172 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



May 23, 1914. 



GLEANINGS, 



The weather on the leeward side of Montserrat in the 

 early part of April was favourable for cotton planting and a 

 very considerable area was established, but the planting 

 operations were impeded later by the continued dry weather. 



The Revue Agricole, Reunion, contains a lengthy article 

 emphasizing the necessity for greater attention to all branches 

 of agriculture in the colony. From all accounts it would 

 appear that the agricultural situation in this colony is at 

 present very grave. 



The allottees nn the Grenada settlements continued 

 reaping their cane crops during March. The crop has been 

 manufactured into syrup for which there is a fair demand, 

 while some has also been used for rum making. There is no 

 market for the locally made wet muscovado sugar. 



The rainfall in Dominica for April was (545 inches, 

 which is very wet for the time of the year. In St. Kitta 

 3'66, inches fell between May 1 to 8. In the northern 

 districts of this island the rainfall has been particularly 

 heavy. During one day, 167 inches fell in one hour. 



The Venezuelan coffee crop of 1913 was not very good. 

 According to The Board of Trade Journal, the cacao crop 

 was better and prices remained very similar to those of 1912. 

 During the period July 1, 1912, to .June 30, 1913, 60,86:^,501 

 kilogs. of coffee and 14,804,833 kilogs. of cacao were shipped 

 from Venezuela. 



Green limes is being shipped from St. Lucia to the 

 United States in increasing quantities. The cacao crop in 

 this island is now nearly over, whilst an interesting fact con- 

 cerning sugar cultivation in the colony is the reduction in 

 area under Bourbon cane consequent on the satisfactory 

 results obtained with D. 625. 



In a communication received from the Analytical 

 Laboratory, Apothecaries Hall, London, it is stated that the 

 best method to adopt in the standardization of dried Carica 

 Papaya juice is the determination of the amino acid formed 

 (see The Analyst, April 1914). The archaic process with 

 meat is stated to be useless. 



Both in Antigua and Nevis during April there have 

 been several interesting events happening in regard to coco- 

 nuts. Over 5,000 nuts were shipped from Nevis to Demerara 

 for planting purposes, whilst in Antigua 3,350 nuts have 

 been received for planting and it is estimated that in this 

 island 100 acres will be put in during the coming season. 



A letter from the Curator of the Botanic Gardens, 

 Dominica, states that 56 cases of dynamite were landed 

 on May 7. The explosive will be used for subsoil experiments. 

 A large number of different estates are taking part in the 

 trials, and the results of these extensive experiments should 

 be instructive and yield valuable information of wide 

 application. 



Some interest is being shown in the use of kapok, par- 

 ticularly as the outcome of the utilization of this material 

 in the next south polar expedition. Kapok is going to be 

 used in the manufacture of the Boddy life jackets. It has 

 been suggested th^t a disadvantage affecting the use of 

 kapok for such purposes is its inflammability, but a recent 

 demonstration showed conclusively the non-inflammable 

 character of the articles in which it is intended to use 

 the kapok. 



An interesting procedure has been followed by bee 

 keepers in the Isle of Wight with a view to dealing with 

 the epidemic of disease which has been rampant there 

 amongst bees for some time. The local apiarists have 

 imported colonies of Dutch bees which are known to be 

 immune to the disease, and it is thought that by interbreed- 

 ing a race will be obtained which should be resistant to the 

 disease in question. This information appear.? in The Tii/ies 

 for April 11, 191 4. 



A 2ote appears in the International Sugar Journal for 

 April 1914, stating that graphite is of much service as 

 a boiler scale remover. It is most efficacious when mixed 

 with the ordinary water-softening compound, and though 

 definite proportions cannot be given since they vary so con- 

 siderably according to the water, it may be said that good 

 results have been obtained with a water of average hardness 

 by the use of a mixture of i lb. of graphite and 1 lb. of 

 soda ash. This mixture is fed at the rate of 1 fi). to 20,000 lb. 

 of water, the ash and graphite being first mixed dry and put 

 in the feeder. 



After investigating the oil of Acrocomia scerocarpa, the 

 gru-gru palm, ;\Ir. A. W. Knapp, concludes that this oil is 

 identical with Mocaya oil of Paraguay and the oil from the 

 Maccasuba palm of Surinam. The note on the subject, 

 which appears in the Monthly Bulletin of Agricultural 

 Intelligence and Plant Diseases, March 1914, concludes with 

 a statement: 'though the tree is widely distributed in the West 

 Indies and South America, and appears to grow on the poorest 

 soils, large quantities of the kernels and oil are difficult to 

 obtain.' Reference may be made to an article on oil palm 

 industry in British Honduras in last issue of this journal. 



The following interesting note appears in the Charnher 

 of Comriu rci: Journal, April 1914: 'The importation of motor 

 ploughs appears capable of development in the West Indies. 

 Following on trials made by the Danish authorities in the 

 island of St. Croix, some of these machines have been imported 

 into that island and have given good results. In the islands 

 of Antigua, Montserrat, St. Lucia, St Kitts and in certain 

 parts of Barbados, the soil is deep and hard, and motor 

 ploughing might be adopted with advantage. Cultivators 

 are but little familiar with new methods, and manufacturers 

 are recommended to import one of these machines and give 

 demonstrations on the spot.' This notice is evidently the 

 outcome of an editorial which appeared in the Agricultural 

 News, Vol. XII, p. 241. 



