Vol. XIII. No. 330. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



407 



t>( agriculture throughout the Doiijiuioa. As head of 

 the E.\perimental Farms he conducted many e.\peri- 

 inents in hybridizing fruit and cereals, to the great 

 benefit of the growers of these crops in Canada. With 

 regard to his work on wheat, u very appreciative 

 article in Science, November 18, 1!I14, says that it has 

 pru\ed of paramount importance and value to Canada; 

 that the production of the Marquis wheat has demon- 

 strated the value of research work in agriculture: and 

 that its value to Canada is scarcely to be calculated in 

 thousands of dollars. 



C)wing to his scientific crossing? of apples, using as 

 till- female parent the very small Siberian crab apple. 

 Dr. Saunders h;is made the production of fairly gtiod 

 apples a reality in regions where the winter tempera- 

 ture falls as low as (50" below Zero, Fahrenheit. 



Besides his work in this direction Dr. Saunders 

 was an eminent entomologist, one of'his books, entitled 

 Injects Injurious to Frwit, being widely used as a text- 

 book in agricultural colleges in the United States and 

 Canada. Dr. Saunders's reputation was world-wide, 

 so that he received many honours tri^m learned societies 

 and universities. He wa,s create* 1 a Companion of 

 the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and 

 Saint (Jeorge by His Majesty King Edward VII. in 

 recognition of his services in the improvement of the 

 agriculture of the Dominion of Caiiafla. 



The Mauritius Department ot Agriculture. 



Tile Department of AgTicultme of Mauritius was 

 formed in 1918, absorbing into its organization the 

 Station Agronomi(pie and the Statistical Bureau of 

 the Chamber of Agi-iculture, whicH formerly existed 

 in that colony. 



Mr. F. 'a. Stockdale, M.A., F.L.S.. sometime 

 Mycologist on the statt' of the Imperial Department of 

 Agriculture, and later, Government Botanist and 

 Assistant Director of the Board of Agriculture, British 

 Guiana, is the Director of the new department, which 

 has its headquarters at Reduit. 



The staff of the Department, which includes 

 M. d'Eiiinieiez de Charmoy, has lately been increased 

 by the additifni of two officers from the West Indies, 

 Mr. G. G. Auchinleck, B.Sc. who has been appointed 

 Assistant Director and Chemist, and Mr. F. Birkinshaw, 

 who goes as Agricultui-al Instructor. 



Mauritius is principally a sugar-producing colony. 

 The area of the island is 720 square miles, while the 

 export of sugar amotnited, in 1912, to 2()().()77,000 

 kilo.s. (about 2()(i,(i"7 English tons) having an estimated 

 value of Rs. 2«,900,(JO() (about £l,it2(i,()(i()), which was 

 about 95 per cent, of the total exports. 



The sugar-cane is attacked by two chief pests, tlie 

 rhinoceros beetle (Oryctes tarandiis), and the brown 

 hai-d back (Phi/talv^ smiihi), the , \a.tter of which is 

 a recent introduction, probably from Barbados. For 

 several years the ravages of this pest havi- seriously 

 affected the sugar crop, and one of the principal 

 problems before the new department is the control of 

 this and other pests. 



Dutch Sugar Standards. 



The Commissioner of Agriculture has learned that 

 the new annual issue of colour standards for raw sugars 

 has been recei\ed b}- the Customs Departments at 

 Ottawa and Montreal. 



It is stated that there is a serious difference 

 between the new standard.s. and those which have been 

 in use for the past six years, amounting to about one 

 and three quarters degrees. In the new standard Xo. 

 16 approximates to the former Dutch Standard Xo. 14, 

 and is stated to be darker than those used by the 

 New York customs authorities. 



This matter has been brought to the attention 

 of the Canadian Government, but so far no steps 

 appear to have been taken to bring the standard into 

 unison with those formerly issued. 



It will be important to planters and othere 

 exporting to C-anadian markets to note these tacts, and 

 to endeavour to obtain accurate information, accom- - 

 panied by specimens, illustrating the standard now 



Rabbits. 



In a note appearing in the last number of the 

 Agricultural News attention was drawn to the 

 increased interest shown in England in the rearing 

 of rabbits for the table. More might be accomplished 

 in the West Indies also in this direction. Rabbits 

 give more food per year, and wholesome food too, than 

 any other animal used for human consumption. They 

 can be raised very economically, as in these islands 

 their food costs next to nothing. The Jourri'd of 

 the Jamaica Agricultural Society, September 1914, 

 gives some valuable advice about the keeping of 

 rabbits. 



One great fault noticeable in rabbit pens is that 

 the auKiunt of green food which rabbits can consume 

 is not considered, ^'ery many rabbits are only half 

 fed. The}- should literally have a pile of green food 

 provided them. This, with the valueless potato 

 'pickings' and a handful of corn now and then, is good 

 enough for them. They eat all sorts of common weeds, 

 and any kind of grass. 



Another great fault is lack of cleanliness. Plentj' 

 of bedding, and this cleaned out regularly, is neces.sarj-. 

 A wonderful lot of manure, excellent for garden use,, 

 can be accumulated from a rabbit pen. 



Another fault is not keeping the sexes separate, 

 and the consequent deterioration of the stock by 

 perpetual inbreeding. The young does should be 

 separated from the young bucks at not later than three 

 months after birth: and the breeding stock should never 

 be left running together. 



If these hints were acted on, every one keeping 

 rabbits ought to be able to produce economically a good 

 deal of meat food for use in his household. It is 

 computed that a doe rabbit having young on January 1 

 can have thirty-six young ones by December 31, count- 

 ing six to a litter: and, as some of the earliest of these 

 will by then be themselves having young ones, the pro- 

 o-eny of the one doe rabbit will probably be more than 

 100 in the course of a single year. 



