i>, with reference 

 to the sales of West Iniliaii Sea Isliiii'l cotton • — 



Since our last report, a fair luishiess jias licuii il<ine in 

 West Indian Sea Island cotton_, and ijrices remain .steady. 

 About 300 bags have been .sold, nearly half of which are 

 8t. Vincent at l-")'^. to l(i(/., the remainder Ijein.i; comjjosed 

 of liarbados at l:3i'/. to 14'/.; Nevis at l:'.r/. to Uil.; 

 Montserrat at lod. to \'-'>},i/.; St. Kitt'.s at 1 '3i/. to 14'/.; and 

 St. Croix at 1.3f/. 



There has recently been a recount in C'haileston of 

 cotton in stock and on shipboard, with the ri\sult that 1,394 

 bale-s have been added for correction. Most of this has been 

 sold, and only about 700 bales remain ; but the buyers, we arc 

 afraid, have i>ut it into stock for a Ions: period, which will 

 make them inon/ or less independent. 



CASTOR OIL PLANT CULTIVATION. 



Some enquiiies have lately been received at the 

 Head Office of the Imperial Department of As,Micultiire 

 as to the cultivation of the castor oil plant, ;ind the 

 value of the produce. 



It would appear that towards the end of the eighteenth 

 century, castor oil Avas exported from .Jamaica to England 

 in fairly considerable ([Uantity. To-day, liowever, [iractically 

 all the oil rcipiircd is obtained from India and the East 

 Indian Islands where, it is .stated, 3.'50,000 acres were 

 devoted to the cidtivation in 1(^90. Castor oil plants are 

 grown more or less extensively in many parts of tlie United 

 States, anfl latterly some attention has been given to the 

 crop in South Africa. 



A leaflet issued from the Royal Rotanic Cardens, 

 Ceylon, describes the method of cultivation adopted in 

 Madras. There, after rain, the land is ploughed or dug over 

 twice, and the .seeds are dro[)ped into the furrow, f)r into 

 holes, and covered. A month later, when the young ^ilants 

 arc about 1 foot high, the space between the rows (which may 

 suitably be about 4 feet a])art) is again ploughed. 



A somewhat different system of cultivation is followed 

 in Hawaii, according to Presx B-nlktin Xn. :.', issued by tin.' 

 Agri(-ultural E.xperiment Station: According to tlie Hawaiian 

 method, the land is well prepared, and the seeds are planted 

 at the extreme distances of 15 feet apart, in rows that are 20 

 feet from each other. This allows only 1.^0 plants per acre. 

 AVhen the plants are about 2 feiet high, the terminal buds 

 are pinched oft" to encourage branching, an<l the lateral 

 shoots thrown off are in turn ' tO])|)ed.' These oiicrations 

 result in bringing about a short, bushy plant, with a good 

 number of bearing shoots. The plant begins to flower when 

 from eight to nine months old, a^d the .seed matures in about 

 ten months. It is importai't that the crop should be kept 

 cultivated during the growing period. 



It would not appear that the profits from the cultivation 

 of castor oil plants are very great. The yield of seeds varies 



very much, and, in tlte, United States, from 12 to 20 bushels 

 per acre appear to represent the general croj) return. The 

 beans are worth froirt 7.5c. to 61 per bushel. In ,M;idras, 

 llie crop gathered is Usually very small in quantity, but in 

 the Hawaiian I.slands,'ii return of as mucli as from 2,.500 to 

 .■i,000 lb. of beans per 'acre is frequently obtained. The gross 

 value of such a crop i-s stated to be about .$7.5 to .?S0 per 

 acre. In the West ladies, it is believed that from 10 to 1.5 

 ewt. per acre would represent an average return of beai-.s. 

 Since the castor oil plant demands good .soil, it will be 

 seen that, in the majority of ca.ses, the planter will be able to 

 select more protitable.^ultivations. Castor oil beans fjom the 

 \Vest Indies have frequently been submitted to brokers in 

 Loiidon fi>r v.rluation and report, and it woidil appear tliat 

 the market price for such beans varies from about 7.s-. to Us. 

 per ewt. A sam[)le of beans grown at the Grenada liot.mic 

 Station last year was v-aluod in England at £12 jier ton. It 

 has been suggested that the crop might be useful as shade 

 for young cacao. 



It may be pointed out that .a good deal ol valuable 

 organic and mijieral matter is returned to the soil in the form 

 ol stalks, leaves, pod.s, etc., when a castor crop is grown. If 

 the existence of an oil mill in the neighbourhood gi^es facili- 

 ties for expressing the oil locally, the resulting ' prcss-eafce ' 

 will also be available for manurial purposes ; and since only 

 the oil lias been removed, in this way matters would be so 

 arranged that no fertilizing constituents are taken from the 

 soil, but a considerable addition is made to the organic matter 

 in the land. 



From an analysis lately made at the Rarbados (jovernnient 

 Laboratory, it is seen that an acre of castor oil plants, 

 utilized as green niWnure, conveyed 2,323 lb. of organic 

 matter to the land. 'In addition, this (juantity of plants 

 contained 33-3 lb. of phosphoric acid, and 5-'i2 lb. of j)otash. 

 wliicli lia;l, of eour.se, Ijeen previously withdrawn from the .soil. 



'FOWL CHOLERA' AND ITS CAUSE. 



A discovery of considerable importance to poultry 

 I'ancieis in the East is recorded in the AgricuUui-al 

 Journni of Iriiliii for October last, by the Inspector 

 (Jener.d of the Indian Civil Veterinary Department. 



The discovery in question relates to ' fowl cholera,' one 

 of the most destructive diseases found in India. While 

 engaged in microscopic investigation relating to the '.surra' 

 disease in camels, an official of the Department had the 

 curiosity to examinojtlie blood of .some ducks whicli were 

 dying ofi' rapidly from the malady known as 'cholera.' la 

 all cases it was found that the blood was swarming with 

 a specific organism of minute size ,uul sj)iral thread-like 

 structiue, which was responsible for the death of the fowls. 



I'urther investigation revealed the fact that the agent of 

 the disease was spread from bird to bird by means of tlie 

 eonnnon fowl tick (An/a't pcrsirus) which is very dithcidt to 

 destroy. The best method of dealing with the tick is to 

 destroy old hen-roosts and nests, but .scraping the walls of 

 the fowl houses, painting them with liot coal tar, and 

 brushing the feathers of the birds with jiarafHn have all been 

 found efficacious. N'ow that the disease has been traced to 

 this parasite, the field of attack has been narrowed 

 considerablv, and no <(oubt suitable methods of control will 

 soon l)e (leviserl. 



