VcL. VIII. Xo. 1S2 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



119 



TETANUS OR 'LOCKJAW.' 



The Ceiittiil Agricultunil Station of Ciibx has 

 rercDtIv issued a small pamphlet ^C'nv-ft/ar No. J/). 

 written by two officials of the Departijient of Animal 

 liiilustry in ihe island, which deals with the disease ot 

 tetanus or ' lockjaw,' as it is po]uilarly termed. 



Id is stated that tetanus (the iKicilhis or causative 

 orpmisni of which is wide-spread, and found in 

 temperate as well as tropical climates) is a very 

 common disease in Cuba, and causes serious losses ot 

 horses and mules. The cause, manner of infection, 

 iioriod of incubation, symptoms, and methods of treat- 

 iiiont. of I he disorder are all discu.-^ed in simple language 

 in tluT above-mentiiined jiamplilet. The (ollowiiig 

 tiumiiiary of information on the t-uuiect appeals at tile 

 erul : — 



Tetanus or 'lockjaw' is a germ ili#eas<' that is coiuiuou 

 iu horses and mules. It also attacks inaii. 



The disease is n.snally caused \<\ tlie gerni.s gettiTii; in 

 a wound. The soil about stables and corrals that is contaui- 

 iiiatod with animal excretions is liabir to cDiit.un tlie gei mis 

 of tetanus. 



The symptoms of tetainis are eanly.ictions of the mnscles 

 that makes movement difiiciilt or impossible. 



Tetanus can usually be prevented by injecting a bottle 

 (.■;0 grammes) of veteiinary antitetani'e serum as .soon as the 

 wound is dfscovered, or before a surgical o|)cration. 



Many cases of tetanus can be rured by injceting 3(1 

 grammes of veterinary aiititetanie serum. This should be 

 followed in twelve hours with another dose, nnd tlienonodo.se 

 every twenty-four Lours iiniil the animal improves. In the 

 absence of antitetanic serum, or in eonjunetion with it, inject 

 hypodennically, "j grammes every six hours for the lirst two 

 days, of a .solution of 25 grammes,. pure carbolic acid, 25 

 grammes glycerine, and 50 grammes distilled water. After 

 the first two days inject -t grammes every twelve hours. 



Clean the woand twice daily Tiiid apply thoroughly 

 a solution of o grammes of pure carbolic acid dissolved in 

 100 grammes of water. Give the animal soft la.xative food and 

 all the fresh water it can drink. Keep the animal ipiiet in 

 a clean place and do not give niediiiius by tlie .iiouth or nose. 



AR^OWRDOT PRODUCTION IN 



QUiiENSLAND. 

 About 200 acres are giien over to arrowroot 

 coliivatioii in Queensland, from which about fiOO.OOO tb. 

 of arrowroot are produc'il annually, the yield varying 

 from 15 to :;0 cwt. per acre. 'I'ltc plant thus giown 

 fur its starch pnjducc is not tli'e West Indian and 

 Bermuda ariowroot pl.ini (.!/</ iv/o/rr arinidimtccdf). but 

 that known in the West Indies as ' Tniis-les-mois ' — 

 C'unvti edidifi — from which arrowroot is also pi-oduced 

 in some of these islands. 



The Qiicensland AiirifitltitrnI J'lirndl for .Taniiary last, 

 iir the cour\se of an article on this subject, mentions that 

 the ])rice of the product has increa.sed from about £10 to 

 £20 [n^r ton (in the Quecusland market) during the past two 

 years. This is because the arrowroot is be(i>mintj more 

 largely used as .«tar-ch for laundry purposes, and is replacing 

 the higher priced imported starch for use in this way. The 

 <{emand for the product is expected to largely increase. 



1'lie West Indian arrowroot plant i.s al-so cullivated on 

 a small scale iu Queensland, where it is known ius ' white 



arrowroot ' to distinguish it from the pro(lu<-t of Canna, 

 eilit/i.f, which is referred to as ' purple arrowroot. ' The 

 Maranta plant is less popular amon.g growers, however, 

 because the cro]) yield gi\en, is considerably less than that of 

 Canna, while no higher [irice can be obtained in Queensland 

 for the product. v f^ 



Chemical analysis shows biit little ditfereuce in composi- 

 tion between West Indian awd Queensland arrow-roots. Tke 

 j)ercentage of stai'ch — which is the important ingredient — 

 is much the same in both cases. There is a little more 

 moisture iu the Canna arrow'root, and more fibre in that from 

 ilaranta. Yet, on the London market, the best Bermuda 

 arrowroot coir.mands a price of 2.<. Qd. per lb., while the 

 C^ueenslaird or Canna product will fetch no more than Sd. 

 [ler lb. 



I'diizomes of ('(niihi nhi'lis are planted out in Queensland 

 druing the period Iroiu 8e]iteinbcr to I)ecember. They are 

 set in rows, which are about (! feet apart, and with a di.stance 

 of 4 feet fioirr plairt to [ilaut in the row. 'I"he crop takes 

 from si.x to eight months to come to maturity. 



The nrature bulbs are dug up, carted to the mill, washed, 

 and gr-ated to ]iul[) in- a grinder or jierforated revolving 

 wooden drum. This pulp is then transferred mechanically 

 to a sieve of perforated metal, and washed with a stream of 

 cold water- The farine is carried through while the fibre 

 and other impurities reiiiain behind. Other similar devices 

 ar-e adopted for further purificaliou, and finally the arrow- 

 root is dried on calico cloths in the sun. The whole process, 

 fr-oin the digging of the r-fiizonies to drying the prepared 

 arrowi-oot, occupies about two.ity-four hours. 



It will be seen that a chief essential for arrowroot 

 production is an abundant supply of good, clean water. 



DEMONSTRATION FARMS IN THE 



UNITED STATES. 



An interesting feature of the educational work 

 orgairized by the I'nited States Department of Agri- 

 culture is that which is canied on by means of the 

 ' demonstration firms ' oji the Dejiartment. 



Thef-e farms were started with the object of .showing by 

 numercus i>ractical examples over a large area the advantages 

 of improved methods of agriculture. The depredations of 

 the Mexican cotton boil weevil, which tlueatened the entire 

 destruction of the cotton ci-op in many districts, was one of 

 the chief reasons which led to the star-ting of this work. 



Since 1904, a gr.int of £1.^),.")00 has been made annually 

 by Congr-es.s, arrd this w,is sup[ilemerited in 1907 by a grant 

 from the'Jeneral Kihicatioir Hoar-d of tl?>,S00 : so that, togeth- 

 er with some local contiibtition.s, a sum Of about £33,500 .vas 

 available in 1907 S. Agents have been appointed throughout 

 Texas, southern Arkansas, (>}vlahoma, Louisiana, and a portion 

 of -Mississippi, and the work is also being carried on to a more 

 hmited extent in Alabama, Virginia, Carolina, and Georgia. 

 Altogether-, 143 agents ar-e employed, and with this force 

 about l'J,000 demonstiatipn farms had been established, 

 and, iu addition, 20,000 farmers had agreed to co-operate and 

 make reports on results. 



■j'he ter-m ' demoristr-atiorr farm " is used to designate 

 a portion of land on a farrir that is worked strictly according 

 to instructions. This is visited by an agent once a month 

 to see that these instnu-tions ar-e carried out, and to give 

 frrrther ailviee if nece.s.sar-y. The farmers who co-opei-ate and 

 give reports on results al.so agr-ee to cultivate ttieir ci-ops 

 according to instructions, but are not visited regularly by 

 the agents. 



