284 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



September 4, 1909. 



GLEANINGS. 



An Ordinance for the purpose of lessening the prevalence 

 of the disease known as ankylostomiasis, or miners' anaemia, 

 is to be introduced into the Legislative Council of Trinidad. 



The number of cotton mills proposed to be built or 

 actually under construction in the United States during the 

 first six months of the present year Avas 100. Most 

 of these will be situated in the cotton-growing areas. 



Experience at the liotanic Station, Montserrat, has 

 .shown that in planting a logwood hedge, an application of 

 fine mamire to the seeds has grea,tly increased the number 

 that germinated successfully. 



The recently formed Agricultural Board in Orenada has 

 decided to continue all the prize-holding competitions in that 

 island during this year, and peasant proprietors have been 

 notified to this effect. 



The amounts of sugar and molasses manufactured in 

 Barbados and exported during the present year, to August 26, 

 are 12,327 tons and 67,27i> ])uncheons, respectively. Last 

 year, the ijuantities for a similar period were .'51,(i.31 tons 

 of sugar and -53,12.5 puncheons of molasses. 



The area under cotton cultivation this year in the 

 Russian Provinces of Central Asia is stated to be about 

 500,000 acres, which is an increase of 30,000 acres over the 

 area under cotton last season. There are indications that 

 the crop will be a good one. 



Experiments carried out in Cape ('olony have shown 

 that the use of poisoned bait composed of sugar and arsenate 

 of lead dissolved in water is almost completely successful in 

 controlling a fruit fly (CcratUis capiiatx), which has caused 

 much damage there in the past. 



The idea has largely prevailed that sisal plants yield 

 the best fibre when they are grown in uncultivated 

 places. The Hawaiian Sisal (>)m[iany is making trial of 

 a method of growing them on cultivated land, and the 

 results of th(! experiment are awaited with much interest. 



During the months of .Tune and July of the present year, 

 there were exported from Demerara 7,8f*3 and 8,194 tons of 

 .sugar, respectively. The amount for July 1908 was 4,7i)2 

 tons. The total export of sugar for the present year, until 

 the end of July, was 48,961 tons, as against 40,584 tons for 

 the corresponding period of bust year. 



The Grenada Agricultural Society has given instructions 

 that the information concerning ' black blight ', which has 

 been collected by that Society generally and by its Agri- 

 cultural lixporiments Committee, shall be collated and for- 

 warded to the Board of Agriculture of that colony with 

 a view to some definite action being taken to arrest the 

 spread of the disease. 



The exports of sunn hemp (the fibre of Crotalaria juncea) 

 and sisal hemp from Madras for the year 1908 were respec- 

 tively 30,407 cwt. and 6,919 cwt., compared with 38,599 cwt. 

 and 30,182 cwt., similarly, in 1907. The decrease is due to 

 the fact that the lower [irices prevailing in 1908 rendered 

 the fibre from Madras incapable of competing in the European 

 market owing to the fact that it is mostly prepared by hand. 



Worms in fowls,, though they do not often cause death, 

 tend to produce exhaustion and to reduce the supply of eggs. 

 Farm Life gives the following treatment for them : Give 

 10 to 15 drops of turpentine in a tablespoonful of sweet oil, 

 night and morning for three days. Another remedy is 

 -j\ 07.. powdered areca nut, given every third morning 

 before feeding, followed by a tablespoonful of sweet oil two 

 hours afterwards. 



An article by t;he late Commissioner of the Virgin 

 Islands, in the West India Coutinitfee Circular for August 3, 

 1909, states, in connexion with the cotton industry there : 

 ' If no further fall in prices occur, and if the enthusiastic 

 peasantry can be taught the importance of keeping the usual 

 pests under control and of taking due care of the crops, 

 cotton will probably for years to come be one of the chief 

 exports of these islands '. 



A report from Thomas Xash, fruit importer, Plymouth, 

 states that there should be a ready sale for limes in England 

 during this mouth and the next if the weather is hot. Satis- 

 factory prices for oi'anges will be obtained until January, 

 when the market is depressed by the arrival of Spanish 

 produce. Consignments of pine-a|)ples and bananas are 

 recommended immediately ; the latter are now selling at 14.«. 

 to 15.<. per cwt., green. 



The importance of the Argentine Republic as a stock 

 raising country is illustrated by a recent census w-hich 

 discloses the fact that there were in that State, at the time 

 at which it was taken, over 7 million horses, 750 thous- 

 and mules and asses, nearly 30 million cattle and 67 

 ii'.illion small stock (chiefly sheep, then goats and pigs). 

 The returns, when compared with those of 1905, show an 

 increase in the number of cattle and horses and a decrease in 

 that of sheep. 



A reward of £5,000 has been offered by the Government 

 of the Straits Settlements and the Federated Malay Straits, 

 together with the Planters' Association of Malaya for 

 a scheme for the extermination of white ants. The scheme 

 must have especial reference to the destruction of Termes 

 fie.itrrii in rubber plantations, and should not be a mere 

 poison (such as arsenic, corrcsive sublimate, or nicotine), which 

 will destroy any insects which may hapj)en to be touched by 

 it. The sole dilliculty in exterminating this species of white 

 ant is the fact that the nest is hidden underground, and 

 therefore the method must be one which will lead to a solu- 

 tion of this. 



