220 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



July 1, 1916 



GLEANINGS. 



We have been informed by the Agvicultui'al Superin- 

 tendent, St. Vincent, that two more agricultural co-operative 

 societies have recently been registered in that island under 

 the Act, making fourteen in all with a membership of nearly 

 500. The Co-operative credit societies movement appears 

 to be progressing satisfactorily in St. Vincent. 



We have received a copy of the proceedings of an Agri- 

 cultural Congress in Guadeloupe (Second Session, 1915). 

 This contains a large number of recommendalion.s, including 

 the suggested foundation of an agricultural journal in the 

 Colony and the improvement of the experiment station at 

 Pointe-a-l'itre. It is not clear, however, who are expected to 

 carry out the rerommendations of the Congress. 



A note on dipping tanks in the Rliodesi-i Agricultural 

 Jonrmtl for February 191G, recommends that before cattle 

 are put through a new tank it is advisable to mi.x 10 lb. of 

 bitter aloes in the tank and send the animals through before 

 putting them through the dips. This minimises the chance 

 of cattle drinking any dip afterwards, for if they get a 

 mouthful of bitter aloe.s, their own sense tells them to keep 

 their mouths closed afterwards. 



The Department of Agriculture in Mauritius has issued 

 a Bulletin (Xo. 6) on the irrigation of sugar-cane in 

 Mauritius. It appears that water for irrigation jjurposes 

 will be shortly available, and this Bulletin deals with the 

 princijiles governing the wetting, washing of soils, amount of 

 water to be applied, etc., — in other words, with the estate or 

 purely agricultural side and not the engineering side of irri- 

 gation. It .should prove of much value to the planter. 



Co-operative credit in Jly.sore is dealt with in the 

 Mywie. A f/ri cultural C<llendar for 1910. The department 

 which administers co-operative credit societies (Itaiffeisen 

 tyi)e) in this State has a statf of twenty-four inspectors and 

 forty-two honorary .supervisors to spread the movement. At 

 the close of the year 1914-1.5. there were 726 co-operative 

 .societies in the State, of which 6s3 were societies for credit, 

 and forty-two were societies for other purposes. 



The composition of the avocado pear is referred to in 

 a note in the Eiperimeiit Station Recoid, Vol. XXXIII, 

 No. 4. The appro.xriuate composition of the edible portion, 

 constituting 6.5-7 per cent, of the fruit is as follows: water, 

 69-16 per cent.; i)roteiu, li-O.S percent.; fat, 20-1 per cent.; 

 carbohydrates, 7 :i9 per cent.: and ash, 1-26 per cent. The 

 average energy value found was 984 calories per B). or more 

 than twice the maximum noted for any other fruit. The value 

 of the avocado as food is chiefly due to its high fat content. 

 It is assumed that the avocado is thoroughly digestible. 



It is reported in 77a- Tiincf of May 4, that at a meeting 

 called by the Committee on Neglect of Science, of which 

 Sir. E. Ray Lanxaster is Chairman, the following resolution 

 was moved and carried: — 



'That it is in the highest degree desirable that the 

 Government should exercise the large power which it possesses 

 of encouraging the study of the natural sciences and thereby 

 increasing the efficiency of our public .servants (1) by assigning 

 capital importance to the natural sciences in the competitive 

 examinations for the home, Indian, foreign and colonial 

 Civil Service, (2) by requiring some knowledge of the natural 

 sciences from all candidates for admission to Sandhurst.' 



In the .same issue a letter appears on the limitations of 

 science, putting forward a plea for the study of Latin and 

 Greek on account of the educational value of tradition. 



The various details of mardpulation in the iJabcock test 

 for milk and dairy products, are fully described in Bulletin 

 Ko. 45, Dairy and Cold Storage Series (Department of 

 Agriculture, Ottawa, Canada). While the Babcock test is 

 very simple to tinderstand and operate, great care and 

 accuracy must be exercised in all details of the work, or the 

 results will be inaccurate and misleading. It has been truly 

 sail, that in operating the Babcock test there is more to learn 

 in care than in principle. 



An annual review of the rubber industry in the India 

 Ruliher Journal for January 15, 1916, points out that Hevea 

 is the predominant type in [iractically all plantation rubber 

 districts to-day. A few years ago very many estates had 

 Castilloa and Ceara: there are now only a small number of 

 Ceara trees left, Castilloa having entirely disappeared, ('eara, 

 though it yields good rubber docs not yiekl satisfactory crops. 

 It is urged that Departments of Agricultuie should give more 

 attention to improving the strain of Hevea trees by seed 

 .selection. 



Of interest to many people in the Leeward and Turks 

 Islands, where a salt industry exists, will be a paper in the 

 Plulippine Journal of Science (Vol. X, Sec. A, No. 6) on the 

 Philippine salt industry and resources. This calls attention 

 to the value of adopting ditferent stages of evaporation with 

 a view to eliminating by crystallization salt impurities and 

 the ultimate production of 99-63 per cent, sodium chloride. 

 An interesting diagram indicating the deposition of salt 

 from sea-water is given: this shows that calcium sul- 

 phate (gypsum) is the first impurity deposited, and finally 

 magnesium chloride and sulfihate. It is worth noting that 

 in this process of fractional crystalli'/.ation in a series of 

 reservoirs, a considerable amount of pota.ssiuin chloride 

 and sulphate, which should be of value for manurial purpose.'!, 

 is obtained. 



I leaders who are inten sted in the culture of Bougain- 

 villaeas will be glad to hear that these plants have been 

 receiving special attention by the Department of Science and 

 Agriculture in British Guiana. The crimson Bougainvillaea 

 has been successfully raised from cuttings; the plant riowers 

 twice a year, once in April or May and again in October or 

 November. It is a native of Colombia, and is at present 

 an unnamed species. It is to be seen commonly in many 

 the I'.ritishWest Indian islands. The British Guiana collection 

 comi)rises two other species: />'. sanderi'ina and II. laterila. 

 The first named species is puri'le-Howered, and is a perpetual 

 tlowerer, while the other species have definite flowering 

 periods. B. sfniilcriana grows readily from root cuttings; 

 the crim.sonHowere<I species is perhajis most easily propa- 

 gated by stem cuttings. 



