Vol. XIII. No. 316. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



185 



Horticultural Society for Trinidad. 



(•ur attention has been called to the recent 

 fbrn'.ation in Trinidad and Tobago of a society for 

 promoting interests in all branches of gardening. In 

 d, eircuhir letter written by the Assistant Director of 

 Agriculture (Mr. W. G. Freeman) who is responsible 

 tor the initiation of the club, it is pointed out that the 

 objects of the society will be achieved by holding 

 meetings where papers will be read and demonstrations 

 made, hy furthering exchange of plants among members, 

 and by co-operating in the importation of seeds and 

 plants from abroad. 



The Society is to be congratulated in the matter 

 of securing most generous financial assistance from 

 Mr. J. W. Stevens of Port-of-Spain, who has offered to 

 contribute to its funds the sum of .s.5()0 per annum for 

 five years. 



Plant Products as Manures. 



In the exan)ination at the Imperial Institute of 

 oil seeds produced in the Tropics, it has frequently 

 been found that the cake or meal rem-iininf alter the 

 expression of the oil is unsuitable, sometimes because 

 of acrid flavour, or perhaps from the presence of 

 poisonous compounds, for employment as cattle food. 

 In several instances, however, an analysis of the ash 

 contained in this m-itcrial has --hown that it is particu- 

 larly rich in the essential plant nutrients, and therefore 

 of considerable value, providing prices will allow of its 

 use, for application to the soil as a manure for cul- 

 tivated plants. 



In looking through the selected reports from the 

 Scientific and Technical Departments of the Imper- 

 ial Institute, several instances are to be i^ecn, 

 especially in the case of oil seeds imported fiom West 

 Africa. One especially interesting case is that of 

 Nsasana seed kernels from Nigeria (Southern Prov- 

 inces). The cake left after the extraction of oil from 

 these seeds resembles in composition decorticated 

 coiton-seed cake, but on examination for poisonous 

 constituents indications of the presence of an alkaloid 

 were observed. On this account the material cannot 

 be safely recommended for feeding purposes: but 

 because it is particularly rich in nitrogen, it ought 

 to be useful as a manure. An even more notice- 

 able case has arisen from the examination of 

 Senat seed from the Soudan. The husks from this 

 seed have only a very low feeding value, and are there- 

 fore undesirable as a feeding stuff: but in view of the 

 high percentage of mineral matter, the husks should 

 be of great value as a manure, particularly for crops 

 requiring potash. The composition of the ash of this 

 material is sufficiently interesting to warrant the 

 publication of the figures of percentage analysis in 

 detail: lime, S 4-2: magnesia, 4.11: potash, 42'tJ9; 

 soda, 070: phosyihoric acid, 251: chlorine, 208; 

 sulphuric acid, 385. 



We may conclude this note by reference to the 

 result of an examination of the cake derived from tea 



seed. This material, it is said, cannot be used as a 

 feeding cake, owing to the large amount of saponin it 

 contains. The interesting point, however, is that it is 

 sufficiently rich in saponin to be of use in the prep ir- 

 ation of vermicides for dressing lawns. Samjiles of 

 the material have been submitted to two firms to 

 ascertain its suitability for this purpose commercially, 

 and both firms have reported favourably and offered 

 to purchase trial consignments of the cake. 



Mutation in Micro-Organisms. 



About the middle of last year a note was published 

 on this page describing certain observations made con- 

 cerning transformations occurring amongst the well- 

 known bacillary group of which B. coli is a repre- 

 sentative. It was shown that one character which 

 distinguishes the two end members of this group, 

 namely. Bacillus coli and B.prodigiosus, is the power 

 possessed by B. coli of splitting up lactose (sugar) and 

 thereby forming lactic acid. It was discovered that) 

 the middle members of the B. coli group, which 

 normally lack this power may suddenly acquire it, and 

 what is still more remarkable, there was some indica- 

 tion that the new character was produced as the result 

 of syngamy (sexual reproduction, e.g. conjugation). 



Quite recently various alterations in the mor- 

 phology and physiological characters of certain bacteria 

 have been obtained by many observers. Mr. R. P. 

 Hewlett, writing in iVa^itre for April 23,1914, points 

 out that Bacillus coli (the plague bacillus), and other 

 organisms show considerable variation in the size of the 

 cells on different culture media. Again Bacillus 

 proiUyiosus which forms a brilliant red pigment when 

 grown at ordinary tempentures, completely loses the 

 power of pigment production after cultivation at blood 

 heat, at which temperature (98 F.) it grows as luxuri- 

 antly as at 65°F. 



( )ne of the most remarkable of the recent artificial 

 productions of mutation is afforded by the case of 

 Bacillus anthracis, a. particularly well defined and stable 

 bacterial species. The exposure of anthrax germs to 

 ultra-violet radiations for times varying from one to 

 forty minutes, and afterwards sub-culturing, revealed 

 the presence of a few living forms having characters 

 decidedly different from the typical anthrax bacillus. 

 The principal of these were (a) coccoid forms which 

 remain stable during a period of two months: (b) thin 

 filamentous forms not takini; Gram's stain, nor, lii)uefy- 

 ing gelatin nor curdling milk, and producing an infec- 

 tion different from anthrax on inoculation. This form 

 remained absolutely fixed after sub-culture for more 

 than eighty days, but after passage through an animal, 

 a certain number of bacillary forms approximating to 

 typical anthrax were obtained. 



These experiments open up wide possibilities in 

 the transformation of micro-organisms but, as pointed 

 out in the Agricultural Neu's last year, facts like 

 those put forward above, greatly add to the complexity 

 of pathology. 



