140 



THE AGRICULTUKAL NEWS. 



May 1, 190& 



GLEANINGS. 



i.yfr- 



In tlie season 1907-8, the exports of citrate of lime from 

 Sicily and Calabria were '22,-500 pipes of 108 gallons each. 

 The production for the present season will probably be about 

 the same figure. 'ligr; 



The syndicate of planters which lately imported a 

 donkey sire of superior breed into Barbados has now decided 

 to import nine large Jennie donkeys, from 13 to H hands 

 high, for diflerent members of the syndicate. 



Very welcome showers of rain liave been experienced at 

 Barbado.s during the past fortnight. The.se should be espe- 

 cially useful in )>ronioting the growth of grass and other 

 fodder crops, of which there has lately been a scarcity. 



A sample of papaiit' prepared in Ceylon from papaws 

 grown in that island was some time ago e.xaniined at the 

 Imperial Institute, London. It was stated to be of fair 

 quality, and valued at -o.s-. per fc. 



Mr. J. R. .lohnston, of the Bureau of Plant Industry, 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture, lately paid a visit of 

 several months' duration t<*P«tIie district of Baracoa, Cuba, in 

 order to study the bud-r^)t disease of cocoa-nut trees in that 

 island. 



A correspondent of the Denwrara Chronide points out 

 that rice, especially the lower grades, is of late being used in 

 increasing quantity for stock food. He states that in parts 

 of British Guiana, paddy Ijas to a large extent taken the place 

 of maize as a food for poultry. 



The exports of canijibfir from .Japan have fif late shown 

 a remarkable decline in value. Tliis is stated to be due to 

 comijetition caused by the introduction of German chemically 

 manufactiu-ed camphor, and by an increasing output from 

 China. 



A small red Sjianish (liiion is grown on an exten.sive scale 

 in Et;ypt, both for local consumption (which i.s large) and for 

 export. In the first nine months of 1908, these onions were 

 shipped abroad to the value of $97.5,680. They are chiefly 

 exported to England and Austria, and used in the prepara- 

 tion of pickles. (U. S. Coiisii/or Jieporfs.) 



Mention was made in the Ai/ricii/tural Neiox al)out a 

 ye-ar ago (Vol. VII, p. l.")<i) of the scheme for starting sisal 

 Iteiup cultivation in British Guiana. An area of 7,000 acres 

 was granted by the Government of the colony, and it is 

 stated iu a recent issue of the Demerara Chronide that about 

 600 acres have now beeiu< cleared, and 40,000 .sisal plants 

 Set out. 



A creeping [tlant, Ahomilt-n xa)ro)th;/lh, is referred to by 

 the Agricultural Superintendent, Grenada, in a recent report, 

 as being eminently suitable for covering a fence or wall. 

 This creeper possesses fleshy leaves, and bears numerous 

 long, hanging panicles of creamy, white flowers. 



In the report for 1908 of the Entomologist (Dr. L. O. 

 Howard) of the t^'. S. Department of Agriculture, it is men- 

 tioned that the '^jllrttsitic enemies of the cotton-boll'-weevil 

 are year by year4)ecoming more effective in controlling the 

 ravages of the pefet in the United States. During lt08, the- 

 average para'^itism is shown to have doubled in Texas and 

 trebled in Louisiana. 



According tj^'the fourth annual report of the British 

 Cotton Growing Association, there would seem to be an un- 

 limited market for cas.sava starch in Lancashire for sizing 

 and finishing purposes. It is feared, however, that the pro- 

 bable market price- — about £9 per ton — would not be high 

 enough to bring .about the establishment of a West Indian. 

 industry in this product on a commercial scale. 



At a meeting of the St. Lucia Agricultural Soeietv, held 

 during the recenti visit of the Im[ierial Conunissioner of Agri- 

 cultui-e to that i.'jland, it was mentioned, as evidence of the 

 fertility of the land, that in the valleys of Cul-de-Sac and 

 Roseau, it was the general practice to grow ratoon crops of 

 sugar-canes for five or six years liefore replanting. In one 

 or two fields ofj, remarkalbie fertility, ratooning had been 

 practised for so Iqng as twenty years l)efore replanting. 



In the yean 1907, copra was exported from Ceylon to- 

 Eun)|)e to the quantity of 336,907 cwt., while in the fol- 

 lowing year the shipments reached 090,2.50 cwt. It is 

 not expected, hjjwgyer, that the output from Ceylon will 

 be maintained in the present year, and hence jM-ices for 

 copra are consi^ifibiy higher than they were six and nine 

 months ago. 



'Collecting Fnngi in .laniaica' is the title of an interest- 

 ing and illustrated article contributed to the Journal of the 

 New Vork Botanic Gardens by Dr. \\'. \. Murrill. Dr. 

 Murrill spent aboyt six -weeks in .Jamaica collecting fungus 

 specimens during the past winter. Among the edible fungi 

 mentioned as being found in the island are Hnldns iimnulntiis 

 and riiili'iiit cerrhuis. 



In the list of plants imported from foreign countries into 

 the United State.'S'+iy the Departnunt of Agriculture is men- 

 tioned a mango which, judging by the description given, 

 must be a remarkalily good ac(juisition. The variety is known 

 as the 'White Alphionso ;' it was obtained from Calcutta, and 

 it is st-.ited that an Individual fruit weighed very nearly 2.\ tt>., 

 although the contained stone was but small in size. 



A delicious sweetmeat is prepared from bananas in San 

 Domingo in the following way : Large, thoroughly ripe 

 bananas are skinned, and the fruit is cut into thin slices about 

 |-inch in thickness. These pieces are sprinkled with fine or 

 powdered sugar, Jind placed in the sun on boards or trays. 

 As the fruit driSs, it is turned over several times, and each 

 time dusted with .sugar. In a few days it is sutticiently dry, 

 and. forms a crystallized con.serve of delightful taste. {!'. S^ 

 Voiisvliir Itijiorl.) 



