396 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



December 11, 1909, 



In the Chemische Zeitumj, XXXIII (1909), No. 29, 

 p. 264, the results of the examinations of samples of calcium' 

 eyanamide received directly from factories in Norway and 

 other places are given. These showed that considerable 

 amounts of calcium carbide were present, and that the 

 average percentage of nitrogen in the material was 19'39. 



GLEANINGS. 



The amount of cacao shipped from Trinidad during the 

 present year, up to the end of October, was 41,3()7,.387 lb.; 

 last year, similarly, it was 37,020,821 lb. The amount 

 shipped during last month was 565,542 lb. 



The exports of fruit from Trinidad are steadily increas- 

 ing. The value in 1899 was £338; it is now £16,081. The 

 principal export is bananas, which go to the United Kingdom 

 and France. Of the other.s, oranges are sent principally to 

 the United Kingdom, and limes to the United States. 



In Fiivfiii i-!i liuUrtin, No. 374, of the United States 

 Department of Agriculture, Citrus fri/'o/iata is recommended 

 as a stock to be used in Southern Texas for all citrus trees. 

 This is because it seems to impart .some of its hardiness to 

 the scions, and promotes early bearing. 



A report on experiments in tobacco growing which 

 have been carried on at the Agricultural Experiment Station of 

 the University of Wisconsin states that the use of manures 

 free from chlorine was found not to exert any detrimental 

 effect on the burning quality of the leaf. 



According to the Weekly Report of the Department of 

 Trade and Commerce, Canada, for August 2, 1909, the total 

 value of the imports of cattle, sheep and pigs into the 

 Rritish West Indies for last year was £57,109. Of this 

 amount, Trinidad has a share of £43,360. 



Asa means for keeping ants awa_y from plants in pots 

 and boxes, water containing a little kerosene has often been 

 recommended by the Department. As an alternative to this, 

 a solution made by dissolving a piece of camphor about the 

 size of a filbert nut in 2 quarts of warm (not boiling) water, 

 j\nd applied when cold, may be used. 



The liulli'tiii (if llii' Department of Agriculture, 

 Bahamas, Vol. IV, No. 3, states that the Sea Island cotton 

 in(lu.stry of those islands, which was ruined by the hurricane 

 of last year, is likely to be taken up on a much larger scale 

 during the coming year, and that the people are convinced as 

 to the value of cotton production as an industry. 



The quantity of rubber exported from the Gold Coast 

 was 1,773,248 ft. in 1908, as compared with 3,549,548 ft. 

 in 1907; the decrease was chiefly due to the low prices of last 

 year. There was also a drop in the amount of rubber 

 exported from Sierra Leone during 1908; this was 41 tons- 

 (value £9,372) in 1908, as against 73 tons (value £22,480) 

 in 1907. 



In relation to the United Kingdom, the total exports 

 and imports of Canada during the year ending March 31, 

 1909, were respectively, .'5133,74.5,375 and $70,556,738 in 

 value. Of the exports, the chief were wheat, value 

 $51,350,511, and cheese, value .$20,272,471. {Meport of the 

 Department of Trade ami Commerce, Canada, 1909, Part II.) 



In a recent series of Cantor Lectures on ilodern Methodic 

 of Illumination, delivered before the Royal Society of Arts, 

 it is pointed out that the illuminating power of the oil in 

 petroleum lamps may be improved liy as much as 20 per 

 cent., if the reservoir is kept continually well filled. Attention 

 is also drawn to the usefulness of cheap alcohol as a source of 

 light in agricultural districts. 



An Agricultural, Industrial and Horticultural Exhibition 

 will be held at ' Telescope', in the parish of Saint Andrew, 

 Grenada, on Thursday, February 10, 1910. About £117 

 will be given in prizes, in the following sections: (1) horses, 

 mules and as.ses; (2) cattle, sheep and pigs ; (3) poultry, 

 ralibits and dogs ; (4) minor products, including vegetables 

 and cotton ; (.5) fruits, fresh and preserved ; (6) native indus- 

 trial exhibits. 



An Agricultural and Industrial .show will be held in^ 

 St. Kitts, under the auspices of the Imperial Department of 

 Agriculture and the Agricultural and Commercial Society, on. 

 February 17, 1910. Prizes will be ottered for exhibits of 

 large and small stock and poultry, exhibits of sugar-cane and 

 its products, cotton, vegetables, fruit, preserves, minor indus- 

 tries, plants and fiower.s. Prizes will be also given fof 

 driving and riding competitions in the ring. 



The adverse eti'ect of black rot {I'lii/lophthorn omnirora)- 

 on the yield of cacao is illustrated by the following experiment, 

 which is recorded by Jlr. J. H. Hart. In this, diseased and 

 healthy beans were fermented and cured in a similar manner 

 and at the .same time. It was found that, while 432 beans 

 from healthy pods weighed 1ft., with diseased pods, 

 .565 beans were re(]uired to make up the same weight. This 

 corresponds to a loss of about 25 per cent, with, of coursei, 

 a lower (inalitv of iiriMluct. 



Fifty years ago, Sea Island cotton was grown in the- 

 Hawaiian Islands, but the industry was allowed to lapse. 

 The Hawaii Agricultural F^xperiment Station has been 

 making trials with Sea Island and Caravonica cottons, with 

 striking results. The yield is high, the fibre of good length, 

 strength and lustre, and the percentage of lint ranges from 

 30 to 40. All varieties of cotton thus far tested grow as 

 perennials in these islands, and the shape of the trees and 

 the time of maturing the bolls may be controlled by pruning. 

 {Annual Report of the Haivaii Agricultiiral E.fperiment 

 .S'^i^oH, 1908.) 



