188 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



June 11, 1910. 



GLEANINGS. 



The last sugai- crop in Natal was the largest which has 

 yet been known, and amounted to 63,000 tons. It is 

 estimated that the output for the coming crop will be 

 nearly 75,000 tons. 



The Chetiiical TraJv Journal, Vol. 45, pp. 354 and 364, 

 contains a brief note of a method, known as Serpek's process, 

 for manufacturing aluminium nitride, employing nitrogen of 

 the air, ai.d using this crimiiound as a manure. 



A report by the Hriti.sh ^'ice-Consul at Puerto Plata 

 shows that 13,959,047 lb. of cacao was exported during the 

 year 1909. This is a record quantity, and is probably 

 accounted for by an increase in the area of cultivation. 



The total amount of cotton imported into the United 

 Kingdom during the quarter ended March 31, 1910, was 

 744,060 bales. Of this quantity, 2,768 bales were shipped 

 from the British West Indies. (The Board of Tradi- Jomndl, 

 April 7, 1910.) 



The Journal of llyijitne, Vol. IX, No. 2, contains 

 a paper by W.P. Kaufmann, M.D., in which it is held that 

 persoDS employed in starch factories, under conditions which 

 lead to the inhalation of the starch dust, show a comparative 

 immunity from res|jiratory disorders. 



H.M. Consul at Newchwang reports that the quantity 

 of .soy bean cake exported from Manchuria during 1909 was 

 594,000 tons, of which about 90 per (x-nt. went to Japan, and 

 most of the rest to South China, in which places it is used 

 as a manure for rice and sugar-cane, respective!}-. Several 

 shipments to Europe vi-ere a failure, giving rise to the general 

 opinion that it is impossible for soy bean cake to travel 

 through the tropics to Europe in good condition. 



In a paper which appears in the (Joiuptt'x Hemlus de 

 rAi-iidrii/ie des .SVvV«ces, Paris, it is claimed to have been demon- 

 strated that the fa>ces from animals suspected to be ill with 

 anthrax, and the f;ecal matter of those that have died from 

 the disease, will indicate these facts at once by bacterial 

 examination. The conditions in the intestines favour spore 

 formation, in which stage the bacillus is resistant to putre- 

 faction, and anthrax cultures can always be obtained by heat- 

 ing the fiscal matter to 65''C. Under these conditions, the 

 colonies of the bacillus are the more numerous the later the 

 examination is made. (The Louisiana Planter and Sii;/ar 

 Mcinii/acturcr, March 26, 1910.) 



Information has been received from the Pennsylvania 

 State College that the National Dairy Show of the United 

 States introduced a new class into its prize list, in 1909, 

 which includes cows of any age having official yearly milk 

 records. The purpose of this was to give the milking capacity 

 of cows rea.sonable acknowledgement when being judged in 

 the ring, and experience at the show has proved that the 

 adoption of the scheme is justified. 



The eighteenth An mud Rfj.ort (1908-9) of the Oklahoma 

 Agricultural Experiment Station gives ths following infor- 

 mation in connexion with broom corn. The market demands 

 a brush of fresh green colour, so that the heads should be free 

 from stains, and therefore it should be harvested when the 

 plants are coming into full bloom. If the crop is allowed to 

 remain after this, and the weather is wet, the heads which 

 remain inside the leaf sheath will have a tendency to turn red. 

 Similar damagd^ may be done through attacks of plant lice, 

 and through over-ripeness and exposure to the sun. 



Experiments that have been performed at the Upper 

 Shillong [India] Agricultural Station, for the purpose of 

 comparing the yields of potatos planted with whole and cut 

 sets, are described in the Annual Report of the Ayrinil- 

 tural Stations in Eastern Ben<jal and Assam, 1908-9. Two 

 .sets of trials, conducted in 1907-8 and 1908-9, have shown 

 that the yield obtained from cut sets was practically equal to 

 that from whole sets. It is concluded from these results, 

 that when there is a shortage of sets, large tubers may be cut 

 to form two or more sets, without any danger of diminution 

 in the crop. 



In A'litarr for j\Iay 5, 1910, p. 289, an abstract of a paper 

 which appeared in the March number of Terrestrial Ma</netism. 

 and Atuiosphn-ir Electric it;/ is given. In this it is shown that 

 the magnetic storm which accompanied the eruption of Mont 

 Pelee on ]\Iay 18, 1902, was not instantaneous over the whole 

 earth, but that it originated about 14° west of Mont Pelee 

 and travelled eastward, with a velocity of about 7,000 miles 

 per minute, round the entire globe. This discovery has led 

 to the examination of other records, with the result that it is 

 now concluded that such storms are not instantaneous over 

 the wlKile earth, but generally travel eastward, with a speed 

 of about 7,000 m.iles per minute. 



A booklet entitled Insurance ai/ainst Gales, Ci/clones and 

 Earthquaht's, which has been issued recently for Messrs. 

 Henry Head A- Co., Ltd., 27, Cornhill, London, E C , shows 

 that where contracts have been entered into between growers 

 of canes and sugar factories, the ri.sk of the factory being 

 unable to take the cane, owing to any defined cause, can be 

 covered : in the event of a claim, underwriters are liable for 

 the additional costs for having the canes ground elsewhere; 

 or if a breakdriwn occurs at a time when it is impossible for 

 this to be done, they are prepared to pay a total loss on the 

 acreage which cannot be reaped in consequence of the break- 

 down of the factory. The booklet contains many other 

 interesting particulars concerning insurance, that in the West 

 Indies being specially considered. 



