172 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



May 28, 1910. 





GLEANINGS. 



The amount of Egyptian cotton that was exported from 

 Alexandra to the United States of America during 1909 was 

 vahied at £2,900,000. In 1908, the value was £1,102,000. 



At a recent meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society, 

 it was decided to recommend that an International Horticult- 

 ural Exhibition should be held in May and June, 1912. 



The quantity of cacao shipped from Trinidad during the 

 months January to April, 1910, was 25,498,0.39 lb. The cor- 

 re.sponding quantities for 1909 and 1908 were 25,101,3.56 lb. 

 and 23,558,790 tt)., respectively. {Proreedings of tJw Af/ri- 

 ndtKral Society of Trinidad and Tohago, April 1910.) 



It is probable that Mr. Fielding and Mr. Paterson will 

 join the English members of the Royal Commission on Trade 

 relations between Canada and the West Indies at the end of 

 this or next month, when further evidence in connexion with 

 this subject will be taken in London. 



An account of experiments described in Gitunings in Bee 

 Cidture for April 15, 1910, demonstrates the importance of the 

 supply of water for bees. It was found that lialf a pint 

 of clean water could be consumed by a good colony in two 

 hours and twenty minutes, and that the greatest amount of 

 water is required during the breeding season. 



The Textile Mernirt/lov k-pvW 2, 1910, states that it was 

 reported at a recent general meeting of the French Colonial 

 Cotton-Growing Association that the cotton produced in the 

 French colonies or Protectorates has increased from 161,000 

 kilos, in 1907, to 238,000 kilos, in 1909; this comes chiefly 

 from Dahomey and the Soudan. It appears from experiments 

 that conditions in Senegal are suitable for the cultivation of 

 the b'.'st varieties of J^gyptian cotton. 



A sample of crushed Guinea corn heads, prepared under 

 the direction of Mr. A. St. G. Spooner, Antigua, has been 

 received at the Head Office through Mr. H. A. Tempany, 

 B.Sc, Superintendent of Agriculture for the Leeward Islands. 

 According to Mr. Spooner, stock will readily consume the 

 corn so prepared, even when it contains a certain propor- 

 tion of the stalks; thi.> is important, in view of the difficulty 

 of cleaning heads of Guinea corn for the purpose. The 

 machine used in the operation is called the Imperial Kelly 

 Duplex Grinding Mill, and is manufactured by the Duplex 

 Mill and Jfanufactnring Company, of Springfield, Ohio. 



The Monthly' Consular and Trade Reports for February 

 1910, contains an account of a method for the utilization of 

 the 'mortar' which is used in the purification of sugar in refin- 

 eries. The treatment con.sists in adding .slaked lime and pass- 

 ing carbon dioxide, when potassium carbonate is precipitated 

 and brings down the organic compounds in the liquid, together 

 with phosphoric acid. The precipitate is separated by filter- 

 ing, dried, and used as manure 



H. M. Consul-General at ilexico City reports that there 

 has been a great increase in the last three years in the 

 production of Guayule rubber in the Republic. The exports 

 of this product in the year ended June 30, 1909, were valued 

 at £463,567, as against £12.5,852 in 1907-8; the exports in 

 the six months July to December 1909 were valued at 

 £449,113. The area under the plant is stated to be 30 per 

 cent, greater during this year than in the year before. (The 

 Board of Trade Journal, April 14, 1910.) 



The Annual Report of the Agricultural Stations, Eastern 

 Bengal and Assam, 1908-9, .shows that the following canes, 

 B.147, B.1753, B.376 and B.208, received from Barbados 

 in May, 1907, have been grown successfully at Jorhat Agri- 

 cultural Station. The juice of all the varieties was found to 

 be rich in sucrose and very low in glucose, but it is stated that 

 experiments on a larger scale, lasting for several years, are 

 required before a definite conclusion can be reached as to the 

 suitability of these canes for the district. 



The Report fin the Progi-ess (f Agriculture in India, for 

 1907-9, gives an account of the work that is being done in 

 India in the direction of introducing improved tillage imple- 

 ments among the .small cultivators in that country. In the 

 I'nited Provinces, village agencies have been formed, which 

 are managed by local agents who lend or sell the implements. 

 Further help is given by the agricultural assistants, who visit 

 the cultivators, ascertain if the instruments are working 

 properly, and arrange for repairs. The system appears to 

 answer satisfactorily. 



With reference to the announcements in the Agricultural 

 A'ews, Vol. IX, pp. 60 and 156, of the forthcoming Inter- 

 national Rubber and Allied Trades Exhibition, it should be 

 stated that this will be held at the Royal Agricultural Hall, 

 Islington— not at Olympia. Information received from the 

 organizing Manager, Mr. A. Staines Manders, .shows 

 that already, nearly every rubber-growing country in the 

 world will send exhibits, and that it is advisable, in view 

 of the demand, that intending exhibitors should secure si:)ace 

 as soon as possible. 



The prosijectus of an organization called the British 

 Honduras Rubber Company, Limited, has been issued recently. 

 Accor<ling to this, the area at present cultivated by the 

 Company is aboijt 1,240 acres, which chieHy contains rubber 

 and cacao; there is in addition, a large area which is cleared 

 and used for pasture. An estimate states that there are 

 166,000 trees of Castilloa elastica on the estate, the age of 

 these being between three and eleven years More than half 

 of them are ready to be tapped, and it is thought that they 

 will give an annual yield of about 144,000 lb. of rubber. 

 This quantit}- is expected to increase in future years, as the 

 fresh plantings attain maturity. It is proposed to plant 

 annually 50,000 rubber, and an equal number of cacao, trees. 



