268 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



August 2], 1909. 



GLEANINGS. 



According to official sources, the production of sugar in 

 Java for the croi) of 1908 was 1,2 i 1,885 tons. The 

 percentage of sugar manufactured, on the weight of cane 

 ground, was 10-04. 



The annual report of the United States Department of 

 Agriculture on the sugar-beet crop of that country states 

 that this reached 3,41G,'000 tons during 1908. The average 

 sucrose content of the crop was 1575 per cent. 



The imports of rice into the Uniteil States for the eleven 

 months ending May .'U were 86,600 tons, valued at i million 

 dollars. This includes rice, rice flour, rice meal and broken 

 rice. {Louisiana Planter, July 24, 1909.) 



According to the 

 a .syndicate of Russian 



has definitely failed, owing to the refusal to join of M. 

 Brodsky, the leader of Russiar. sugar producers 



Loudon Globe, an attempt to form 

 sugar producers and sugar refiners 



The Keportof the Chief of the Uiireiu (f I'hnil Indiixtyy 

 of the United States Department of Agriculture, states that 

 the fruit industry of that country represents an area of -5 

 million acre.s, with an annual income of 1-50 million dollars. 



Several trials, in different year.s, with ground nuts at the 

 E.xpcriment Station attached to the Agricultural School in 

 St. Lucia have .shown that this cro|) should be .sown at 

 a time which will (>nsure the rijiening of the nuts in dry 

 weather. 



The statement is made, in tlie I'lLi/lp/tlne A;/rici(ltnral 

 Review for February 1909, that the present yearly rubbi'r 

 production of the world is apjiro.ximately 70,000 tons. .Most 

 of the rubber comes from the forests of Brazil, which pro- 

 duced 41,000 tons in 1907. 



It is stated in \\\^ Louisiana I'lante, for July 31, 1909, 

 that weather suited to the growth of sugarcane thioughout 

 the Louisiana district has recently prevailed. The tempera- 

 ture has been comparatively high, and there have been 

 frequent .showers, so that good growth is being made. 



A liill to encourage the destruction of rats in Barbados 

 has been recently pas.scd in the House of Assembly without 

 opposition. A penny will be jiaid for the head and tail of 

 every rat delivered to the I'arochial Treasurer of each pari.sh, 

 or to any penson nominated for the purpose. 



The quantity of bananas exported from Jamaica during 

 the first five mouths of the current year shows an increase of 

 (554,780 bunche.< on that for a similar period in 1908. Li 

 the same way, the shipments oi tobacco and cigars have 

 increased by nearly 3,000 ft. and cigarettes by 1,700 ft., 

 wlnle those of cacao and rum have nearly doubled. 



The following plants, etc., were sent out from the 

 Botanic Stations in Jfontserrat during the quarter ending 

 June 30, 1909. Plants: cacao 49, bay 140, lime 2,000, 

 yams 20 ft., tannias 631 ; cuttings : sugar-cane 370, cassava 

 1,020, sweet potatos 1,087 : seeds : pedigree cotton 80 ft., 

 beans 16 ft, horse beans 13 ft., cowpeas 4 lb. 



The annual report on the working of (.'o-operative 

 Credit Societies in the Bombay Presidency (including Sind) 

 for the year July 1, 1907 to June 30, 1908, states that the 

 number of members of urban .societies ro.^e from 1,930 to 

 3,327, and that of rural societies from 5,405 to 8,477, during 

 the period. 



The amount of cotton exported from Barbados during 

 the quarter ending June 30, 1909, was 237,799 ft., of an 

 e,stimated value of £11,889 19s. Of this 227.721 ft. 

 (value £1 1,386 Is.) was shipped to the United Kingdom, 

 and 10,078 ft. (value £503 IS.?.) to the United States 

 •A America. 



According to the Transvaal Aijricultural Journal No. 

 XXVII, I'hyllo.iera vastatrix (the insect that caused a serious 

 .set-back to the French wine-growing industry for several 

 years after 1865) has appeared in the vineyards of the 

 Transvaal, and is expected to do a considerable amount of 

 damage. 



From a jiajier by Mr. A.D.Gibson, Imperial Forest 

 Economist (India), it appears that excellent wood pulji has 

 been made on a small scale from the silver fir and .spruce of 

 the Himalayas. There seems to be a likelihood that a factory 

 will be erected in the Punjab or the United Provinces to find 

 out if chemical, if not mechanical, pulp can be made in India 

 on a commercial basis. 



A reine<ly for sore eyes in cattle and sheep is given in 

 tlie Jonrnitl of the Jamaica A'lricultural Sorieti/, June 1909, 

 and is as follows : Wash the ej-e out two or three times 

 a ilay with a solution composed of 1 oz. of boracie acid 

 dissolves! in 1 quart of warm water. After three days, 

 apjily an ointment made of 1 part of iodoform in 1 1 parts of 

 pure vaseline, the iodoform being thoroughly mixed with the 

 va.seline until the particles are absorbed in it. 



As is well known, the rainfall over large areas in the 

 west of the I'nited States is insufficient for crops to be grown 

 in the ordinary wiiy. As an illustration, there is the State of 

 AVyoming in which the average annual precipitation, accord- 

 ing to the MtDitlili/ Weather Rerieir of the Weather Bureau 

 of the United States Department of Agriculture, for the 

 seventeen years 1892-1908, has been 13'68 inches. In such 

 area.s, the method of plant cultivation known as ' diy farm- 

 ing ' is practised. This depends upon the principle of 

 enq)loying methods for the conservation of .soil moisture, the 

 •selection of seeds which require a small amount of moisture, 

 for germination, and the growing of one crop onl\-, in the 

 time that two or three woidd be raised under ordinary 

 conditions. 



