5.-i-2 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



July 29. 1916. 



An advertisement in the Journal of the Department or 

 Aiirkulture of Victoria for January 1916, concerns channel 

 irrigation and the prevention of seepage. The employment 

 of open tluming as against closed piping is advocated. The 

 material re(|uired to make 6-inch piping will make 12-inch 

 open Humes, giving almost double the capacity, while the 

 price is just half. This would appear to be a very .satis- 

 factory way of conducting irrigation water along level land 

 for .short distances. 



GLEANINGS, 



A forecast to the maize crop of South Africa appears in 

 The Boa.rdof Trade Journal for March 30, 1916. For the 

 ■whole of South Africa an increase over the previous season's 

 yields of about 62,000 bags is e.stimated. This is of course 

 a negligible quantity. 



A note in Nature for June 22 shows the large amount 

 of potash contained in tobacco ash, namely, 20 per cent. 

 The tobacco consumed in the United Kingdom for the year 

 ending March 31, 1914, would give approximately 13,3.')9 

 tons of ash, containing 2,672 tons of potash, which at the 

 pre-war price of kainit would be worth nearly £51,000. 



In a report on the North-western District of British 

 Guiana, for the nine months April to December 191.5, it is 

 stated that the area under cultivation shows an increase of 

 187i acres for the period, the total area cultivated being 

 2,046 acres. The cultivation of coffee continues to receive 

 much attention by the farmers of this district, and the area 

 under this crop ha.< been increased by 140 acres. 



Ill a report under the Food and Drugs Ordinance of 

 British Guiana, it is stated that the low quality and high rate 

 of adulteration of the milk offered for sale in Georgetown is 

 very noticeable. Out of 523 samples of milk purchased in 

 Georgetown no less than 20f< were unsatisfactory in quality, 

 ■whilst 131 were found to be adulterated. These figures are 

 equivalent to 39-7 and 2r)-l per cent., respectively. 



'J'lie Ferfumery and Essential Oil Record for June 1916 

 reviews the Dominica lime oil history on the basis of infor- 

 mation contained in a paper "n the development of Dominica, 

 ■V, ritten by Dr. Francis Watts, t'. M G., and published in the last 

 issue but one of the Wesit Indian Bulletin. I'igures are 

 publi.sbed showing the rise in value of the e.vports of lime 

 oil, which increased from £S7 in 1892, to £10,138 in 1914. 



At a meeting of the Board of Agriculture of British 

 Guiana on July 11, it was stated that posters had been 

 distributed describing common insect pests and plant diseases 

 of the Colony: also that the demand for the.se posters^ 

 seemed to be greater outside than in the Colony, and 

 several applications have been received from abroad. There 

 has been another severe outbreak of the caterpillar pest on 

 coco-nuts on the East Coast, and the Board has instructed 

 the Pest Committee to take the matter up. 



The following figures represent the composition of 

 a .saxnple of pollard (wheat by-product) sent by Dr. K. A. 

 Stf.ute, Government Veterinary Surgeon, Barbados, to the 

 laboratory of the Louisiana K.xperiment Station for analysis: 

 crude protein. 15-19 per cent.: fat, 480 per cent.: carbohy- 

 drates, .■)'i46 per cent.: crude fibre, 9 30 per cent.: water, 

 9-80 per cent: ash. 4-45 percent. This compares more or 

 less favourably with the compositionof rice bran. 



In an article in the London Chamber of Commerce- 

 Journal, reviewing the occurrence in the British Empire of 

 molybdenum ores, it is stated that specimens of minerals 

 from an abandoned copper mine at Virgin Gorda, A'irgin 

 Islands, were examined at the Imperial In.stitute in 1907, and 

 found to contain molybdenite and molybdenum oxide. One 

 sample represented material which would be worth concen- 

 trating if large supplies of the ore were available for treat- 

 ment. 



All e.xtension of corn cultivation is advocated for 

 Jamaica, in the Journal oi the Agricultural Society of that 

 Colony. It is stated that the average value of the imports of 

 corn meal for the last four years was over £50,000. Further, 

 between corn and corn meal imported during the last four 

 years, Jamaica averaged an expenditure of £100,000 in cash. 

 The only advantage the imported corn meal has, is its good 

 keeping qualities. It appears that the erection of a kiln-drier 

 and degerminator has not yet been considered for Jamaica. 



The suggestion of central ilistillation of Bay oil in 

 Mont.serrat, made by Dr. H. A. Tempany and Mr. W. llobson 

 in the last issue but one of the West Indian Bulletin, is 

 supported editorially in the Vcrfumery and Essential Oil 

 Record June 1916). That journal states: 'Central produc- 

 tion under scientific control would very materially advance 

 us towards that standardization of Bay oil which is one of 

 the conditions precedent to its enjoyment of the confidence of 

 manufacturers of [lerfume and its wider adoption in com- 

 pound odours.' 



The storm damage occasioned by the West Indian 

 hurricane, which on September 29, 1915, struck New Orleans, 

 and which blew continuously for twenty-four hours with 

 a velocity of 50 to a maximum of 130 miles an hour, is 

 reported on in the Fifth Biennial Keport of the Boanl of 

 Curators of the jjouisiana State Museum for 1915. It 

 appears that a great dial of damage was done to the Museum, 

 and loss was sustained amounting to over $7,000. It is 

 stated that during the heaviest blow, windows were completely 

 blown out, and some of the window and door frames gave 

 way inside. 



