Vol. XIII. Ko. 320. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



24-5 



more pandlul than tho.se in a leaf of B.14", whil.st the munlier 

 of .stoma ta i)er unit of area in a leaf of I). 116 is very much 

 less than that found in the case of B.147. As well, the 

 indiviilual st(pnia in a leaf of I). llfi is larger than that 

 to 111' oliserveil in 15.1+7. These facts tend to supjKirt 

 j\lr. A'illele's opinion that the .stoniata may '>e u.seful in 

 tlie direction indicated liy him. 



But in concluding, it may be oliservcd that an ini|j"rtant 

 feature for classification puri)oses is the eye-lmd. .\s 

 a matter of fact it is by the eye-l)ud that the two varieties just 

 referred to — B.147 andD.llG — are lie.st seen to lie distinct 

 forms, B.147 having a very small and ad[)re.ssed Imd: that 

 of l).l Hi lieing large and bulging. On this suliject, reference 

 .shouhl be made to another interesting paper in the ]V'sf 

 Indian Bulletin (Vol. .\II. pp. ;{7S-S7) entitled '.\ Study 

 <'f Sugar-cane Varieties witii a view to their I'lassificaticm'. 

 l>y O. X. Sahasrabnddhe. 



LIME CULTIVATION. 



THE YUCATAN SISAL OUTPUT. 



The carefully wurked-out suggestion made by Mr. .Ufre<l 

 Chatterton, CLE., Director of Industiies, State of Mysore, 

 that 'there is probably a million acres of unoccupied land in 

 this Province more or less suitable for aloe or si.sal <ultiva- 

 tion' causes one to look up statistics regarding the outputs 

 from Mexico, and to consider what chance such a large area 

 as the one mentioned would have, if brought into direct cum- 

 jietition with that old-established industry of the Indian and 

 half-Indian pojiulation of Vucatan; an indu.stry, too, that is 

 run on lines that, even if it is not actual slavery, could never 

 lie allowed in Mj.sore. According to the Botrlin df Esla- 

 disticn, the official organ of the Hacendados Henequeneros, of 

 ^'ucatan, last year was a record one as regards the total 

 e-\i>orts of sisal, which were: — 



Bales. 



Januaiv 1 to I >ei 



31, 



1913 836,9.50 



1912 814,610 



1911 680.990 



1910 .")r)8,99(l 



1909 .567,427 



Tons. 



(1,000 ko.s.) 



14.5,2SO 



1.39,902 



116,.547 



94,789 



95,756 



C)f this output 520,143 liales were exported during the 

 .second half of 1913, against 491,841 bales in 1912. As the 

 total weight of the 1913 .shi|)nient was 90,651,183 kos., the 

 average weight was 175 kos., or about 3.50 lb. Of the 

 .520,000, one firm, that of Avelino M<intcs, exported 406,72f< 

 Lales (71,466.000 ko.s.), Arturo Pierce coming in as a jMior 

 .second with 86,741 bales (14.609,S87 kos.), and the Cia de 

 Hac Henequeneros was third with 1<S<'^17 bales (3,244, S67 

 kos.). The average value of the sisal shipjied during the last 

 .six months of 1913 was 28-145c. (100c. =.«1 =2«.) per kilo., 

 •igainst 20'882c. in 1912, .so that the price wa.s 7'263c. better 

 per kilo. (2-204 ft.). The value of the 520,000 bales (.July to 

 December .shipments) was .§25,516,500 equal to £2,516,000. 



AVere India, therefore, to plant up even 100,000 acres 

 with sisal, and that area gave a fair yield, it would be inter- 

 esting to see how far the Indian output could affect the 

 Yucatan planters, and how the combined outputs would affect 

 j)rices. We fear they would lie pidled down below the limit 

 of profit yielding, as many centres to-day dabble in sisal and 

 .some have a fair out, l:mt no one outside Yucatan seems to be 

 growing rich out of the industry, and many .seem extremely 

 loth to have anvthing to do with the fibre. (Tropical Lifr, 

 dune UU4.) 



GOVERNMENT LIME JUICE FACTORY, 

 ST. LUCIA. 



The above establishnient re opened for the jnircha.se of 

 limes and lime juice on .lune 22, 1914, according to arrange- 

 ment made by the .Vgricultural Superintendent previous t" 

 his departure from the colony on leave. The prices to be paii 

 iin account, for produce, were: — 



Sfiund ri[ic limes .'!;!. 9rf. per barrel. 



Pure raw lime juice 6(7. ])er gallon te.sting 13 oz. 



and over. 



In additiiin to these, a deferred payment and share of 

 [Mufits was to he made so long as the selling price of concen- 

 trated juice exceeds £24 ])er {lipe, and the deferred payment 

 was to be calculated on the actual selling price realized by 

 the juice on the 201 equivalent. 



Since the publication of the aliove notice in the St. Lucia. 

 Go'vrnment Gazette, an aniend)nent has been issued, in which 

 it is stateil that the jjrice paifl for the ripe limes will be 

 raised to 4«. 8rf. per barrel, and that 6d. per gallon will l:>e 

 given for 12 oz. raw lime juice as well as for that testing 

 13 oz. Although the jiresent favouraVile state of market 

 |)rices is no doulit responsible for the representations that 

 liave led to this amendment, the pulilic should bear in mind 

 that the cash payments at the factory are merely on account,, 

 and that by receiving the lower scale of payments on delivery 

 at the factory, the vendors get no less in the long run than 

 if they were obtaining the higher cash payments. 



The favourable terms <jn which the factory conducts its. 

 business can be readily seen from the results of last .season's 

 work. The deferred payments that have recently been made 

 on account of last year's crop were at the rate of 16-5rf. per 

 barrel of lime.s, and 15-7<f. per 10 gallons of 12 oz. juice. 

 In addition to this, the bonus paid in respect to the profit 

 made by the factory was eipial to 12-46 per cent, on the total 

 amount paid for the purchase of the produce. The original 

 cash payments at the factory together with the deferred pay- 

 ments and boinis, thus gave a total value to vendors during 

 the past season of 8irf. per gallon of standard raw lime juice, 

 and -58. 8.Vrf. per barrel of limes, corresponding to a market 

 price of £32 per [lipe for concentrated lime juice. 



A few months ago the Imperial Commissioner of Agri- 

 cidture communicated with the Assistant Directrn- of the 

 Riiyal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in regard to the alleged 

 beneficial effect of smoke upon the growth of pine-apples in 

 the Azores. No authoritative statement has been found 

 as to the effect of smoke on pineapples under glass. The 

 tloweriu" of pine-apples <iut of season stated to occur where 

 lionfires have lieen lighted may perhaps be due to a tem- 

 perature stimulus though except in the ca.se of the plaiit> 

 immediatelv to windward, the distance would be too great 

 for much effect to be felt. In the case of pine-apples in the 

 Azores, it is certainly surjirising that filling the houses with 

 smoke for about two hours shouhl bring about tiowering. 

 The authorities at Kew question whether some change in 

 cultural treatment is not made before or at the time iil 

 the smoking. It appears that no such treatment is made. ■ 



