Vol. XIII. No, 31G. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



179 



A general outline has now been given of the 

 principal features of meat production in the West 

 Indies. The principal difficult}- would seem to be 

 that the dem^ind for better meat by the general 

 public is not sufficiently strong to compel its pro- 

 duction — the more particular class of consumer 

 relying frequently upon special supplies and the cold 

 storage accommodation in the local ice factory for 

 improving its quality. Incidental!)- a great allroiind 

 improvement in the quality of the general supplies 

 would be effected in this way by the institution of cold 

 storage at the public abattoirs. Toughness is often 

 due to the short period between killing and consump- 

 tion rather than the result of breed or feeding. But 

 quite apart from the various demands for meat, stock- 

 owners might with profit give more attention to breed- 

 ing and feeding with the object of raising early 

 maUirity animals; and there is no doubt that apart 

 from all other aspects of meat production, the public 

 protection from tainted or diseased meat should be 

 a .sine ijuii non of the policy of every local govern- 

 ment board. 



SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



NEW CHANGES AND DEVELOPMENTS. 



The Louisiana PAni^ei- for May 2, 1914, says the results 

 of the efforts made at the Preston Sugar Factory in Cuba to 

 shred sugarcane and to enter it free into the United States 

 for final extraction, hare been coin])arativeIy satisfactory 

 though it has recently been suspended on account of a fire. 

 As a further piece of news concerning the importation of 

 cane, it is said that Porto Rico receives considerable ship- 

 ments of cane from San Domingo, paying a dut}' of 1.^ per 

 cent. It i.s said that from .lanuarj- to March, 22 000 tons 

 of canf were received from San Domingo valued at i*2 per 

 ton These importations seem to be causing or be the pirt 

 cause of a tendency towards diversification in Porto Rican 

 agriculture. This territory is of course paying attention to 

 the Panama hat business, and in the near future the cigar 

 trade will probably be the mainstay of the island. It is 

 believed that much of the lands now planted in cane is 

 suitable for tobacco cultivation and that tobacco to a con- 

 siderable extent will replace cice culture. 



According to reports, the island has been hit hard by the 

 recent sugar legislation. Many of the factories are passing 

 through a critical period. Three years ago when sugar 

 prices were high, and when there was no prospect of any 

 tariff reduction most of the islands paid attention to the 

 planting of cane. Miny factories were built and an enor- 

 mous amount of money invested by Porto Rico and American 

 interest?. It is expected that probably the factories con- 

 venient to tide water, and those having their own transpor- 

 tation facilities will be able to survive, but it is thought 

 many will be unable to adapt themselves to the new 

 situation. 



'BLACKSTRAP (FEEDING) MOLASSES. 

 The superiority of 'blackstrap' (feeding) molasses 

 over beet molasses formed the subject of an address 

 recently delivered by Dr. W. H. Dalrymple before the 

 Louisiana Sugar Planters' Association, and published 

 in the Louisiana Planter ioT Ua.y Iti, IDli. Whilst 

 admitting that there are different grades of cane 

 molasses for feeding live stock on the market it is 

 maintained that these are generally more suitable 

 for feeding purposes than beet molasses which are 

 well known to have an irritating effect upon the 

 digestive track of animals. This is due to the presence 

 in beet molasses of a large percentage of potash salts 

 which exert a purgative action. Then cane molasses 

 are more nutritious than beet molasses as the following 

 analyses show: — 



Cane molasses. Beet 



(Blackstrap.) molasses. 



Water 2093 23"0 



Cane sugar 30-73 4070 



Reducing sugars 29-67 00-60 



Ash (salts) 8-85 13-20 



Organic (non-sugar) 9-32 1.5-80 



100-00 10000 



In summing up. Dr. Dalrymple said: 



Blackstrap is a valuable food for at least three very 

 good reasons: (1) so far as this State is concerned I believe 

 it is our cheapest viz: sugar; (2) its high carbohydrate con- 

 tent, or about 66 per cent.: and (3) the almost complete 

 digestibility of this nutrient. And it is my opinion, that 

 the marked success which has attended its adoption, during 

 the pa.st number of years in this State, is almost entirely due 

 to its palataliility; its condimental effect in promoting the 

 more perfect digestion of other feed,s fed with it; and the 

 readine-ss with which it can be absorbed into the circulation 

 of the animal body for nutrition purposes. 



When the true value of this material is better and more 

 widely known, its consumption is bound to increase, and 

 over a very much greater area of the country than is using 

 it at the present time. It simply requires to be known to 

 be more fully appreciated. 



On the Experiment Station we use it in the stable of 

 the work stock, in the dairy, and in the feed lot, and there i.- 

 rarely a ration that we may be asked, by our planters, 

 farmers or feeders to compound for them that does not 

 contain its legitimate quota of feeding molasses. 



.\n firticle in the International Sugar Journal for April 

 1914 deals with the relation of genetics (the science of 

 heredity) to the improvement of the sugar-cane. Observa- 

 tions and analyses of seedlings raised at the Porto Rico Sugar 

 Producers' Experiment Station during 1912 showed that 

 seedlings vary considerably. The average sucrose content of 

 those coming from some varieties, was not only higher than 

 those coming from other varieties, but the maximum and. 

 minimum were also higher. Considerable ditfereuce in the 

 appeirance- was also noticed. A dirtioulty which is encoun- 

 tered with cane is of course th>e fact that miny varieties 

 seldom or never flower, or if they produce tass.'ls do not 

 produce them in sufhclent abundance. 



