392 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



December 10, 1910. 



EDITORIAL NOTICES. 



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 Oommissioner, Imperial Department of Agriculture, 

 Barbados. 



All applications for Copies of the ' Agricultural 

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 will be found on page 3 of the cover. 



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Agricultural HmuH 



Vol-. IX. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1910. No. 22.5. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Contents of Present Issue. 



The editorial has for its subject the Cultivation of 

 Citrus Fruits in Florida. Facts ijf a general nature are 

 presented in it, relating to matters which came more 

 particularly under the notice of Mr. H. A. Ballon, M.Sc, 

 Entomologist to the Department, during his recent 

 visit to Florida. 



<Jn page 386, there are presented extracts from 

 a recent bulletin, published in Hawaii, and dealing with 

 the prevention of scaling by calcium suljjhate, in evap- 

 orators. 



An interesting note on recent experience in propa- 

 gating the mango, in Antigua, is given on page 388. 



Page 391 contains an account of a lecent prize- 

 holdings competition held in Carriacou. 



The Insect Notes, on page 394, give an account of 

 plant bugs injiu-ious to cotton bolls. 



The interests of Entomology are also served by 

 a review, on the next page, of Maxwell-Lefroy's valuable 

 work dealing with Indian insect life. 



The subject of the Fungus Notes (page 398) is 

 Miscellaneous Fungi Recently Examined. The article 

 is illustrated by four blocks, the first three of which are 

 reproduced after Prillieux, and the last after Duggar. 

 For convenience, figures 38 and 40 have been placed 

 on their sides; the subjects with which they deal would 

 be rnore correctly represented with the pointed ends of 

 the illustrations upward. 



Cacao in Brazil, 1910-lL 



It is reported by H. M. Consul at Bahia that the 

 quantity of lacao arriving at that port from the interior 

 is much less than that received during last year. In the 

 past six month.s, the amount has been 1.5,198,216 lb.; 

 while during the corresponding period of 1909 it was 

 23,661,132 lb. The amounts tor the next six months 

 are estimatc.'d at about 33,000,000 lb., so that the total 

 for 1910-11 should be about 48,180,000 lb., as com- 

 pared with 63,888,000 lb. during 1909-10— a decrease 

 of 24 per cent., which is said to be due to unfavoTirable 

 weather and a deficiency of labour. According to the 

 Board of Trade Journal for October 27, 1910, which 

 gives an abstract of the report, the recent rise of ^d. 

 on the exchange is causing cacao to be held back, in 

 the interior, in the hope of a ftill. The same report states 

 that the general oiiinion is that the prospects for next 

 season are favourable. 



Agriculture in Nyasaland, 1909-10. 



A review of the agricultural situation in Nyasaland 

 is given in Colonial Reports — Annual, No. 6.5.5, in 

 which it is slated that it may fairly be said that the 

 past year has been one of the most satisfactory ever 

 experienced in the Protectorate. The forward move- 

 ment, though it relates specially to cotton, is not confined 

 to that product, but includes other important crops, and 

 seems to be of a lasting nature. 



The speculative nature of the coffee crop in Nyasa- 

 land is causing it to be discarded gradually in favour 

 of cotton and tobacco: for this season the total area 

 was 6,037 acres, of which something more than one 

 half (3,957 acres) was in bearing. The export was 

 187,000 lb. less than that of the preceding seaion, 

 being 748.410 lb. 



A good cotton crop has been har\ested, and the 

 industry is quickly increasing in importance. Particu- 

 lars as to this were given on page 359 of the current 

 volume of the Agricultural News, so that there is no 

 need to enter into these at present. 



As regards tea, the limited area within the Pro- 

 tectorate which is suited to this crop causes it to remain 

 of minor impi>rtance, although, in the degree to which 

 this product is grown, the prosjiects are promising. 

 Experimental plantations have been made on the 

 southern slopes of Mlanji mountain, where the rainfall 

 is between 70 and 90 inches, and where there are 

 at least 20,000 acres suitable for this crop. These 

 have met with succe.ss, and though there is a doubt 

 whether the yield from these estates will be as high 

 as that on the best plantations in Ceylon, the quality 

 of the tea is superior to that of low country Ceylon; 

 the prices obtained last year varied from od. to 7d. 

 per tb., in London. The export for last year was 

 36,281 lb., which exceeded that of the previous year 

 by about 12,000 lb. 



An exceptionally good tobacco season was experi- 

 enced, and an average of over 5001b. of cured tobacco 

 of uniformly superior qualitj- was obtained on several 

 estates. This crop is second only to cotton in impor- 

 tance in Nyasaland. Some idea of this importance may 



