Vol. XV. No. 36:2. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



89 



<:»ight mouths, January to August 1915, there were 

 shipped from Belize •10,()49 fti. of copra to the United 

 -States, and over 100,000 ft. to the United Kingdom, 

 or more than the total shipments for as many previous 

 years. 



The meat of small coco-iuits, nuts broken in 

 handling, and nuts that have sprouted, can be profitably 

 used in preparing copra, and, unless the local m:irket 

 price of first-class nuts exceeds ^14 (about £2 17s. iid.) 

 jjer 1,000, such nuts can be used as well. Copra is 

 worth 4 and .5 cents ('2d. and -Ihd.) a ft. in Belize. 

 A thousand nuts should yield 400 ft. of copra, but the 

 fancy prices that have been paid for coco-nuts during 

 the past si.x years forbade consideration of making the 

 article; as much as S'SO (£6 3s. 4(/.) per 1,000 has been 

 paid for coco-nuts in Belize. 



According to the recent report by the United 

 States Consul at Belize, the manufacture of copra in 

 British Honduras is not very expensive, the meat 

 extracted from the nut being dried in the sun in five or 

 six days, or under cover in the rainy season. The copra 

 is then ready for bagging or shipment. The oil, if at 

 all tainted, can be profitably used in soap manufacture. 

 First-grade oil is used in making a cheap but whole- 

 some grade of butter, which is now used extensively in 

 European countries. 



Coco-nuts are being extensively planted in British 

 Honduras. It is a very profitable industry, even when 

 nuts sell at $12 (£2 9s.) per 1,000. Copra manufacture 

 is, however, a new venture in the country, but one that 

 will, in the Consul's opinion, succeed and increa.se. No 

 attention was paid to it until this year. 



The immediate, even though slight, effect on trade 

 will be the demand for bags and bagging. 



Hawaiian Soils. 



In a bulletin, No. 40, of the Hawaiian Agricul- 

 tural Experiment Station, issued in August 191.5, 

 there is an interesting account of investigations made 

 as to the general properties of the soils of the Hawaiian 

 Islands by the Chemist of the Station, W. P. Kelly, 

 and his assistants, William iIc(Jeorge, and Alice R. 

 Thompson. The practical bearings of these investi- 

 gations with regard to cultivation are also pointed 

 •out. 



It would appear that with the exception of small 

 areas near the sea, the .soils of the Hawaiian Islands 

 arise from the disintegiution of basaltic lava, resulting 

 in a preponderating clay type of soil, which sometimes 

 contains amounts of clay as high as .50 per cent. Hence 

 proper drainage is essential in the management of 

 soils of this type. The application of lime for the 

 .purpose of ameliorating the heavy clays has gi\en 

 but doubtful results. Investigations have also .shown 

 that fertilizers exert considerable physical effect. 

 Phosphates materially retard the movement of moisture 

 in the heavy clays, while nitrate of soda produces 

 similar effects in some of the highly organic soils. 



The predominant colour of Hawaiian soils is red, 

 •due to the presence of iron, often in large amounts. 

 The potash content is rather below the average, but is 

 frecpiently more soluble than usual, and consequently 



more available. Phosphoric acid is comparatively 

 abundant, but with a wide range of variations in the 

 percentages. 



In the soils of the.je islands the huinus contend 

 is high comparatively, and consequently the nitrogen 

 is also high, but, owing to poor aeration, its availability 

 is low." Hence in order to increase the availability 

 of the nitrogen present. the aeration of the soil, when- 

 ever possible, should be increased, thus improving the 

 conditions for bacterial action on the organic nitrogen. 



One of the peculiarities of Hawaiian soils is the 

 presence in unusually liigh proportions of some of the 

 rarer elements, notably manganese and titanium. 



Hawaiian soils generally give an acid reaction 

 towards litmus. The acidity sometimes indicates the 

 need of large amounts of lime; but it seems that the 

 slow growth of crops in these soils is due more to the 

 lack of aeration than the presence of actual acidity. 

 Lime has been used on the sugar lands with good effect. 

 Soluble ferrous iron is considered to be toxic to plants, 

 but the amount of ferrous iron soluble in water in 

 Hawaiian soils is extremely small, except where there 

 is insufficient aeration. 



The practical bearing of these observations with 

 regard to the cultivation of the Hawaiian soils seems 

 to be that the essential operations consist of: 



1. Thorough drainage. 



2. Deep ploughing followed by frequent shallow 

 cultivation. 



3. Intelligent rotation of crops. 



4. Frequent ploughing under of greeu crops. 

 These if carried out materially lessen, the need for 



commercial fertilizers. 



Sugar-cane that Outgrew Itself. 



In the Journal of Heredity for February 191(», i« 

 printed a photograph h'om H. B. Cowgill, plant breeder 

 of the Insular Experiment Station, Rio Piedras, Porto 

 Rico, illustrating an unusual abnormality in sugar-cane. 

 The subject of the illustration was taken from a seed- 

 ling cane which was grown in Porto Rico in the year 

 1913. The photograph shows four complete internode.s 

 or joints of a stalk; each of these joints has, as usual, 

 a bud growing from it. But in every case, it is 

 observed, (this bud is traversed squarely across the 

 middle by a great fissure. All the stalks of this 

 seedling showed this abnormality on many of the 

 internodes. As may be seen, it is a rupture of the 

 outer pertion of the stalk across the centre of the bud. 

 Seedling canes frequently show peculiarities, but this 

 is the first time Mr. Cowgill has known this particular 

 abnormality to happen. It seems to have been catised 

 by an unustial formation of the bud. In sugar-cane 

 the point of the bud is usually free from the stalk, bub 

 in this case it adhered closely to the stalk and seemed 

 to have grown fast to it. The bud within evidently 

 developed faster than the stalk, white its outer .scales 

 could not do so on account of being fastenefl 

 to the latter. The pressure produced .seems to have 

 been sufficient to rupture the stalk. It was not possible 

 to make any test to determine whether this abnor- 

 mality would be inheritable. 



