Vol. IX. No. 212. 



THE AQKICULTUrvAL NEWS. 



189 



STUDENTS' CORNER. 



JUNK 



Second Period. 

 Seasonal Notes. 



By this time, the brokers' reports on the shipments of 

 cotton from the hvst crop will have buon received. Careful 

 note of these should be made, and the opinions given concern- 

 ing the cotton should be compared with llie observations made 

 on the estate earlier in the season. Useful information should 

 be obtained by endeavouring to ascertain why that shipped 

 under certain marks has obtained higher prices than other 

 lots, under similar market conditions. What are the chief 

 characters of a good type of Sea Island cotton, and on what 

 circumstances in its production do these depend chiefly ( 

 Exjjlain what is meant by : nep, wasty cotton, stained cotton, 

 and state on what the presence of these in a sanijile depends. 



Where opportunities for this are given, visits should be 

 made to places where large quantities of cotton seed are 

 bandied, in order that information in connexion with selec- 

 tion, testing and disinfection may be obtained. How would 

 you conduct a fair test of the germinating power of seed that 

 liad been kept in heaps on the Hoor of a store-room '. In 

 what way is harm likely to occur to seed that has been stored 

 in this manner ! 



The preparation of land for cott(jn planting should have 

 been completed by this time, and the student will be in 

 possession of notes as to the kind of tillage which the land 

 has received. He will also have made observations on the 

 manner in which different manures are applied, and the way in 

 which the plants that were grown for the purpose of provid- 

 ing green dressings are employed. (See A;/ricidliii-ril Tf(/'.v, 

 Vols. IV, ]!. 182 and IX, p. 8(k also Pamphlet No. 4.5 of the 

 Department Series — A B (J of Cut f on rinntimj, enlarged 

 edition.^ 



As dry weather is preferred for the distillation of bay 

 oil, this will most probably have been eonjpleted, in those 

 islands where it is conducted. E.vamino the kind of still that 

 is nsed for the purpose, and make notes of any improvements 

 in the process that may suggest themselves to you. What 

 other plant do you know of, closely related to the bay tree, 

 which yields a crop that is of commercial importance? Make 

 a list of as many |)lants as you can, that iiear leaves from 

 which useful products are obtained by distillation. In what 

 ways are such products generally employed? Name any 

 special uses that some of them possess. From what other 

 parts of plants, besides the leaves, may oils of a nature similar 

 to that of bay oil be obtained? 



Estates on which cacao, cotfee, rubber, nutmegs, limes 

 and similar plants are raised, usually possess a nursery for 

 the provision of seedlings of such plants as may be required 

 for establishment in the coming growing season. For .such 

 a nursery, a good supply of bamboo pots and ordinary, 

 earthenware pots, as well as .seed boxes will have been pre- 

 pared, in order that the seeds of the plants that it is intended 

 to raise may be sown as soon as the rains begin. Other 

 nursery work will consist in seeing that the beds are well 

 forked, manured and prepared for the recejition of the seed- 

 lings that will have to be transplanted into them. All pots 

 and boxes should be carefully cleaned, and the manure used 

 in the beds should be well rotted. Why is it necessary for 

 these precautions to be taken? When the seedlings are grow- 

 ing, a close watch should be kept for any signs of disease or 

 pests; in the event of the appearance of these, if they cannot 



be controlled by spraying or other suitable treatment, it is 

 best to destroy the affected seedlings, preferably by burning. 



Nurseries should not be kept merely on those estates 

 where they are required primarily to provide seedlings for 

 the establi.shraent of plants of the kind that it is the chief 

 work of the estate to produce. They have their place on all 

 estates, even where little besides sugar or cotton is 

 grown, though they will not be cowlucted on the same 

 scale, on such estates, as on properties where crops like 

 cacao are grown chiefly. The main purpose of such smalK, 

 nurseries will be to aftbrd a means ' of propagating use- 

 ful plants, such as forest and shade trees. It may not 

 be that these will helj) directly to increase the revenue from 

 the estate in any way, but they will have their use in 

 improving the general conditions that obtain on it, especially 

 on tho.se parts which are employed for pasturing stock. Every 

 practical agriculturist should keep a constant watch for the 

 purpose of discovering trees of any kind, in his neighbour- 

 hood, that may be of use to him; he should also be on the 

 alert for any that he may be made cognizant of, either in his 

 reading, or in conversation with others. If he is in possession 

 of a well-kept nursery, he will be able to take advantage of 

 what he has discovered, or learnt, to the betterment of the 

 conditions of his everyday surroundings. 



Reference was made to the subject of mulching cacao, in 

 this column, on page 1-57 of this volume of the Agricultwal 

 News. Note that, where special manures are used for cacao, 

 these are applied at the time of the first ra^ins. Why is this ' 

 What soil constituents are most quickly exhausted by plants 

 which are grown chiefly for their fruits and seeds? What 

 are the main differences between the effect on the soil of 

 growing a crop like cacao and that of raising crops such as 

 sugar-cane, cotton and ground provisions ? 



Questions for Candidates. 



PEELIMINAKY QUESTIONS. 



(1) Why do cla3f-soils require more tillage than sandy 

 soils? 



(2) What are contour drains, and where are they used 

 especially? 



(3) State what is meant by an incomplete manure. 



INTERMEDIATE QUESTIONS. 



(1) What is understood by root disease of the sugar- 

 cane? How does this disease affect the plant, and how is it 

 spread? 



(2) Why is sulphate of ammonia used as a manure for 

 the sugar cane? In what forms may the nitrogen that it 

 contains be taken in by the plant? 



(3) Give a list of the most troublesome weeds in your 

 neighbourhood, and state what you consider to be the best 

 ways of getting rid of them. 



Information has been received that the first number of 

 a new paper, chiefly devoted to sugar interests, hast just been 

 issued, under the title of ' The Modern Sugar Planter'. The 

 founder and publisher of this new weekly paper is A. B. Gil- 

 more, 512, Camp Street, New Orleans, La., who has been 

 manager and editor of the Sugar I'lanters' Journal for the 

 past ten years, and whose experience should go far to ensure 

 its usefulness. A review of the journal will be given in the 

 next number of the Agricultural News. 



