VToL. IX. No. 217. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



265 



The West Indies in Canada, 1910. 



The booklet, published by the Imperial Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, under the title of 'The West ladies 

 in Canada', has been issued again (dt use at the Cana- 

 dian Exhibitions to be held during this month and the 

 next at Toronto and St. .John. This commences with 

 general statistics relating to the West Indies, together 

 with a map which is an improvement on that of former 

 issues. The different parts of the West Indie.«. and 

 British Guiana, are then considered particularly, i^hic fly 

 under the heads of History, General Description, Indus- 

 tries and Production, Climate and Sanitary Conditions. 

 At the end of this section, there are given lists of books 

 relating to the West Indies and British Guiana, and 

 information regarding the Steamship .Service between 

 the West Indies and Canada. The last twenty odd 

 pages of the booklet are devoted to descriptions of the 

 products of the West Indies and British Guiana, with 

 illustrations of some of the chief plants and processes, 

 printed, for clearness, on art paper. 



As has been found in the past, this publication 

 should be of use in helping to draw attention to the 

 possible directions in which trade may be increased 

 between the West Indies and Canada. 



Carbon Bisulphide for Killinig Weeds. 



A recent Fress Bulletin issued by the Hawaii 

 Agricultural Experiment Station deals with experi- 

 ments which are being undertaken for determining the 

 efficiency of carbon bisulphide as a weed killer, and an 

 abstract of this is given in the Natal A<jrkidtural 

 Journal for May 1910, p. 605. It appears from this 

 that the amount of carbon bisulphide used in the 

 experiments varied according to the size of the plant 

 to be destroyed. Small-stemmed plants, like Crotalaria, 

 were treated with about a teaspoonful of commercial 

 carbon bisulphide, which was poured down the stern 

 from about 6 inches above the ground; larger plants 

 received increased amounts, up to two teaspoonfuls 

 for guava bushes having a stem 3 or 4 inches in 

 diameter, the liquid being poured, as in the case 

 of the small plants, on the stem at about 6 inches 

 above the surface of the soil. It was found that 

 carbon bisulphide shows no effect on most plants 

 until a considerable time after application; this period 

 extended sometimes, in the case of large guavas, 

 to two or three months. With Crotalaria the plant 

 dies within four to ten days. Death takes place 

 suddenly: the treated plants remain green and appear 

 to be normal until the leaves suddenly turn yellow 

 and shrivel up, when they die. 



Indications were obtained that the cause of death 

 is a freezing action due to the quick evaporation of the 

 carbon bisulphide, combined with a poisonous effect. 

 That the latter is not alone potent was shown by 

 removing the bark and cambium from the stem of 

 guava bushes, or by destroying them with sulphuric 

 acid, when the plants took much longer to die than if 

 they had been treated with carbon bisulphide in the 

 way adopted in the experiment. 



Attention is drawn to the care that is required in 



avoiding the breathing of the vapour of carbon bisul- 

 phide when it is used for this and similar purposes. It 

 has been found that the effect of the vapour, when it 

 is breathed, is to cause headache, giddiness, hysterical 

 excitement, and finally, serious sypmtoms of prostration. 

 There should be no necessity to repeat the warning as 

 to using carbon bisulphide under conditions in which 

 the vapour cannot mix with air in the presence of 

 a naked flame or a hot surface. 



Asfricultural Returns of Canada, 1909. 



The Montldy Trade and Consular Reports for 

 June 1910 quotes official final estimates, which show 

 that the value of all crops in the Dominion of Canada 

 during 1909 was §532,992,100, which is an increase 

 over that of 1908 of g;l00,4.58,100: the area of land cul- 

 tivated last year was 30,0fi.5,.55fi acres. The largest 

 output took place in relation to wheat and hay, the 

 amounts being respectively, 166,744,000 bushels, 

 valued at ^141,320,000, and (estimated) 11,877,100 

 tons, valued at Si 32,287,700. The value of the other 

 crops produced in any quantity is given as follows: oats 

 .'?122,390,003; potatos 836,399,000; barley 82.5,434,000; 

 turnips and other root crops §18,197,500: fodder corn 

 815,11.5,000: husking corn 812,760,000: mixed grains 

 810,916,000: peas 87,222,000: buckwheat .84,554.000; 

 Hax S2,761,000: beans 81,881,000: rye 81,254,000; sugar 

 beets 8500,000. 



The values of the crops produced by the different 

 provinces were in the following order, beginning with 

 the highest and excluding British Columbia: Ontario, 

 Saskatchewan, Quebec, Manitoba, Xova Scotia, Alberta, 

 New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. 



The Preservation of Copra. 



A note on methods for preserving copra from 

 moulds was given in the Agricultural News, Vol. 

 Vm, p. 297, and experiments were mentioned that 

 had been conducted at the Paris Colonial Gardens for 

 effecting this by the use of sulphurous acid. In con- 

 nexion with these experiments, the Tropical Agricul- 

 turist (see Vol. XXXIV, p. 379) has made application, 

 on behalf of a mercantile firm in Colombo, to the Direct- 

 or of the Paris Colonial Gardens for the purpose of 

 obtaining further information. This enquiry elicited 

 the fact that the process is based on the employment of 

 the apparatus Marot, which is owned by the compan}' 

 known as Le Coprah, of Paris. It was ascertained, 

 further, that the treatment is based on the sterilization 

 of the pulp of the cocoa-nut before it is dried, so that 

 perfect preservation is obtained, and a copra is produc- 

 ed which is absolutely white and without trace of 

 rancidity. It is stated that this gives an added value 

 to the product of about 2.s. or 3.«. per cwt. The 

 machinery is not sold ordinarily by the company, but 

 licences are granted by it, under certain conditions, to 

 other companies which have been formed for the pur- 

 pose of exploiting the processes. 



