THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



January 3, 1914. 







A further amendment has ju9t been received of the 

 Rule forming Schedule I to the St Vincent Agricultural 

 Credit Societies Ordinance, 1913 The first amendment of 

 the principal rules was made on October 14, 1913 (see 

 'Uji'trnment G":ette, October 16, 1913). 



GLEANINGS. 



According to the Farmer's Magazine for November 1913, 

 the best way to heal cuts in the branches of rubber trees is 

 to bind a sliced potato around the wounds. 



During November the following plants were distributed 

 from the Botanic Station, Dominica: limes 6,500. Para rubber 

 100; budded citrus 20; nutmegs 10: making a total of 6,630. 



The I'oice of St Lucia urges that the Colony should 

 introduce measures for the purpose of establishing land 

 banks similar to those that have been introduced into 

 St. Vincent. 



Sir Daniel Morris, formerly Imperial Commissioner of 

 Agriculture for the West Indies, has been elected President 

 ot the Bournemouth Natural Science Society in succession 

 to Sir Ray Lankester. 



A valuable monograph on the economic value of Shorea 

 rohustit (Sal) has just been received from the Forest Research 

 Institute, India Sal is one of the strongest and most 

 durable of Indian timbers. 



According to the (irenada Land Officer's Report for 

 November, favourable weather continues to maintain the 

 excellent condition of the crops on the small holdings. A fair 

 second corn crop is expected. 



Information is presented in the Supplement to the 

 ■ laiiiaira Gif.elte. (November 1, 1913) to the etl'ect that the 

 number of school gardens in the island has steadily increased 

 and that there are now over 300 doing good work. They 

 have im|)roved in the past year in the following respects: (1) 

 neatness of construction; (2) a better classification of cropsj 

 (3) tool supply. 



An Ordinance to consolidate and amend the law relating 

 to contagious diseases among animals has just been passed in 

 Antigua. The Act would appear to be comprehensive and 

 to meet fully existing requirements. 



The Annals of Tivjiical Jlledicinc and Parasitology 

 (November 7, 1913) issued by the Liverpool School of 

 Tropical Medicine, contains an interesting and lengthy 

 paper on 'vomiting sickness' in Jamaica. 



A note appears in the Gardinur's Chronicle, which says 

 that a satisfactory way to tap Ceara trees is to strip off the 

 outside bark, make a herring bone tapping, and to direct 

 a sligbt How of water by means of a syringe down the centre 

 cut. 



The Field (November 22, 1913) in a short article on 

 the Canary banana, advocates the culture of this tree in 

 English gardens provided with tropical greenhouses. The 

 ■home grown article is stated to be superior to the imported 

 fruit. 



It is stated in the Agricultural Bulletin of the Feder- 

 ated Malay States (August 1913) that the gutta percha 

 obtained by tapping Pahi'iaiuni olilongifoliuin is of good 

 quality and could command satisfactory prices in the market. 

 Gutta percha is usually understood to refer to the coagu- 

 lated latex from species of the genus Palaquium other than 

 oblongifolium. 



It is stated in Colonial Heports — Annual, No. 769, that 

 Basutoland during 1912-13 expended a sum of £7,061 on 

 the purchase of stallions and rams. Measures were taken 

 during the year for the eradication of scab. It may be 

 noted in connexion with general agriculture in l^asutoland, 

 that it has been decided to establish a small agricultural 

 school and farm in the Territory. 



The St Vincent Sentry (November 28, 1913) says that 

 in several of the towns and villages of the island, opportunity 

 has been taken by peasants to establish agricultural credit 

 societies under the new Agricultural Credit Ordinance 1913. 

 Already six such .<;ocieties have been registered as required 

 by the provisions of the Ordinance. The Societies are 

 established respectively in Georgetown, Union, Chateau 

 Belair, Troumaca, Lowmans, and Stubbs. 



According to Diplomatic and Consular Reports, 

 No. 5210, Annual Series, the outturn of rubber from Portu- 

 guese East Africa during 1912 was seriously reduced by 

 the drought. The Mozambique Company lias imported 

 a 'Valor' machine battery (see Agricultural A'e/cs, Vol. XII, 

 p. 327), and is conducting experiments to determine whether 

 mechanical extraction of rubber from the Landolphia vines 

 can be substituted for the present method of collection by 

 the natives. 



A new machine for extracting sisal hemp fibre is 

 referred to in the Monthly Bulletin of Agricultural Intelli- 

 gence and Plant Diseases (May 1913). This machine is 

 stated to be distinguished by its great simplicity: and the 

 recent trial before a number of managers of plantations in 

 German East Africa .showed the extraction of the fibre to be 

 excellent. The 'Roland' machine — as it is called — is built of 

 heavy iron, and the intermediate gearing is mounted on the 

 machine itself, which is besides fitted with ball bearings of 

 a special type, which allow it to run with extraordinary 

 smoothne.ss. About 25 h.p. are required to drive it when 

 working at its maximum. 



