232 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



July 23. 1910. 



EDITORIAL NOTICES. 



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 Barbados. 



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 News ' should be addressed to the Agents, and not to 

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gigriciiltural Ijleiuii 



Vol. IX. SATURDAY, JULY 23, 1910. No. 215. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Contents of Present Issue. 



The editorial in this number deals with Some 

 Considerations in the Treatment of Plant Diseases, with 

 especial reference to the need of co-operation between 

 those who desire advice and those whose part it is to 

 give this. 



An interesting and authoritative article on the 

 manufactnre of white sugar in Java is reproduced on 

 page 227. 



Information in regard to the packing and trans- 

 portation of cacao pods is presented on page 228. 



A description of several of the chief varieties of 

 rubber, under the names by which they are known in 

 the market, appears on page 231. 



An account of an interesting experiment in cross- 

 ing Sea Island and native West Indian cotton is given 

 on page 230. 



The Insect Notes, on page 234, contain Part III 

 of the series of articles on the Acarina or Mites. Ac- 

 knowledgement is made io the United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture for permission to use the block for 

 Fig. 34. 



The Fungus Notes (page 23S) give a review of 

 cacao-spraying experiments that have been conducted 

 recently in Trinidad. 



Growing Cotton from Cuttings and by Budding. 



In the Annual Report of the Haivaii Agri- 

 cultural Exyerimen tal Station for 1909, a short account 

 is given of experiments in growing cotton from cuttings, 

 and by budding. The variety of cotton employed was 

 Caravonica, and it was found that this could be success- 

 fully propagated by these vegetative methods. 



As Sea Island cotton is only grown as an annual, 

 these trials are not as important, in relation to it, as they 

 are in connexion with the Caravonica variety. The 

 fesisibiiity, however, of raising the first-mentioned kind 

 from cuttings may be worth trying, as it may form 

 a means, under certain conditions, of conserving 

 a given strain in a certain district when, for any reason, 

 circumstances have interfered with the continuation of 

 its propagation from seed. 



-^^^ ♦-^ 



Euphorbia Latex for Preventing Corrosion. 



The Agricultural News, Vol. IX, p. 41, contained 

 a note on this subject, and in reference to this, the 

 following additional information has been kindly 

 supplied by Mr. J. Burtt-Davy, F.L.S., Agrostologist 

 and Botanist to the Transvaal Department of Agri- 

 culture. This shows that the common species of tree 

 Euphorbia growing along the Natal coast is E. grandi- 

 dens; E. Reivhardtii is also found in Natal and other 

 parts of South Africa, and a species resembling 

 E. Tirucalli of India and East Africa is also met with. 

 It may be mentioned that the last species is grovku in 

 several of the Botanic Stations in the West Indies. 



Mr. Burtt-Davy also states that the latex of 

 E. antlquoruin, and probably other species, is said 

 to have been used in the East Indies and Morocco, 

 some years ago, in the manufacture of a paint for iron, 

 for preserving ships' bottoms. 



The Action of Manganese Salts on Growing 

 Plants. 



In a note made on this subject, on page 159 of the 

 current volume of the Agri cultural News, attention 

 was drawn to the statement, in the Journal d' Agri- 

 culture Tropicale, No. 10.5, 1910, that work had been 

 done, in Hawaii, showing that the best soils for pine- 

 apples are those wiiich contain about .561 per cent, of 

 manganese sesquioxide, while the least suitable contain 

 only 037 per cent, of this substance. 



Since this, through the courtesy of the Chief of 

 Insular Stations, of the United States Department of 

 Agriculture (Mr. Walter H. Evans), information has 

 been received that the actual facts accord with the 

 reverse of this statement, as the pine-apple plants 

 were found to turn yellow and produce no fruit in soil 

 containing a large amount of manganese. 



This information was accoaipanied by a copy of 

 Press Bulletin No. 23. of the Hawaii Agricultural 

 Experiment Station, entitled Tlte Infiuente of Mangan- 

 ese on the Growth of Pine-apples, in which the work 

 to which reference has been made is described. This 

 shows that, while manganese in small quantities may 

 act as a stimulant to plant growth, in large amounts 

 it is extremely injurious. 



