394 



THE AGKICULTUEAL NEWS. 



Decemder 5, 1914. 



GLEANINGS. 



Sir Daniel Morris, K.C.M.O., has just edited A Natural 

 History of Bnurnemoutk and District. Nature, October 29, 

 1914, says that under the able editorship it is a model of 

 "what such a book should be. 



The total exports of rubber from Ceylon during the six 

 months, January to .June 1914, according to official returns 

 issued by the Ceylon Government, were 1-0,115,560 lb. (The 

 Board oj Trade Journal, October 15, 1914.) 



An article in the Tropical Agriculturist for September 

 1914, forecasts many new uses for rubber: (1) wherever 

 leather is used to-day rubber will soon prove a formidable 

 rival; (2) as a competitor of lumber — liardwood flooring, 

 shingles, boat planks; (3) as a rival for steel springs for cars. 



In recommending the treatment of land with lime the 

 Southern Planter, November 1914, says: 'there are limestone 

 grinding and crushing niacliines on the market which can be 

 bought at prices ranging from .1250 to $700'; and asks, 

 •Why don't a number of farmers get together and buy one 

 ■ of these machines?' 



A letter to the Tropical A'jriculturist, September 1914, 

 describes 'poppadams' as a thin paper like biscuit prepared 

 from meal obtained from beans {Phaseolus sp.). The same 

 letter says that for making curry something more than curry 

 powder is required, namely 'curry leaves' such as morinca, 

 andropogon, and pandanus; without these leaves the true 

 <;urry flavour cannot be got. 



In the year 1 900 the world's production of rubber was 

 ubout 50,000 tons, and the consumption about the same. 

 Last year the world's production of rubber amounted to 

 117,000 tons, and the consumption to slightly more than that 

 amount. Whatever the temporary effects of the war may be 

 on the rubber industry, it is expected that it will continue to 

 ^ive handsome returns on the large capital invested in it. 

 {Trop-c-l Lije, October 1914.) 



The Director of Agriculture for tlie Federated Malay 

 ■States, in his report for 1913, states that the production of 

 rubber that year was 23,719 tons, just over one-half the 

 world's supply. The area newly planted in rubber in 1913 

 was 34,127 acres — a larger increase than might have been 



-expected in view of the fall in the price of rubber. This fall 

 was not without good results on the industry. Estates 

 throughout the country have effected considerable economies 

 in their expenditure. (The Board of Trade Journal, October 



«, 1914.) 



At the July meeting of the Board of Agriculture, Trini- 

 dad, the Agricultural Society's recommendation to the 

 Government to have mongoose destroyed on Crown Lands 

 adjoining private properties was recommended by the Board, 

 which advised that the Wardens might be supplied with 

 traps, and also autliorized to employ trappers in their 

 respective districts. The Board strongly recommended that 

 no premium be paid for mongoose. (The Bulletin of the 

 Department of Agriculture, Trinidad and Tobago, August- 

 October, 1914.) 



As was noticed in the last issue of the Agricultural 

 Neirs, it has been considered expedient to restrict the cultiva- 

 tion of cotton in Egypt. Circular No. 1 issued by the 

 Minister of Agriculture of Egypt recommends cultivators to 

 substitute food crops to'' meet the enhanced demand for these 

 which must occur. In the list given to indicate what kind 

 of food crops would be liest to grow, there are maize, American 

 white or yellow; millet (Sorghum vulgare). West Indian 

 Guinea corn; peas; haricot beans; Lima beans; cowpeas or 

 black-eye peas; ground nuts, and onions. (Tlie Incorporated 

 Chamber ot Commerce of Liverpool Monthly Magazine, 

 October 1914.) 



In The Board o/ Trade Journal, October 15, 1914, it 

 is stated, relative to the cultivation of coco-nuts in the 

 Federated Malay States, that there were in 1913, 

 174,234 acres under coco-nuts — an increase of 16,634 

 acres as compared with 1912. Of this total only 

 40,175 acres were returned as from estates of 100 acres and 

 over, so that by far the greater part of the coco-nuts grown 

 in the Federated Malay States is by small liolders. Prices 

 for copi-a and for nuts continued to be very satisfactory. 

 Coffee was grown with some success as an i)itercrop with 

 coco-nuts, nearly 2,600 acres being returned by estates as 

 under coffee and coco-nuts. The Liberian variety can quite 

 well be grown with coco-nuts. 



Creatinin is found in muscles and blood of animals in 

 varying quantities. The following are the results of experi- 

 ments, concerning the presence of creatinin in several 

 leguminous seeds, reported in the Journal of the College of 

 Agriculture, Tohoku Imperial University, Japan, June 1914. 

 In all the legumes examined the presence of creatinin was 

 fully ascertained. The colour tests, the formation of char- 

 acteristic double salt of creatinin zinc chloride, and lastly tlie 

 regaining of creatinin from the double salt were applied to 

 determine the presence of creatinin in legumes. The 

 amounts of creatinin in the seeds of kidney bean and soy 

 bean are apparently in much larger Cjuantity than in horse 

 beans and green peas, though its absolute amount .seems to 

 be very small. 



Th« Bulletin of the Deportment of Agriculture, Trinidad 

 and Tobago, August-October 1914, publishes an appeal to 

 the inhabitants of the colony from the Connnittee appointed 

 by His Excellency the Governor to deal with the local supply 

 of ground provision. After suggesting possible crops to be 

 grown, the Committee says: 'It should be the aim of everyone 

 to become, if possible, a producer instead of merely a con- 

 sumer. Many people have already realized this, and are 

 acting upon it. The Committee hopes that all who have 

 influence over others will help them to see and act upon it 

 too.' The appeal concludes as follows: 'The essential point 

 now is to encourage people of all classes to do a little in 

 their own interests. The net result of many small efforts 

 will be to the great advantage of the community as a whole.* 



