92 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



March 19, 1910. 



Paris green is essentially copper aceto-arsenite and, if 

 pure, sbould have the following equivalent composition: 

 arsenious oxide 5S'65 per cent., copper oxide 31-29 per cent., 

 acetic acid 10 06 per cent. In seventeen f^amples examined 

 at the New .Tersey Agricultural Experiment Station.s, the 

 arsenious oxide was from 2 to i per cent., and the copper 

 iixide from 1 to 4 per cent., below these proportions. 



GLEANINGS. 



In the February number of the Lowhm Ma;/aime, there 

 appears an interesting illu.strated article, by Mr. -J. R. Jack- 

 son, A.L.S., on tobacco-growing in Jamaica. 



During December 1909, the value of the sugar imported 

 into the United States was §2,400,000; in December 190S, it 

 was §2,100,000. Similarly, the figures for the complete 

 years were §90,000,000 and i?SS,900,000. 



The principal export of Venezuela — cotft-e — reached 

 a weight of 6,784 metric tons during 1908; in the previous 

 year it was 8, 'J 1.5 metric tons. The similar figures for cacao 

 700, and 7,0.59, metric tons. 



year 

 ■were 5 



The exports of .sugar and copra from Fiji, during 1908, 

 were re.spectively, 66,149 ton.s, of a value of £647,306, and 

 12,931 tons, valued at £1.54,488. The similar quantities 

 and values for the preceding year were 66,597 tons and 

 £602,820, and 11,290 tons and £182,788. 



At the end of 1908, there were in Servia 282 attiliated 

 Eaiffeisen banks, with 9,082 members, of which 8,161 were 

 peasants. At the end of 1908, 12,960 loans had been 

 advanced, of which 7,352 were between £4 and £12. (The 

 Cyprus Journal. January 1910.) 



A company has been registered recently for the purpose 

 of carrying on the business of cultivators of coffee, cacao, 

 rubber and other produce in Trinidad. Another object of the 

 company is to acquire the commercial interests of the late 

 Mr. Louis Bert de Lamarre, in Barbados and Trinidad. 



The Report on the Fru'irtm of Agriculture in, India, for 

 1907-9, states that further trials with tree cottons have con- 

 firmed the opinion that they will never enter into regular 

 cultivation in India, Most of the experiments with them 

 have failed, and have been abandoned since March 1909. 

 A small amount of success has, however, been obtained in 

 some parts of India, but it is said that the place of tree 

 cotton as a field crop in Indian agriculture is very limited. 



Last month's issue of an American trade journal states 

 that there does not seem to be any weakening in the' broom 

 corn position since January; prices have an upward tendency, 

 though the change is not great. It appears that, on all 

 accounts, the price of broom corn of the present crop will be 

 high, and that the product will be scarce. 



The results of the Intermediate Examination held in 

 connexion with the Courses of Heading, on November 1 and 

 2, 1909, which were given in the A'jrindttcral News, Vol. 

 VIII, p. 381, may be now completed by the statement that 

 R. W. Niles, of St. Lucia, obtained a First Class certificate, 

 ■with Cacao and Cotton as .special satisfactory subjects. 



In the Ae/rirultnral Keivs, Vol. VIII, p. 2S4, it was 

 stated that a reward of £5,000 had been offered for a good 

 method of exterminating the ■ivhite ant (Termes Gestroi) in 

 the Federated ^lalay States. It has been announced recently, 

 in the Agricultural Bulletin of the Straits and Federated 

 Malai/ States, that after careful consideration of the applica- 

 tions by the conmiittee appointed to adjudicate, it was 

 decided that none of the remedies suggested -wei-e suitable 

 for the reward, and that this has now been withdrawn finally. 



The distribution from the Antigua Botanic Station, 

 during the month of January 1910, was as follows: cane 

 plants 26,415, sweet potato cuttings 22,000, limes 1,400, 

 cocoa-nuts 258, Eucalyptus 44, Casuarina 43, grafted mango 1, 

 miscellaneous economic plants 24, miscellaneous decorative 

 plants 53, miscellaneous cuttings 1-50, broom corn seed 100 lb., 

 miscellaneous seeds 9 packets and 1 bag. 



Goods were exported from the colonj- of British Guiana, 

 during 1908-9, to the value of £2,104,176: the value of those 

 produced and manufactured losally was £1,958,509. During 

 the preceding period, the values were, similarly, £1,711,543 

 and £1,545,303. Sugar and its by-products continue to be 

 the main article of export, representing during the period 

 1908-9, 75 per cent, of the total produce. The sugar crop 

 reached 115,212 tons; in 1907-8 it was 100,737 tons. The 

 area under sugar-cane was 71,310 acres, as against 70,986 

 acres in 1907-8. (Colonial Reports — Annual, No. 632.) 



The correct botanical nomenclature of the plants yielding 

 commercial cottons has provided much subject for controversy. 

 A recent paper communicated by F. Fletcher to the 

 Cairo Scientific Journal (November 1909) discusses the 

 botany and origin of American Upland cotton. Evidence is 

 adduced for the opinion that this -well-known plant does not 

 show the characters indicated by Miller's type of the species 

 hirsutum, but conforms to the description and drawings issued 

 by Tenore for Geissi/jiiuni siaynense. The author states that 

 G. relif/iosum. of Linnaeus also refers to the Upland plant, 

 but gives reasons for disregarding this specific name in favour 

 of the former. {Nature, February 3, 1910.) 



Accoi-ding to the India Ruhher World, an estimate by 

 the firm of Messrs. Dick, Brothers ,& Co., of New Vork, places 

 the annual sale of cotton duck for use in rubber belting and 

 all kinds of rubber hose at 50 million yards. It is also 

 estimated that the annual demand for cotton for use in motor 

 car construction is 325,000 bales, of which 290,000 are used 

 for making the cotton duck basis for the tyres, the remainder 

 being chieHy employed in the manufacture of artificial leather 

 cushions and seats. Reference is also made to the use of 

 cotton in manufacturing the material for in.sulating electric 

 wires. It should be stated that Sea Island cotton i.s 

 especially suited for these purposes, as for all otliers whei-e 

 strength of fibre is a particular requirement. 



