Vol. XIII. No. 3U. 



THE AGEICULTOlAL NEWS. 



149 



NUTRITION. 



MANURES AND MANURING. 



THE PROPER DIET IN THE TROPICS. 



The Experiment Station Record, Vol. XXX, 

 No. 3, publishes the following conclusions ai'rived at 

 by Dr. A. C. Eustis, on the subject of human nutrition 

 in the Tropics. The paper appears ih full in the Amer- 

 ican Journal of Tropical Diseases (1913) Xo. 4: — 



The author holds that there is greater danger from an 

 excessive use of meat in tropical than in temperate regions, 

 Vjecause 'ptomaines', which may be produced from undigested 

 meat by the action of putrifactive bacteria in the colon, 

 and whicli under ordinary conditions would be 'rendered 

 inert by the liver cells', would not, in his opinion, be so 

 taken care of where there is little severe exercise, as is the 

 case with most residents in warm regions 



He believes further, that in such regions 'there is Httle 

 need of internal combustion to maintain the body temperature.' 



Similar arguments are given against the use of alcohol. 



In the author's opinion, not more than 40 gm. of 

 protein per day should be eaten in the Tropic.". He believes 

 that the energy value of the daily diet should be from 

 2,000 to 2,500 calories, depending upon the muscular work 

 done, fats being taken in moderation and the energy supplied 

 largely from carbohydrates: that vegetable proteids are 

 preferable to animal proteids; and that the diet should contain 

 an abundance of fruits and vegetables. 



The desirability of limiting the amount of meat in the 

 diet is illustrated by a case cited, in which .symptoms of 

 toxemia in a patient were overcome by reducing the meat 

 consumption, and which the author considers typical of many 

 which he states have come under his observation. 



COTTON-SEED MEAL FOR HENS. 



The Mississippi Station Bulletin recently reports 

 on the value of cotton-seed meal for laying hens This 

 is also noted in the Experiment Station Record (Vol. 

 XXX, No. ■■',). 



This bulletin is a preliminary report of experiments in 

 progress. Ilesults of six months' work tend to show 'that 

 cotton-seed meal used as the chief source of protein is 

 palatable to fowls, and that when fed judiciously on it they 

 will produce eggs; that hens fed on cotton-seed will produce 

 eggs when eggs are highest in price; that as far as can be 

 determined, the general condition of the cottonseed meal-fed 

 fowl-, seem just as good as the condition of those fed on beef 

 scrap; that the tendency was to lose flesh and not get over-fat, 

 although the fowls were allowed access to the feed at all 

 times; and that there is a good margin of profit from hens 

 when given a properly balanced ration.' 



FEEDING EXPERIMENTS WITH CASSAVA. 



The same journal contains an interesting note on 

 the value of cassava as a foodstuff for pigs: — 



Four pigs two and a half years old each fed a daily 

 ration of 2 02 kg. of cassava, 2 kg. of a mixture of 

 bran and low grade flour, 1'6 kg. of mangels, and 

 0"1S kg. of meat meal for seventy-seven days made a daily 

 gain per head of 0.53 kg. (117 Bi,). In another test five pigs 

 each fed a daily ration of r47 kg. of cassava, 1'47 kg. of 

 the bran-flour mixture and 4'99 kg. of skim milk for fifty- 

 eight days, made a daily gain per head of 0'67 kg., and 

 a similar lot 0G2 kg. per head. Methods and results of 

 analyses of cassava by J. Van Buggenhout et al. are given. 



THE MANURING OF MEALIES. 



The appearance of a recent text-book on maize, which 

 was reviewed in this journal. Vol. XIII, p. 141, where the 

 question of manuring is discussed, makes the occurrence in 

 Tropical Lifo (March 1914) of an article having the above 

 title most opportune. In this article, Mr. A. Gordon 

 Howitt, B.Sc, recommends the employment of what is known 

 as the 'A' and slag mixture. The 'A' mixture is composed as 

 follows: bone meal, 1,250 ft).; superphosphate, 500 lb.; 

 muriate of potash, 250 IIj., making in all 2,000 lb. The slag- 

 mixture is composed of basic slag, 1,000 Bo.; bone meal, 

 750 R.; muriate of potash, 250 tti. — making in all 2,000 tt>. 

 It is recommended that a dressing of 200 lb. per acre of the 

 'A' mixture would be .sufficient, and this would cost about 

 13.S. 6rf. per acre. The slag mixture should be applied at 

 the same rate. 



The importance of potash as a constituent of manurial 

 mixtures for maize is shown by the results of an experiment 

 in which manures were applied to plots of maize according 

 to the following arrangement; plot I— no manure: plot II — 

 100 It), bone meal, 100 ft), of superphosphate, no potash; 

 plot III — 125 ft), bone meal, 50 ft), superphosphate, 25 lb. 

 muriate of potash. The not profit on the no-potash plot 

 (plot II) was 14s. 9(Z.: the net profit on the plot which 

 received potash (plot III) was 41s. l^d. This experiment 

 was carried out in Natal on soil of a very uniform character. 

 Each plot was A-acre in area. 



A NEW FERTILIZER : 



MOLASSED SUPERPHOSPHATE. 



Considerable efforts have been made in the past to 

 utilize the residues from the distillation of molasses either 

 by drying the material or by mixing it with other substances. 

 So far, these efforts have proved unsuccessful, as the product 

 has always been hygroscopic, and factories have therefore 

 been compelled to concentrate and ignite their residues to 

 recover the potash contained therein, or sell them in a con- 

 centrated condition to cyan amide works, which recover not 

 only the potash but also 60 to 70 per cent, of the nitrogen 

 as potassium cyanide and ammonium chloride. Even in 

 these cases a large percentage of nitrogen and the whole of 

 the organic matter are lost, and a search has been made- 

 to find some substance which could be suitably mixed 

 with the residues and so obviate these losses. According to 

 the Monthly Bulletin of Agrindtvral Intelligence and 

 Plant Diseases, for March 1914, it has been found that the 

 acid phosphates of betaine (betaine occurs in beet molasses) 

 is not hygroscopic. It is stated that a friable, non hygroscopic 

 product is obtained when the residues from the molasses are- 

 treated with an amount of phosphoric acid and then dried. 

 Better results still were obtained when the residues were 

 mixed with superphosphates and the mixture heated for 

 a short time at 108°C. (226°F ). The material thus prepared 

 is friable, keeps well, and is easy to apply. The product 

 does not damage sacks and has the advantage over othe? 

 fertilizers of providing humus material as a basis for bacteria! 

 development in the soil. Molassed superphosphate, obtained 

 by mixing 3 parts of superphosphate with 2| parts of 

 concentrated residues, contains 2 25 per cent, of nitrogen, 

 6 33 per cent, of potash, and 11-53 per cent of citrate- 

 soluble phosphoric acid (8 48 per cent.) water soluble. It 

 has 30 per cent, of undecomposed organic substance. 



