331 



THE AGKICULTURAL NEWS 



OcTOBEPv 



1916. 



As the result of a discussion between the Imperial 

 Commissioner ot Agriculture for the West Indies and the 

 Superintendent of Agriculture for th"^ Leeward Islands, in 

 regard to the advisability of importing cane plants into 

 Antigua from TriDi(fad on account of the prevalence of 

 froghopper {Toni'ispis sp.) in that Colony, the Government 

 of Antigua, acting on recommendations put forward, has 

 issued a Proclamation' under Ordinance 4 of 1 S97, prohibiting 

 the importation of cane plants or parts of sugar-cane into 

 Antigua from the island of Trinidad. The Proclamation is 

 dated September 1.'". 



GLEANINGS. 



The successful introduction and spread of the algaroba 

 -tree in Hawaii has interested, according to the Hawaiian 

 Forester, many in other parts of the world where similar 

 climatic conditions e.xist. It is stated that this has been 

 •evidenced by requests for algaroba seeds from parts of South 

 Africa, Southern Australia, ( 'hina and Madagascar 



In the St. Lucia Gazette for July 29, 1916, a notice is 

 published prohibiting the importation into that colony from 

 Antigua of any equine unaccompanied by a certificate signed 

 by the Government Veterinary Surgeon of Antigua that 

 such animal is not affected with Epizootic lymphangitis nor 

 been in the neighbourhood of the disease for three months 

 previous to embarkation. 



A copy has been received of the rules for the govern- 

 ment and protection of the Botanical Station, Castries, 

 St. Lucia, made by the Governorin-Council under the 

 authority of Section 2 of the Botanical Station Ordinance, 

 1890. These rules consist of by-laws designed to regulate 

 vehicular traffic and the conduct of visitors. Anyone acting 

 ■ contrary to the rules is liable on conviction to a penalty 

 not exceeding £,'2. 



According to a report in the Imernational Su^^ar 

 Journal the ash of banana stalks and skins contains a large 

 percentage of potash with practically no soda. The percentage 

 of potash is approximately -50. It is suggested that in view 

 of the present great shortage of potash salts, municipal bodies 

 should set aside all vegetable refuse from the markets, .so that 

 they could be treated for the recovery of this constituent. 

 A similar suggestion njight be borne in mind in the West 

 Indies. 



An interesting table giving the sugar crops of the world 

 for 1913-14 to 191-5-16 appears in the International Sugar 

 Journal for August. The total cane sugar crops for the 

 world 191-5-16 was 10,583,079 tons, an increase of nearly 

 a million tons over the average of the past years. It is worth 

 ob.serving that Peru, Argentina and Brazil are now producing 

 between them over half a million tons of sugar annually. 

 Nearly all countries show an increase in production, one 

 exception is .Java but this was due to an unfavourable season. 

 On the whole high sugar prices had been reflected all over 

 the world in increased production. 



A short article on the recent development of German 

 agriculture, in Nature for August 17, 19 16, shows that the 

 two chief factors in the recent remarkable development of 

 German agriculture are her .settled economic policy and her 

 well-thought-out system of agricultural education. The 

 demand for well educated managers is greater than in England 

 and scientific knowledge as regards soil fertility is more skil- 

 fully applied. As well as this, Germany is fortunate in that 

 she has not only immense deposits of potash salts, but also 

 vast areas of light soils able to give abundant returns from 

 these manures when skilfully applied. 



The report of the British Cotton Growing Association 

 on a meeting held on September 5, refers to the distridution 

 of cotton seed in Lagos for planting the 1916-17 crop. Up 

 to date, 765 tons of seed had been sent out, which points to 

 a considerable increase in acreage and a large crop. There 

 has bpen considerable difficulty in getting cotton shipped 

 from West Africa this year, but the Imperial Government 

 has rendered great assistance in regard to improving matters. 

 It is reported that good cotton has been received from the 

 Sennar Provinces of the Soudan where the lands are period- 

 ically inundated by the overflow of the Blue Nile in flood 

 times. 



Under the recommendation of Colonel Cotton who owns 

 extensive properties in the Leeward Islands, Messrs. R. W. 

 Hobbsi-t Sons of Gloucestershire have forwarded an illustrated 

 catalogue of their dairy shorthorns with the idea that these 

 cattle are the best dual purpose animal for improving beef 

 and milking qualities in West Indian stock. The firm refer- 

 red to are well-known pedigree animal breeders and have won 

 first prizes at all the leading shows. A special feature of their 

 business is a guaranteed iiiillc supply department, where milk 

 is collected and bottled under the most asceptic conditions 

 and sent to London to be sold for consumption by children 

 and invalids. 



It has not yet been definitely mentioned in this journal 

 that the Imperial Department of Agriculture for the West Indies 

 has issued in card form a useful table of analyses showing 

 the composition of pen manures and allied organic manures 

 commonly employed in these i.'jlands. The substances refer 

 red to include cotton-seed meal, cacao husks, seaweed, pigeon 

 pea stems, sweet potato vine, inaliogauy leaves and pods, bat 

 guano, grass used for mulch anil many otlier substances of 

 a similar character. The table besides giving a percentage 

 comp'isition of these substances states the number of pounds 

 per ton they contain of phosphoric acid, potash, nitrogen, 

 organic matter, water and ash. Those who are interested in 

 the important 'and essential matter of maintaining the humus 

 supply in the soil should find t-his table of value. 



