Vol. IX. No. 221. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NKWS. 



329 



of nitrogen in amironinm sulphate I'V the rice lAant 

 is of much interest in relation to recent work on the 

 absoqjtion of this substance by plants, by Hutchinson 

 and Miller, of the Rothanisted Experiment Station. 

 A general account of this work is contained in the 

 Agricultural Neivs,\o]. IX, p. 97, to which reference is 

 made. 



A sample of oil was received from the Imperial 

 Institute which had been prepared in Cyprus tr<ira 

 Mentha siloestris. Its colour is yellow, and it possesses 

 a faintly mint-like odour; the sp. gr. at 1.5° C. is 09701. 

 It contains menthol, ])ulegone and phenol, so that it is 

 prevented from being used either as peppermint oil, or 

 as European pennyroyal, or (>riganum oil. 



The Supply of Rubber to Japan. 



It is pointed out, in Diplomatic anil Consular 

 Reports, No. 4511 Annual Series, that, as is the case 

 in all other parts of the world, rubber has begun to 

 attain greater importance in Ja]ian. Up to the 

 present, purchases have been small, but the fact that 

 they have increased from 60(i,728 ft')., valued at £59,800, 

 in 1906, to l,381,82(j fti., valued at £150,000, in 1909, 

 shows that the use of this product for manufacturing 

 purposes in that country is becoming greater. The 

 supplies are drawn from the Straits, Dutch Indies, 

 London and America: they are required chiefly by the 

 electric wire work companies, but a fairly large amount 

 of rubber is consumed by rubber factories which chiefly 

 make rubber tyres, rubber soles for ' tabi' (.Japanese 

 socks), and rubber balls. An increased use for tyres 

 has been brought about owing to their adoption for 

 jinrikisha in Tokio and Yokohama. Among the com- 

 panies, there is a well known British one which manu- 

 factures cycle and other tyres: while there is another 

 British company which makes rubber goods required 

 in surgery. 



In order to obtain a home supply, experimental 

 plantations of rubber were made in Formosa a few years 

 ago, and these tend to show that the prospects of rubber 

 production in that island are good. Wild rubber exists 

 there, but its collection is not feasible, on account of 

 the fact that it grows in the savage districts, so that the 

 operation is rendered diflicult and expensive. 



Some New Essential Oils. 



The Semi-annual Report of Messrs. Schimrael 

 & Co., issued last April, contains particulars of three 

 new essential oils. The first of these is obtained from 

 the leaves of Cinnamonum Tamala, which is a tree 

 of medium size common in Southern Asia; it yields 

 Mutterzimt, Cassia Lignea, or wood cassia. In former 

 yeirs, the leaves were met with in commerce as Folia 

 Malabathri, but this is no longer the case, though they 

 arc still used medicinally in the East Indies, The 

 essential oil obtained from them is lemon-yellow in 

 colour, and possesses a clove-like, slightly peppery odour. 

 The sp. gr. at 15 C. is 10257. The oil possesses a high 

 eugenol content, and is thus allied closely to the ordin- 

 ary oil from Ceylon cinnamon leave.s. 



Another oil has been obtained fiom the leaves of 

 the guava {Psidium Guava), which, when chewed, are 

 said to be a remedy for toothache. The oil is of 

 a lemoii-yellow colour, and has a faint aromatic odour. 

 Its sp. gr. at 15 C, is 0-9157, and it is soluble in about 

 10 volumes of 90 ])er cent, alcohol. 



Cultivation and Uses of Cassava in Ceylon. 



The Progress Report of the Ceylon Agricultural 

 Society, dated August 1, 1910, gives an account of 

 cassava cultivation in the Jaffna Peninsula. The area 

 in this crop at present is about 1,000 acres, and the 

 cultivation is extending. The roots that are obtained 

 are used as food, in several ways: (1) they are peeled, 

 sliced into pieces about 2i inches long, boiled with salt 

 and eaten by the coolies, either vvith or without cocoa^ 

 nut scrapings; (2) slices made in the way described are 

 boiled in the water of the cocoa-nut and eaten by the 

 middle classes in the place of rice and curry; (8) the 

 roots are peeled and cut into small cubes, then put 

 with the usual condiments and cocoa-nut milk to form 

 curry, and the mixture is eaten, with rice, by all classes; 

 (4) after the roots have been peeled, they are di'ied in 

 the sun and converted into flour, which is used for 

 the purp(jse of making different kinds of cakes and 

 similar edibles. It is well known, also, that this flour 

 is employed as an adulterant for wheat flour, by the 

 bakers of Jaffna. 



These uses for cassava in Ceylon suggest that the 

 ways of employing the root as food in the West 

 Indies may be extended. 



The Arrowroot (New Markets) Ordinance, 



St. Vincent. 



At a meeting of the Legislative Council, of 

 St, Vincent, held on September 27, 1910, an Ordinance 

 to be known as the Arrowroot (\ew Markets) Ordin- 

 ance was introduced and passed. 



The framing of the Ordinance has taken place 

 under the auspices of the St. Vincent Arrowroot Grow- 

 ers' and Exporters' Association (see Agricultural News, 

 Vol. IX, p. 285), and its purpose is to afford means for 

 obtaining new markets for St. Vincent arrowroot by 

 suitable schemes of advertisement. It provides for the 

 imposition c>f an additional export tax of ikl. per barrel 

 on arrowroot. This will be collected at the Treasury in 

 the usual way, and will form a fund to be employed in 

 paying for such means of advertisement as may be 

 deemed fltting by the committee of management of the 

 Association. 



After the passing of the bill, a \ote of thanks was 

 tendered to His Honour the Administrator, to whom 

 the St. Vincent Arrowroot Growers' and Exporters' 

 Association recognized its indebtedness for the com- 

 mencement of the Work which has resulted in the pre- 

 sent posse.ssion of the Ordinance. 



