Vol. VIII. Xo. 18.3. 



THK AGllICULTtlKAL NEWS. 



137 



Destruction of Insects in Stored Grain. 



Scored corn, oruiiiea corn, pigeon peas, and provi- 

 sion crops are liable to be attcked by weevils and other 

 in.sect pests which do considerable damage in a short 

 time. It may be pointed out that the best means of 

 • destroying these pests is by fumigation with carbon 

 bisulphide, and this shoidd be undertalcen on the first 

 signs of attac-.k. 'i'he cnmpartment or bin in which the 

 grain is stored should first be rendered air-tight, by 



■ effectually closing all openings, and the contents then 



■ exposed for twenty-four hours to the fumes of the 

 bisulphide. At the end of that time most, if not all the 

 insects will be killed. 'I'he quantity of bisidphide 

 irequired will be at the rate of 1 draciim percubic foot. 



In the West Indies, the price of carbon bisulphide 

 is about 2s. 6'/. per lti. 



"West African Sheep at Barbados. 



It has previously been mentioned that iiu!nl)ers 



• of young sheep, the offspring of a cmss between the 

 West African rams imported by the Commissioner of 

 Agriculture, and the local wooUess sheep, are now to 

 be observed at Barbados, and that th'e results of the 



■ crossing have been very satisfactory. In view of the 



• enquiries on the subject that not infrequently come to 

 hand, it may further be added that two of the African 



'rams were in 1908 loaned to Chancery Lane plantation 

 by the Department. As a result of^ the crosses that 

 ■have been made; Mr. Graham Yearwoo'd, the proprietor, 

 DOW has a considerable number of promising young 

 ■sheep and lambs, which in their iflarking and size 

 :show distinctly the characteristics of the male parent. 

 Although the season has been very'^y, the progress 

 made by the young animals has been -»ery satisfactory. 

 Per.soiis interested in the matter hav^%, good opportu- 

 nity of seeing several of these imjiroved sheep at 

 ■Chancery Lane plantation. 



Ground Nuts and Ground Nut Oil^in Prance. 



Marseilles is notable as being tYte port to which 

 the greater part of the ground nuts shipped to Europe 

 are consigned, and the town is regarded as the head- 

 quarters of the ground nut oil trade. During 1908, 

 over 190,000 tons of gi-ound nuts were imported into 

 Marseilles. In recent reports from the south of 

 France, Bombay ground nuts are quoted at $5 93 per 

 220 lb., Coromandel nuts at i§6-22,i)»nd Mozambique 

 nuts at $733. All these are imported without their 

 shells. For ' Cayor ' and ' Gambia 'nuts from West 

 Africa, imported with their shells, present prices are 

 about $4-.57 per 220 lb. The ground nuts yield from 

 S8 lo 50 per cent, of their weight in oil. About 16 to 

 18 per cent, of the oil is used for culinary purposes, 

 and the remainder is put to industrial uses. The 

 edible ground nut oil is worth from>$13;.50 to S15-50 

 per 220 lb., while the lower grades of oil, used for soap- 

 uiaking are vaMiefl at about .^12 per 220 tt). 'I'he 

 cake left after e.xpressing the oil is sold at about $3 30 

 per 220 lb. for cattle feeding. 



Cohune Palm in British Honduras. 



The Cohune palm {Attaiea Cohune) of which 

 specimens are to be seen at the Botanic Stations of 

 the different West Indian islands, and which is culti- 

 vated at Jamaica, is native to British Honduras, where 

 it exi.-^is in enormous quantity. This tree somewhat 

 resembles the cocoa-nut palm, but does not grow to so 

 great a height, and has uiuch.J^yger leaves and a thicker 

 trunk. The Cohune palm i^ of economic interest, 

 inasmuch as it may later becoipe the basis of a profit- 

 able industry, on accou.ijt of i\\e oil contained in the 

 kernels of the nuts which fori^ the fruii of the tree. 

 The nur.s are about as large as a hens egg, and are 

 enclosed in a hard shell. There are at present two 

 machines in British Honduras for cracking the nuts 

 and extracting the kernels, Wihich are then exported. 

 It is mentioned, however, that at least 50 per cent, of 

 the kernels are injured in the process of cracking, and, 

 as a re^sult, the contained oil becomes rancid while 

 under export. 



Although the oil is stated to be more valuable 

 than cocoa-nut oil, yet under . present conditions, 

 millions of bunches or runs are wasted annually in 

 British Honduras. What is wanted is the establish- 

 ment of machinery in the colony, so that the oil could 

 be expressed locally. This would undoubtedly be more 

 remunerative than the pr-esent, system. 



Treatment of Parasitic Diseases in Plants. 



It is well known in connexion with the life-history 

 of bacteria, that the products of their activity, if allowed 

 to accumulate, have an injurious, and finally a fatal 

 effect upon these organisms themselves Thus, to take 

 a case in point, the souring and coagulation of milk are 

 due to the conversion of milk sugar into lactic acid by 

 bacteria. The maximum percentage of lactic acid in. 

 sour milk, however, is no niore-than from 08 to 10 per 

 cent., since this degree of concentration of the acid is 

 sufficient to paralyse the activities of the bacteria 

 responsible for its production. * 



An interesting paper by Professor Potter, of 

 Nevvcastle-on-Tyne, which appears in the Jounuil of 

 A(/ri cultural Science (Vol. Ill, part 1), suggests 

 a method of treating certain parasitic diseases of plants 

 based on the above principle. A bacterial parasite, 

 Pxcudohianas destriictans, responsible for a disease in 

 turnips, was grown in a culture medium, and when the 

 organism had exhausted the nutrient content of this 

 preparation, the residue, containing the waste products 

 of the activitj- of the bacteria, were collected and the 

 solutions concentrated. When this solution was inject- 

 ed into turnips suffering from the disease caused by 

 P. drfitr acta lis, microscopic investigation showed that 

 it had a paralysing effect upon the bacteria, and it was 

 observed that further progress of the disease was 

 prevented. 



Further experiments showed that the principle 

 was also applicable in the case of the fungous disease of 

 oranges caused by Penevilllmn italicum. This niethod 

 is interesting, and may possibly prove of some practical 

 value in dealing with plant diseases. 



