THE AGEIClTLTUItAL NEWS. 



An 



I'.tU. 



Fioiii a c()in|)arative statement i)i the Janmica Governmevt 

 Gazette (May 21, 1914); showing the vahies of the produce- 

 ex|)orted from Jamaica during the quarter ended March .SI, 

 1914, and the corresponding period for 1913, it is seen that 

 the value of the cott'ee shipped rose from £55,754 in 191.S to 

 _£S4,19"J in 1914. The value of bananas increased front 

 £74.966 in 191.3 to £199,201 in 1914. There has also been 

 a large increase in sugar and rum. T<:)baceo remains about 

 the same. 



GLEANINGS. 



A note in T?ie Times for June 2.3 states that Parliament 

 has made arrangements for the permanent representation of 

 Great Britain on the Committee of the International Agri- 

 cultural Institute ,.t Eonie. 



Two reports of the Inipeiia! Education Conference on 

 educational system in Grenada and St. Vincent respectively 

 have been received. l!efereiu-e is made in these to the 

 instruction in agricultural and .scientific matters given in the 

 secondary and primary schools of those colonie.s. 



A useful account <rf Brazil api)ears Iti the Bulletin de la 

 tSocietc Behje d' Etudes Coloniales for June 1914. The 

 geographical characteristics of each State are dealt with fully, 

 and a description is given of resources including cultivalile 

 land, banks and other commercial establishments, and tlie 

 chief exports. 



The Queensland Handbool- for 1914 ha> just been 

 received from the Emmigrants Information Oftice. London. 

 Pages 12 to 14 contain useful informatiou concerning the 

 areas under cultivation in different crops. There have been 

 large increases during recent years in the ai-eas under liananas. 

 jjine-apples and oranges. 



Volume XVIII, Part I, of the Contrilmtions from the 

 United States Xational Herbarium is devoted to a classifica- 

 tion of the genus Anona with descriptions of new and imper- 

 fectly known species. The schemes of subdivision and the key 

 to fruits and the known West Indian forms are of special 

 interest, and the publication in conjunction with the other 

 volumes of this series .should be valuable as a source of 

 reference. 



In Diplomatic and Consular Reports Xo 5289, Amiual 

 tSeries, it is noted that although sugar-cane is on the average 

 the most important crop in the Dominican Republic, cacao 

 ranked as the most valuable one for 1913. The average price 

 received showed an improvement on that of the previous year, 

 but it is said that better prices would be obtained if planters 

 coidd sell direct instead of through the h>cal commission 

 hfiuses. 



it is stated in Diplomatic and Consular Reports, 

 jvfu. 5190, Annual Series, that a law was passed in Cuba 

 during 1911 compelling all manufacturers tc^ put a national 

 guarantee stamp on all boxes of cigars intended for export. 

 Oennine Cuban cigars may therefore always be recognized 

 by the flovernment stamp which is printed in green 

 and bears the words 'Eepublica de Cuba, Sella de garantia 

 -•-ificioiial de procedencia. Para tobaccos torcidos y picadura'. 



A letter to The Times (June 27, 1914) contains the 

 suggestions of the Committee for the Economic Preservation 

 for Birds in England as regards protection. Amongst other 

 suggestions it is advocated that ab.solute protection during 

 the Itreeding season should be extended to all breeding birds 

 of Avhatever kind. It is held, further, that there should l>e 

 alisolute protection for all birds found upon en(|uiry to be- 

 either verging upon extinction, highly localized, or of 

 determined benefit in agricultural centres. 



It is stated in the Wealth of India for .May 1914 that 

 at the Midnapni- District Co-operative Conference it was 

 urged that the scope of co-operative societies should be 

 extended to include functions other than those of sale and 

 credit; for instance, in the preservation of village roads, the 

 excavation of old tanks, the distribution of quinine to people 

 of malaria stricken areas. It is possible that if the scope of 

 i;o-operative s<:)cieties were in this way extended it would bt- 

 easier, particularly in the West Indies, to estal)lish co-oper- 

 ative credit societies. 



Amongst the inventory of the seeds and ]ilant.-'. 

 imported by the Office of Foreign Seed and Plant Introduc- 

 tion of the Bureau of Plant Industry, I'nited States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, during July to September 1912, 

 reference is maile to Soudan grass obtained from the 

 Inspector of Agriculture in Egypt. This plant known a.< 

 Holms sorrihum (L. Sonihum vuhjnre, Pers.) is an annual 

 closely resendiling ordinary John.son grass in appearance but 

 entirely lacking the root stocks which make that i)lant 

 undesirable. Soudan grass is apparently the wild half 

 domesticated form of cultivated .sorghum, and it cro.sses 

 readily with the various varieties of sorghum. 



The Vetcrinari/ Record for .June 27, 1914, contains 

 a list of the arrangements made in regard to the Tenth Inter- 

 national ^'eterinary Congress that is being held this month 

 in London (August 3 to 8). There are seven general meet- 

 ings devoted to the discussion of important matters like foot 

 and mouth disea.se, tuberculosis, epizootic aliortion, public 

 control of milk supjily. There are various sectional meetings 

 to l)e held, .section V being devoted to Tropical Diseases.' 

 This will include diseases transmitted l\v ticks, their classifi- 

 cation, treatment and prevention: diseases transmitted l>v 

 winged insects, also considered from the same aspects. There 

 is an extensive programme of receptions, and altogether the 

 Congre.ss is likely to be of exceptional interest. The \'eter- 

 inary Otticer on the staff" of the Imperial Department of 

 Agriculture is attendiug as an official delegate fur the \Vest 

 Indies. 



