12 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



January 6, 1912. 



GLEANINGS. 



The Textile .Vernny for October 21, 1911. states that 

 the Russian cotton crop amounted to about 900,000 bales, 

 which is a decrease on the ijuantity of the previous year by 

 50,000 bales. ' 



It is reported by H. M. Consul at Para that the exports 

 of rubber from Para, Manaos, Iquitos, and Itacoatiara dur- 

 ing the crop year ending June -SO, 1910-11, were respectively 

 as follows: 14,976,291, 10,088,277, 2,371,-572 and 96,.566 

 kilos., making a total of 33,-532,706 kilos- 



Information has been supplied by the German Consul 

 in Santo Domingo, to the Kachrii-hten fiir Handel und 

 Industrie, to the effect that the amount of cacao exported 

 from the Republic in January to June 1911, was 13,200 

 metric tons. The quantity for the previous similar period 

 was 11,750 metric tons. 



The V/wmical Trade Journal, 1911, p. 74, states that 

 the figures published by the Nitrate Syndicate show that the 

 production of nitrate of soda in 1910 was larger by 350,253 

 tons than in 1909, the output being 2,436,182 tons. The 

 average price in Europe during the former year is estimated 

 to be about £1 lower than in 190S. 



Information from the Agricultural Superintendent 

 of St. Vincent shows that in November last," 2,000 Para 

 rubber seeds were received by the Agricultural Depart- 

 ment, one half of which were sown in the nursery at the 

 Station and the rest sent to Three Rivers estate. At the 

 time of reporting, all the seed was germinating well. 



An abstract is contained, in the Journal of the Chemical 

 Soriety, 191 1, p. 430, of a paper which describes experiments 

 which showed that applications of starch and sucrose to the 

 soil, each separately at the rate of 1 ton per acre, caused large 

 decreases in the yield of barley. The treated soil was sub- 

 jected to examination, and it was found that it contained 

 a largely increased growth of bacteria and moulds. 



At the end of November last it was reported from Mont- 

 serrat that the prospects for the cotton crop continued to be 

 good, and that picking would be carried on until a much 

 later date than that of last year. On some estates, the per- 

 centage of lint has been low. Flower-bud maggot was 

 found in several places, and attacks of the cotton worm 

 have been severe in all parts of the island, the greatest 

 damage having been done in the northern districts. 



Particulars have been received of a roller cotton gin, 

 described as the D.C. Hand Gin, and sup.plied by Norman 

 Pain Pearse, 28 Queen Street, London, E.C., to whom appli- 

 cation should be made for information and prices. This 

 requires only one person to operate it, and is made in two 

 sizes, one of which will deal with 10 to 16 %. of seed 

 cotton in an hour, while the other gives an output 15 per 

 cent, greater. The latter is recommended particularly for use 

 on experiment farms. 



The Sea Island cotton crop for 1910-11 was not .so big 

 as^ the previous year's. The total number of bales was 

 87,911, being a reduction of 8,807 on the crop of 1909-10. 

 The bales were distributed as follows : Great Rritain, 16,505 

 bales; the Continent 6,430; and the United States, 61,125. 

 This year's crop has suffered through storm and rain,' and 

 the harvesting, although favoured by good weather, is being 

 held back through the want of efficient labour. (The 

 Textile Meri-urii, October 14, 1911.) 



Colonial Reports — Annual, No. 691, shows that there 

 was an increase in the importation of rice into Hong Kong, 

 during 1910, over the quantity for the previous similar 

 period. The total reported imports are stated to have been 

 4,298,194 tons as against 4,195,968 tons in 1909; though 

 these figures are not entirely relialile. The increase was 

 undoubtedly due to the almost total failure of the Chinese 

 first crops, owing to continuous drought, and to the partial 

 failure of the second crop in parts of Kwangtung. 



The Financial Times states that, according to the Depeche 

 Coloniale (Paris), the French Ministry of Colonies proposes 

 to send a special commission for the purpose of selecting 

 either Fort-de France, Martinique, or Point-a-Pitre, Guade- 

 loupe, as a port of call in connexion with the opening of the 

 Panama Canal and for the general development of French 

 influence in the Caribbean Sea. It is considered that Point- 

 a-Pitre possesses the greatest advantages for the purpose, on 

 account of the superiority of its harbour, and there is likely 

 to be the additional inducement that the local authority will 

 abolish the harbour and pilot dues. 



An investigation of the turning back of the water cur- 

 rent in the .sweet potato is described in the New Jersey 

 .'stations Report for 1909, p 343. The method of experi- 

 mentation was to grow a piece of the main stem, with a side 

 branch, in a pot, and then to root the growing vine with its 

 branches at intervals of 2 feet, in pots, water beinc subse- 

 quently supplied to the rooted pirts of the branches,''but not 

 to the main stem. Observations showed that the w&ter cur- 

 rent was turned baok from its normal direction, so that the 

 plant grew from that supplied to the side branches. 



The Experiment Station Record for June 1911, p. 645, 

 gives an account of tapping experiments that have been con- 

 ducted with young trees of Funtumia elastica, at Amani, 

 German East Africa. The largest yield was obtained with 

 the quarter-section method of tapping, but it is the opinion 

 of the author that, in a general way, the herringbone system 

 will give the best results. It was found profitable to tap 

 trees six years old. There was an increase in the (|uantity 

 of the latex with the age and diameter of the trees, though 

 slender trees sometimes gave relatively large yields Attention 

 is drawn to the fact that some trees give high returns, but do 

 not sustain them from year to year; so that in selecting seed 

 it should be taken from plants which yield well continuously. 



