Vol. Xin. X... Z2: 



THE AOKICTLTURAL NE\\'S. 



Till.' chiff ailvaiitagfs of the kerosene — naphthalene — 

 emulsion over the original kerosene emulsion is to be found 

 in the more intimate mixture of the soap and oil ami the 

 greater stability of the stork solution which remains 

 uni-hanged for a long time. 



The improvement whicli it was exjjeoted to obtain o%er 

 I'aranaph in the Scalo nii.vture was greater eflBciency result- 

 ing from a larger content of kerosene and from the use of 

 whale oil .soap. 



I'aranaph has been recommended for u.se in Jamaica 

 for ridding houses of flea.s, for destroying ticks on dogs, for 

 killing .scale insects and green fly, and as a wa.sh fur ticks 

 eitlier by itself or in a mixture with an arsenical tick killer. 



I'aranaph has been kept in stock at the Government 

 Laljoratory where it has becTi sold at the rate of '2d. per tli. 

 It is used at the rate of 1 lt>. to 4 gallons of water and from 

 that to 1 It), to 6 gallons at either the weaker or the stronger 

 mixture it makes a cheap wa.sh costing Id. or less per gallon. 

 It is stated that it is not thoroughly eftective for such 

 a resistant insect as tlie orange .snow scale {Chionafpis citri) 

 but is thoroughly effective when u.sed against the more 

 vulnerable .scales and the green fly, or aphides of different 

 kinds. 



As a tick wash or spray it seems to be of great value, 

 especially when mixed with a special tick prejjaration. The 

 following is stated to give good results: 



Paranapli -"i It). 



Cooper's Dip .■) iz. 



Water 3 gallons. 



The I'aranaph is di.s.solved by stirring with a stick, or 

 the hand, in i'l gallons of water. The Cooper's Dij) (in the 

 form of a powder) is dissolved .separately in 1 quart of water 

 and added to the Paranaph. The Cooper's Dip contains 



arsenic and must be kept i stantly .stirred while lieing 



applied. 



In a recent number of the Journal of the Jamaica Ai/ri- 

 cultural Societt/ (May 1914, \i. "JIT) a note on ticks contains 

 the statement that 1 oz. of connnercial ar.senite of soda 

 may be used in place of the 5 oz. of Cooper's Dip with 

 equally good results. 



It is advised to use a hand syringe with an Abol nozzle, 

 for the application of this mixture to tick infested cattle, 

 using from 1| to 2 (juarts to each cow. When used as 

 directed and with care to reach all parts of the .skin of the 

 animal, this mixture is .stated to kill all the ticks on the 

 animal at each application. 



Scalo has been produced in the attempt to obtain a more 

 etticient spray material for the control of scale insects than 

 I'aranaph and so far it has been used chiefly if not entirely 

 against these insects. Paranaph was however the basis for 

 the trials which led to the production of Scalo, the latter 

 being merely a modification of the former. 



The combination of very high ])ercentages of oil and of 

 whale oil soap ought to be of value for this purpose, and so 

 far as trials have been made up to tlie present time, this has 

 jjroved to be the case. Like ordinary kero.sene emulsion and 

 I'aranaph, Scalo possesses good qualities of wetting, that is, 

 the mixture when sprayed on to plants attaches to the leaves 

 and bark, and spreads instead of forming globules and drop- 

 ping off. 



Scalo is effective in use against such resistant insects as 

 the orange mussel or purple scale {Lepidosaphes heckii) which 

 is one of the most difficult to deal with, and even when u.sed 

 at the rate of 1 ft), to 1 gallon of water, no injury is reported 

 to the foliage of orange trees, even though applied when these 

 ■were n\aking young growth of leaves and shoots. 



VEGETABLE OILS, 



PALM OIL IN THE GERMAN COLONIES.* 



The oil palm, the most important cultural plant of 

 tropical West Africa, extends eastwards only as far as the 

 rireat Lakes. Accordingly it is onl)' of subsidiary importance 

 to German East Africa, but of verj- great importance for 

 Togo and the Cameroons. I)i Togo compact masses are to 

 be fimnd in the .southern and central districts, and in the 

 C'ameroons there are very many of them in the virgin forests 

 iif the lowlands. 



The most valuable products of the oil palm for the 

 native are palm wine, palm kernels, and palm oil, the two • 

 latter being at the same time important articles for export- 

 ation. The methotl hitherto employed by the natives for 

 obtaining palm oil and palm kernels is most primitive: the 

 oil as a rule, contains over 20 per cent, of fatty acid, and is 

 therefore not suitable for use in Europe as a foodstuff", but 

 oidy for soap manufacture. 



As palm kernels are for the most part only obtained in 

 connexion with palm-oil extraction, and are only u.sed to 

 a small extent by the natives themselves, the actual exporta- 

 tion of palm kernels supplies data for estimating the 

 minimum quantity of palm oil produced in the districts open 

 to trade. From this it appears that both in Togo and the 

 Cameroons more than four-fifths of the total quantity of 

 palm oil is consumed by the natives themselves, and barely 

 one-fifth is exported. 



The export of palm oil from the Cameroons steadily 

 remains about 3,000 tons, whereas in con.sequence of periodi- 

 cally occurring periods of drought the exportation from 

 Tago fluctuates between 400 and 4,000 tons. It cannot be 

 ascertained whether the market price affects the extent of 

 exportation. 



An increase in exportation may be attained by the 

 following mea.sures: — 



( 1 ) An extension of the districts capable of exporting by 

 improvements in the means of communication (construction 

 of railwaj's). 



(2) A more intensive utilization of the existing palms 

 through better methods of cultivation. 



(3) A better utilization of the crops obtained through 

 improved methods of preparation. 



(4) An increase in the existing number of palms by 

 increased activity of the present producers or the introduction 

 of fresh producers (European plantation cultivation). 



The methods of preparing the crop by machinery that 

 have been elaborated within the last decade are of special 

 interest, among which the process employed at the Agu 

 plantation in Togo supplies the best palm oil obtained at the 

 present time, containing only 5 to 6 per cent, of fatty acid. 

 ( )nlv these recent methods make it possible for the cidtiva- 

 t ion" of the oil palm to he taken up in the form of European 

 plantations. 



*Alistract in the Jo"/;i«J e/ the llnyal Society uf Art>. for 

 Julv 17 1-'14. of a paper read by Direktor Fr. Hupfeld. at 

 the' Third International Congress of Tropical Agriculture, 

 Loiidf.n. 1914. 



