40 



THE AGRICULTUllAL NEWS, 



February 5, 1910. 



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griciiltii rHl 11imu.h 



Vol. IX. SATURDAY, FEBKUAUY 5, 1910. No. 20;i 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Contents of Present Issue. 



As was promised in the last issue, the subject of 

 the Balance of Life in the Soil is continued in this 

 number. The theme is concluded, in the editorial, in 

 a broad way, which relates to the interests of the 

 agriculturist. 



An account of results that have been obtained in 

 Porto Rico with seedling canes from the British West 

 Indies, is given on page 3.5. 



Accounts of interesting experiments with green 

 dressings in Antigua and Dominica appear on page 37. 



Manufacture of Tapioca in the Malay States. 



TapiucL is stated to be produced in the Malay 

 States from cissava starch in the following manner. 

 The starch, while still wet, is made into small round 

 pellets by pressing, rolling and shaking it, and forcing 

 It through a sieve on to a piece of cloth which is 

 kept in constant movement. The pellets then fall on 

 to an iron plate, which is also kept shaking, and is heated 

 to a temperature of about lOO'G. The heat causes 

 a partial conversion of the starch into dextrin, and 

 swells the pellets, which becomes gelatinous in appear- 

 ance. The product is called pearl tapioca. Pellets 

 1'15 millimetres in diameter form 'seed tapioca'; 3 

 millimetres in diameter, 'medium pearl'; .5 millimetres, 

 'bullet pearl'. 



The amount of tapioca exported from the Feder- 

 ated Malay States during 1907 was 45,600 tons, of 

 a value of about £720,000. 



The Insect Notes, on page 42, contain two 

 articles — one on the insect pests of Uganda, where 

 a comparison with those in the West Indies is given, 

 and the other supplying interesting information in 

 connexion with the sweet potato weevil {Gylafi formi- 

 carius). Acknowledgement is made to the United 

 States Department of Agriculture for permission to 

 use the block for Fig. 5. 



The Fungus Notes (page 46) appear under the 

 heading Cacao Diseases in Surinam. In the article, 

 the expediency of the completion of the work in con- 

 nexion with the correlation of some of the diseases of 

 cacao is indicated. 



Uses of Cotton Waste. 



Two kinds of material are included under the 

 name of cotton waste; one of these is a thread waste 

 which is used by those in charge of machinery and for 

 packing purposes, and the other is a soft waste which 

 is generally re-spun. The latter is often worked up into 

 yarns which are used in the manufacture of cotton, or 

 cotton and woollen, goods. Additional uses for this kind 

 of waste are for making wadding, for upholstering 

 purposes and for the manufacture of smokeless powder. 

 To a much smaller extent it is used in cotton-tipped 

 cigarettes. 



In addition to that in the waste proper, a large 

 trade is done in cotton linters, as well as in cotton 

 pickings; these are composed of pieces of cotton which 

 become detached in sampling and transportation, and 

 which are sold at prices about 10 per cent, less than 

 those of ordinary cotton. 



A note on a grass {Sporoholiis indicus) that is 

 fairly common in the West Indies is given on page 46. 



Characteristics of Manicoba Rubber Trees. 



In the last issue of the AgrictUtural News, a note 

 was given on the variability that is shown by the Jequie 

 rubber tree (Manihot d icliotoma). In the Agricultural 

 Bulletin of the Federated Malay t<tates, November 

 1909, the main characteristics of this species, as well as 

 those of the Kemanso Manicoba rubber tree {Manihot 

 2)iaiiliyensis), are given. The leaves of the former are 

 from 3-to o-lobed, pale green on the under surface, 

 with ribs of greenish white; the contrast of the ribs 

 with the leaf is sufficiently well marked to render the 

 species easy of identification. The height of the tree 

 is said to become about 30 feet, and its diameter about 

 2 feet, when it reaches full maturity. The leaves of 

 Manihot inauhycnsis are 3-to .5-partite, that is to say 

 the divisions between the parts are very deep; they are 

 of a darker green colour than those of the former 

 species. The ribs on the under side of the leaf are of 

 a purplish colour. The plant is a small tree reaching 

 a height of 6 to 16 feet. 



A third species of rubber-yielding Manihot has 

 been mentioned recently, namely the S. Francisco 

 Munuphii {Manihot liepta^jhylla). It is said to yield 

 rubber of good quality. 



