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THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



October 1, 1910. 



An abstract of a paper appears in the Journal of the 

 Chemical Soriftii, No. 566, p. 1,048, which deals with investig- 

 ations undertalven for the purpose of studying the formation 

 of proteids in plants. It is concluded that the nitrogen 

 absorbed in nitrates enters hydrocyanic acid and amino com- 

 pounds, on the way to the formation of proteids. This con- 

 clusion is supported by an experiment in which plants of 

 Son/hum vulgare were made to utilize asparagin as food. 



GLEANINGS. 



Information has been received as to the amount of sugar 

 that has been exported from Antigua for the crop season 

 which has just ended. It appears that this was 12,7.54 tons. 

 Of this quantity, 6,411 tons consisted of grey crystals, while 

 the rest (6,343 tons) was made up of muscovado sugar. 



A communication from the Agricultural Superintendent 

 of St. Kitts-Nevis states that useful falls ot rain have been 

 experienced recently in St. Kitts, with the result that the 

 condition of the sugar-cane crop has greatly improved, and 

 that the cotton crop, which suffered no damage, is a promising 

 one. 



An account of the grass Faspalum dilatatuni is contained 

 in Farmers' bulletin No. 8, of the Department of Agriculture 

 of New South Wales. This shows that the tendency of the 

 roots of this grass to grow deeply into the soil makes it a good 

 drought resister, so that it is available as a useful food for 

 stock, even when other kinds of grasses have almost dried up. 



The prospectus of a company, to be known as the Beet 

 Sugar Founders, Ltd., with a capital of £25,000, has been 

 received recently. The purpose of the company is the estab- 

 lishment of beet sugar factories in various parts of the 

 Briti.sh Isles, and the services of Mr. Sigmund Stein, the 

 authority on beet sugar manufacture, have been retained for 

 its use. 



The conclusion is reached, in the Proceedings of the 

 Roi/al Society, No. B. 552, p. 63, that, as regards sleeping 

 sickness, the insect (Glossina palpalis) which carries the 

 trypanosome which causes the disease, can retain its ability 

 to infect human beings for a period of at least two years, 

 even after the removal of the population from the district, 

 and the consequent lessening of the chance of its again 

 taking up the germ of the disease through biting an infected 

 person. 



The Experiment Station Record of the United States 

 Department of Agriculture for August 1910, p. 119, gives 

 a short note on a paper which contains the results of experi- 

 ments in regard to rainfall. In these, observations with 

 three rain gauges, placed at distances of 4,200 feet from 

 one another, indicated differences of rainfall which amounted 

 to a maximum of 68 per cent, of useful precipitation. 



A preliminary forecast of the sugar-cane crop of Eastern 

 Bengal and Assam, dated July 25, 1910, gives the probable 

 area of sugar-cane for the crop of 1910-11 as 177,700 acres. 

 This is an increase of 6,100 acres over that of last year, and 

 is .said to be due to favourable weather conditions at the time 

 of sowing, and the better prices of raw sugar that were pre- 

 vailing at that period. 



Through the courtesy of its inventor, Mr. Oliver Nugent, 

 a drawing has been received of a new form of hoe. This 

 differs from the ordinary kind in that the working edge is 

 serrated, and this is said to add to its efficiency as an agri- 

 cultural implement. The hoe is manufactured by Messrs. 

 Elwell it Co., and may be obtained from Messrs. W. Forrest 

 & Co., Market Street, Antigua. 



The Centralblatt fur Bakteriolog ie , Vol. LIT, p. 455, pre- 

 sents an account of experiments with the Ratin bacillus, with 

 a view to finding its proper place among the bacilli. During 

 the investigations, it was found that Ratin II, which is gener- 

 ally sold as a culture containing micro-oganisms that will 

 cause a di-sease of rats, actually contained no bacteria, but 

 was largely composed of an extract of squills. (From the 

 Experiment Station Record, Vol. XXIII, p. 188.) 



Reprints Nos. 104 and 105 of the Wellcome Chemical 

 Research Laboratories, London, deal with the chemical 

 examination of pumpkin and water melon seeds, le.spectively. 

 According to these, analyses of the fatty oils obtained from 

 these different seeds showed that the composition was very 

 similar. Further, physiological experiments demonstrated 

 that the supposed usefulness of pumpkin seed oil - and resin 

 for removing intestinal worms has no foundation in fact. 



A report by the Agricultural Instructor, Nevis, for the 

 month of August shows that, owing to the improved rainfall 

 during that month, the condition of the cotton crop has 

 greatly improved, especially where it was planted early, and 

 that with suitable weather, its future prospects are good. 

 About 1,300 acres have been planted in cotton in the island, 

 during the present season; ot these, 760 acres are on estates, 

 and 540 are under peasant cultivation. 



The Tiiriti' Law of Jamaica, 1899, respecting the importa- 

 tion of article.s into Jamaica, has I'cen amended by a Law, 

 No. 16 of 1910, dated June 30, 1910. As far as agricultural 

 requisites are concerned, the new law, which remains in force 

 until June 1, 191 1, admits free of duty all machinery and 

 engines, as was the case under the old one. It is ditt'erent, 

 however, in that wire and staples for fencing, and all iron 

 required in connexion with roofing, are now admitted free, 

 instead of being subject to a duty of 16j per cent, on the 

 value. 



Information has been received, from Mr. C. Rey, of 

 Anguilla, that there are two cotton ginning plants for sale in 

 that island. The first of these consists of one 5 h.p. Cundall 

 engine and two Asa Lees gins, the latter being practically new, 

 having only made 30 bales of cotton last .sea.son: the plant 

 includes line shaft with pulleys, bearings and belting, all in 

 good order. The second plaitt is composed of one 7 h.p. 

 Crossley's engine and two Asa Lees gins, with line shaft, 

 pulley.s, and bearings, and a baling press. These will be 

 delivered, packed and f.o.b., on sloop in Anguilla, nr Royal 

 Mail Steamer in St. Kitts. 



