i!S4 



THE AGKICrLTmAL >rEWS. 



August "Jti, 1916. 



A study on the deterioration of sagars by the Bacte- 

 riological Department of the Experiment Station of the 

 Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical 

 College, makes it appear that neither the moisture alone nor 

 when used in conjunction with the factor of safety, furnishes 

 a reliable criterion of die keepiuj quality of the sugar, but 

 that its degree of infection must also be taken into consid- 

 eration. The study is to be continced with particular 

 reference to the intiuence of- the non-sugars upon deterior- 

 ation, and of the influence of moisture and acidity. 



GLEANINGS. 



Dr. Stoute, of Barbados, writes to say that a breadfruit 

 ■tree in Belleville recently yielded 105 breadfruit at one 

 picking, no fruit having been picked for a week previous. 



We learn frora the Port-o/-Spam Gazette that a Trinidad 

 ■firm'is now issuing fire insurance policies on behalf of a well- 

 known Company, covering the risk of fire of cacao, coco-nuts 

 and coffee trees at very moderate rates. While this is an 

 old practice in regard to the sugar-cane, it appears to be 

 a new departure to insure against fire for orchard crops. 



The total area of regular forest plantations in Trinidad 

 now amounts to 31-t acres, against 29i last year. The East 

 Indian teak wood, introduced from Burma in 1913, continues 

 to do well. In a review ■if the Forest Department work, the 

 Port-of-Spain Gazette mentions that there are 10,700 of these 

 plants growing, and many of them are between 25 and 30 

 feet high. 



According to the Proceedings of the Agricultural Society 

 of Trinidad and Tobago for June 1916 the entire sugar- 

 cane crop of the island has been harvested and has proved 

 a good one, as anticipated. It is understood that large quan- 

 tities of sugar were shipped in July, principally to the United 

 Kingdom. Difficulties have arisen in regard to the shipment 

 of coco-nuts, and large quantities remain on hand. The same 

 applies to copra. 



In regard to the action of potassium cyanamide when 

 introduced into the tissues of a plant, the Experivient 

 Station Record states that the treatment has little or no 

 value for destroying the larger number of wood-boring insects, 

 as the hydrocyanic acid does not travel in the cambium of 

 the trees, but only through the old trachea?. There Is danger, 

 too, that the use of this poison might kill the plant, partic- 

 ularly herbaceous and semi- woody plants. 



An instructive article on the utilization of molasses as 

 a manure appears in the June issu^ of the International 

 Sugar Journal. It deals principally with experiments made 

 in Java in 1911 and 1912. The results, it is believed, fuUy 

 justify further trials for the utilization of this by-product as 

 a manure. In the West Indies, quite apart from the 

 doubtful fact as to whether molasses has any fertilizing 

 value, it will, in most circumstances, particularly at the 

 present time, prove more profitable to sell molasses than to 

 use this product as a manure. 



It is learnt from the report on the Agricultural Experi- 

 ment Station of the University of Florida for 191 -t, that several 

 experiments have been carried out to ascertain the iimount of 

 velvet beans that can be profitably fed to hogs for pirk pi-.> 

 duction. As a check on this line of investigation a portion 

 of the herd was fed on com only. Other lots have been fed 

 different mixtures of corn and velvet beans The results 

 indicate that the largest increase in weight would be made 

 when the ration is composed of 3 parts of corn to 1 part 

 of crushed velvet beans by weight 



An investigation into the factors affecting the cooking 

 of dhall or pigeon pea (Cajanus indicu^) is described in the 

 Memoirs of the Department of Agriculture in India, Chemical 

 Series, Vol. IV, Xo. -J, April 1916. It has been found that 

 dissolved salts, such as are found in natural waters, exert 

 a marked influence on the time taken to cook these peas. The 

 addition of sodium bicarbonate or carbonate to a hard water 

 materially hastens the cooking. It is possible that this holds 

 good for most vegetables. It is stated that the rate of 

 solution of the proteid or nitrogenous matter appears to be 

 the factor which mainly controls the rate of cooking of 

 pigeon peas. 



An interesting account of the natural vegetation of the 

 Isle of Pines, Cuba, is given by Dr. Britton in the Journal 

 of the Xeic York Botanical Garden, for May 1916. Amongst 

 many other matters, reference is made to the occurrence of 

 three kinds of maiden-hair ferns in a certain area asso- 

 ciated with the remarkable colony of Blechnum occidentale, 

 many thousand plants being densely packed together in 

 a notch between two wooded hiUs, occupying an area of 

 perhaps 2 acres. It i? urged that this beautiful spot is well 

 worthy of permanent preservation for the enjoyment of 

 residents and tourists. 



A preliminary study of Philippine bananas will be found 

 in the Pliilippme Journal of Science, Vol. X, Sections 

 C (Botany) Xo. 6, for November 1915. The general conclu- 

 sions drawn are that there is urgent need for a thorough 

 'botanico-pomological" study of bananas and plantains, 

 especially the cultivated varieties. It is stated that the 

 characters of the flowers will clearly identify the varieties, 

 quite apart from fruit characters. Many of the variet;U 

 names in current use are synonymous. There are eleven 

 species and twenty-seven varieties of the genus Musa report- 

 ed from the Philippine Islands. It occurs to us that agricul- 

 tural oflicers in Jamaicii, Trinidad and British (juiana, may 

 be interested to compare their collections with the descrip- 

 tions given in this important paper. 



