Vol. IX. No. 216. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



251 



One species of this family is of interest from its connex- 

 ion with the disease of bulbs, which at one time was a menace 

 to the cultivation of lilies in Benuuda. It is known as the 

 Eucharis mite, and its attacks on lily bulbs were followed by 

 a bacterial disease of a very serious nature.,^ Another species, 

 Pediculoid-is nentricosus, has recently attracted a con- 

 siderable amount of attention from the annoyance it has 

 caused to human beings in certain sections of the United 

 States. This mite is normally a parasite on a small larva, 

 which attacks the stems of wheat and other grains. It was 

 found that persons who slept on beds made from fresh straw 

 suffered an acute skin affection, which after some difficulty 

 was traced to the presence and action nf this species of mite. 

 The straw wliich was used for making the beds harboured 

 countless numbers of mites which, being deprived of their 

 natural source of food, attacked the skin of those sleeping on 

 the beds, producing very disagreeable results. 



BROOM CORN IN ANTIGUA. 



A short account of the present condition of the broom 

 corn industry of Antigua has been received from Mr. T. 

 Jackson, Curator of the Botanic Station. In this, after 

 reference has been made to the efforts qf the Agricultural 

 Department to establish the industry there, and to the 

 resulting trials of the crop that have been made by planters, 

 information is given to show that, in the latter, the greatest 

 area planted in broom corn has been about -i acres, from 

 which 5,726 tb. of corn was reaped, giving 3,708 Bj. 

 of seed and 1,758 tb. of heads. These figures show that the 

 proportion of seed to heads, was very high. 



The corn was. made into 9 bales, varying in weight from 

 161 B). to 228 tt) , which were shipped to Messrs. T. S. 

 Simras .t Co., Ltd., St. John, N.B., who bought the corn at 

 Tic. per lb. k report received from this firm shows that the 

 corn was too short, none of it being self-working, and that it 

 possessed an objectionable red colour. The first of these 

 characteristics can be altered easily, for one of the faults of 

 broom corn, in Antigua in the past, has been its length, and 

 the efforts ;i:ade to rectify this have led to too great 

 a reduction of it. The second fault cannot be eliminated as 

 easily, though much may be done by reaping the crop early. 

 It is" pointed out in the account that the results of this trial, 

 which is probably the first serious one in Antigua, are on the 

 whole, not discouraging, and that further efforts are likely to 

 be made in the future. 



In regard to the handling of the crop, Mr. .Jackson gives 

 some interesting facts which have arisen in his own experi- 

 ence. From these, it appears that a simple way of handling 

 the material, after it has been dried, is to tie it up in bundles, 

 each about 1 foot in diameter and with all the heads of the 

 corn on the same side. These bundles are tied in much the 

 same way as is employed for wheat sheaves. During the 

 making of them, the corn should be graded. Care is essential 

 in these matters in order that it may be fed to the 

 deaning machine in the most efficient way possible. In 

 Antigua, the cleaning machine employed is called the Cales- 

 bury Broom Corn Scraper. This requires five to seven labour- 

 ers (women) to attend to it, who feed the machine, carry 

 the heads to the baling press, and bag and carry away the 

 seeds. By means of this labour, which was provided by those 

 who were new to the work. 518 lb. of lirooni corn was cleaned 

 in an hour. The chief difficulty in working the machine is 

 that is it very likely to become choked with seeds; this i-an 

 be avoided by not allowing them to coll -t in tlie drum in 

 -which the fans revolve. 



BRITISH GUIANA AND THE CANADIAN 

 EXHIBITIONS. 



The following information as to the exhibits to be for- 

 warded to the Canadian Exhibitions by the Permanent 

 Exhibition Committee of Demerara and others is taken from 

 the Dimeriini Daily Chronicle of July 22, 1910: — 



suc.vK i.'ANE I'RODUCTS. Crey crystals, yellow crystals, 

 white crystals, yellow molasses sugar, samples of rum (col- 

 oured and white), and molascuit, besides lengths of sugar- 

 canes for decorative purposes. 



Kii'i;. White rice, brown rice, and paddy, with rice in 

 the ear, for decoration. 



lAi'Ai). Cacao beans and cacao pods preserved in spirit. 



COFFEE. l.,iberian and Creole. The llobusta variety is 

 not being sent, as it has not yet become a commercial product. 



(WoA-suT.s, ETC. Cocoa-nuts in husk and unhusked, 

 cocoa-nut meal for cattle feeding, various samples of cocoa- 

 nut oil, nutmegs, spices, tonlca beans, and sowaree nuts. 



LIME PRODUCTS. Citrate of lime and green limes are 

 being sent by the Demerara Development Company, and 

 green limes are also being sent by Messrs. Sprostons, Ltd., 

 while Mr. H. R. W. (5reig of Haags Bosche has promised 

 samples of different kinds of fruit. 



BALATA. One sample so far has been prepared, two 

 more have been promised, and an effort is being made to get 

 some good sheets of this product. 



Ki'BBEK. A biscuit or two of rubber may be sent. Samples 

 of the colony's rubber are being kept for the International 

 Rubber Exhibition in London in 1911, at which, it is hoped, 

 a representative collection both of rubber and balata will be 

 exhibited. 



TiMiiKK. To each exhibition a representative collection 

 of 20 hand samples of different varieties of the colony's woods 

 is to be sent, besides logs of greenheart, which are being for- 

 w-arded by ^Messrs. Sprostons, Ltd., and boards of crabwood 

 by Messrs. Sandbach, Parker ct Co. 



.Samples of locally prepared bitters have been sent by 

 three different individuals. 



For decorative purpo.ses, flowering and fruiting spadices 

 of cocoa-nuts and other palms are being sent to make the court 

 as attractive as possible, especially as Mr. C. S. Pickford is 

 arranging that British Guiana will no longer be merged 

 among the exhibits of the West Indies, but will have a stall 

 of its own. 



The following have assiited the Committee with exhi- 

 bits: — 



Messrs. Sandbach, Parker it Co., Messrs. Davson it Co., 

 Me.ssrs. Wieting it Richter, Messrs Curtis, Campbell & Co., 

 Messrs Sprostons, Ltd., the Hon. B: Howell Jones, Mr. M. P. 

 Camacho. Mr. T. H. Earle, Messrs. d'Aguilar .Bro.s., Messrs. 

 Booker Bros., McConnell it Co., and the Lands and Mines 

 Department. 



Information has been received to the effect that the 

 Liverpool University Institute of Commercial Research in 

 the Trollies, which was reorganized a year ago, after having 

 ceased working for a year, has received insufficient financial 

 support for the continuation of its labours. It is therefore 

 being wound up finally, as it cannot be continued, under 

 present conditions. In consequence of the action, the 

 laboratory and all the assets of the Institute have been 

 taken over by the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, 

 under the direction of which they will be made use of, in 

 the future. 



