Vol. IX. No. 213. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



197 



freight of i!5s. per ton is not considered to be unreasonably 



high. 



DisTKiBUTiox AND SALE OF PRUiT. A careful study of 

 the matters of distribution and methods of sale of the 

 exported fruit has led to the following conclusions : — 



(1) In introducing a new fruit, both the auction and priv- 

 ate salesmen should receive consignments to sell, in order that it 

 may be properly advertized and that the value may be faii-ly 

 tested. 



(2) That the best net results will be obtained by private 

 salesmen, when the regular supplies are not too bulky, and the 

 fruit is in good condition. Sent in this way, the fruit may 

 be repacked for sale, whereas if it is put up to auction, 

 a little waste in one box is likely to cause it to be sold at an 

 unfair price. 



(3) That, while it is undesirable for a monopoly of the 

 selling to be effected, it is not good policy that consignments 

 should be split up to too great an extent among salesmen. 



(4) That, when a fairly large proportion of the fruit has 

 been spoiled in transit, it should be put up to auction 

 immediately. 



(.5) That, when it appears likely that a new shipment of 

 fruit will reach appointed private salesmen while part of the 

 last shipment is still on their hands, the private salesmen's 

 weekly supplies should be reduced, and if neces.sary, the 

 distribution of the fruit should be hastened by selling it at 

 auction. 



Covent Garden is recommended as the fruit market of 

 the United Kingdom to which shipments should be mostly 

 sent. This is because: (1) it forms the best distributing 

 centre; (2) experiments in trying the ]':nglish provincial 

 markets are most easily made from it; (.'5) it sets the i)rice of 

 fruit, to .some extent, and is followed by the provincial 

 markets; (4) the concentration of fruit at Covent Garden 

 avoids the trouble and expense of extra cartage, high railway 

 carriage, possible damage of fruit from extra handling, and 

 delays; and the rendering of account sales is facilitated. 

 Direct services of steamers landing African fruit at Liverpool, 

 Manchester, Glasgow, Hull or Bristol, would lessen the superi- 

 ority of Covent Garden in these matters. It is recommended 

 that, at present, Natal fruit should not be sent to Southamp- 

 ton, except in such quantities as are certain of a quick .sale. 

 Large lots unloaded at Southampton are generally consigned 

 to salesmen in the Midlands and the North, who are also the 

 clients of London salesmen: thus confusion is caused to such 

 an extent, in some cases, that the fruit is despatched via 

 London, with the result that the work and expenses are 

 doubled. The present special use of Southampton would 

 appear to be the opening up of markets in the West and 

 South of England. It has not been found, as far as Natal 

 fruit is concerned, to be a suitable distributing centre for the 

 large provincial towns. 



The report goes on to the consideration of methods of 

 consigning fruit, and other matters. An account of these 

 will be given in the next number of the Aqriculttiral Xews 



BOOK SHELF. 



DEPARTMENT NEWS. 



The Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture left 

 Barbados, on Thursday, June 9, by the SS. 'Ocanio', 

 on an official visit to St. Vincent. Dr. Watts returned 

 to Barbados, by the SS. ' Oruro', on Tuesday, the 21st. 

 instant. 



THE MODERN SUGAR PLANTER. A. B. Gilmore, 

 ol2. Camp Street, Netv Orleans. $2, yearly. 



As was announced in the last number of the Agriridtural 

 Xew!t, a new weekly journal, devoted chiefly to the interests 

 of the Louisiana sugar industry, and published under the 

 above title, is now being issued. The founder and publisher 

 is A. B. Gilmore, who has recently resigned the position of 

 manager and editor of the Sugar Planters' Journal, which 

 post he has occupied during the past ten years. 



The object of the paper is to enable the sugar planter 

 in Louisiana to keep in touch with the events of interest to 

 him that are taking place in that State. Judging from the 

 first number, it should succeed in attaining that object. The 

 information in this deals with the outlook for the cane crop; 

 improvements, extensions and alterations in existing sugar- 

 making plants in the State; sales of plantations, etc. : the 

 Louisiana Sugar Planters' Association meetings; matters of 

 personal interest; and, in addition, there is a section of the 

 paper, under the title ' This and That', which enables matters 

 not directly bearing on the sugar industry, but which are 

 nevertheless of mterest, to be given attention. 



The journal is well printed, on good paper, and should 

 be of use locally. It does not seem likely to be of as much 

 interest outside Louisiana; its general use might, however, be 

 increased, by making abstracts of much of the matter, instead 

 of printing it in e.rteiiso, and by increasing the number of 

 articles. It fulfils a purpose very like that of the already exist- 

 ing ,S'i;,/<ir Planters' .hurnal, and there is the question as to 

 whether there is room for two such similar papers— a question 

 which the large and varied interests in such an important 

 sugar-producing area as Louisiana may probably answer in 

 the affirmative. 



EFFECT OF COOKING RICE. 



The following account of experiments conducted 

 to determine the changes that take place when rice is 

 cooked, is taken from the Agricultural Ledger, 1908-9, 

 No. 5 :— 



In the preparation of rice for the table, a certain amount 

 of its nourishing properties is removed in the water in which 

 it is boiled. A .series of experiments was made with four 

 kinds of rice, in which 20 grains of analysed rice were placed 

 in 110 c.c. of water and boiled for half an hour until properly 

 swollen and soft. The water, or 'conjee', was thrown away, 

 and the boiled rices were dried and analysed. Without 

 quoting the separate figures, the average analyses are given: — 



Boiled rice 

 Original rice. from 100 parts Loss. 



of original. 

 Water 12-71 313 



Albuminoids 6-92 (532 060 



Fat 0-2.5 0-12 0-13 



Carbohydrates 79-13 72-86 6-27 



Fibre 0-34 038 



Ash 0-62 0-.51 Oil 



The boiling, therefore, removes more than half the fat, 

 over 8 per cent, of albuminoids, less than 8 per cent of 

 carbohydrate.s, and 17-6 per cent, of the a.sh. 



