120 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS 



April 13, 1912. 



EDITORIAL NOTICES. 



Letters and matter for publication, as well as all 

 specimens for naming, should be addressed to the 

 Commissioner, Imperial Department of Agriculture, 

 Barbados. 



All applications for Copies of the 'Agricultural 

 News' should be addressed to the Agents, and not to 

 the Department 



Local Agents: Messrs. Bowen & Sons, Bridge- 

 town, Barbados. London Agents: Messrs. Dulau & 

 Co,, 37, Soho Square, W. A complete list of Agents 

 will be found on page 3 of the cover. 



The Agricultural News : Price Id. per number, 

 post free 2d. Annual subscription payable to Agents, 

 28. 2d. Post free, 4-s. M. 



gigncultiirai ^tm 



Vol. XI. SATURDAY. APIUL 13, 1912. No. 260. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Contents of Present Issue. 



The editorial presents a review of some of the 

 ■chief work that has been done in connexion with bac- 

 teria in the soil during the past year. The summary 

 is made to refer to conditions in the tropics, particu- 

 larly in the West Indies. 



A useful table containing statistics with regard to 

 the sugar trade of the United Kingdom is reproduced 

 on page 115. 



An article of interest to cotton growers and ex- 

 porters, entitled Injury to Cotton Fibres in Spinning, 

 appears on page 11 8. It helps to explain why some 

 of the large wastage, experienced in cotton spinning, 

 takes place. 



A short article on page 119 gives information 

 regarding the forthcoming international rubber exhibi- 

 tion, to be held in New York during the present year. 



The Insect Notes of this issue appear on page 

 122. They are concerned with a description of a new 

 method of controlling termites, or white ants as they 

 are usually called. 



An article on page 12.5 gives interesting and 

 useful information concerning the employment of 

 formalin on rubber plantations. 



The Fungus Notes, on page 12(i, comprise the first 

 of two articles giving an account of the work that has 

 been done, and the conclusions that have been reached, 

 concerning the condition known as the Panama disease 

 of bananas. 



Rubber Cultivation in Mexico. 



As is pointed out in J.a Qaivzaine Coloniale 

 for July 10, 1911, the rubber produced in Mexico is 

 mainly of two kinds: Guayule, from Parthenium 

 argentutum, and the product of Castilloa elastica. 



It is stated further that the total export amounts 

 to 5 532 tons valued at over £1,600,000. Of this 

 quantity 407 tons was from Castilloa, 163 tons out of 

 this having been obtained from cultivated trees. It is 

 estimated that the total area of the Castilloa planta- 

 tions is about 90,000 acres, and in these rubber is being 

 obtained at present from only a small proportion 

 of the trees. 



Although about 93 percent, of the total shipments 

 of rubber was Guayule, the proportion is bound to 

 bt'come greatly lessened on account of the decreasing 

 numbers of the wild plants and the fact that those 

 raised in plantations have not given the yields that were 

 expected from ithem. 



Japanese Isinglass, or Agar-agar. 



Japanese isinglass, or agar-agar, is made from six 

 kinds of seaweed, which, according to the •Journal of 

 the Royal Society of Arts for February 23, 1912, is 

 bought up at the close of summer by wholesale dealers 

 in Osaka, and stored until it is sold to the manufacturers, 

 who deal with it only in the autumn and winter, as ia 

 the preparation heat and rain spoil the product. 



An account of the process of manufacture, by the 

 United States Consul at Kobe, shows that this is 

 simple, and that the utensils employed are primitive. 

 The first stage is the crushing of each kind of seaweed 

 separately, and then its washmg with water in order to 

 clean it, followed by its being dried and bleached in the 

 sun, on mats, the bleaching action being assisted by 

 frost and dew. 



When they have been bleached, the six kinds of 

 seaweed are boiled together in certain proportions, for 

 about fourteen hours, until they become soluble. After 

 being strained, the liquid is ladled into shallow trajs, 

 where it remains about twelve hours; after which time 

 the solid isinglass formed is cut into strips 3 inches 

 wide and 14 inches long, with a knife and a ruler. These 

 are then pushed through a wire sieve, so that long, fine 

 strips are produced. 



The isinglass in this form is placed on a low stand, 

 covered with a clean mat, and dried in the sun during 

 the day and frozen at night, for two or three weeks 

 during January and February, being watered at mid- 

 night. The kind of weather that occurs during this 

 time is the circumstance that decides the quality of the 

 isinglass, which is best when the weather is clear and 

 cold. After being bleached sufficiently, the product is 

 compressed and packed in Japanese matting, tied with 

 straw rope. 



The very beet quality is all exported to China, the 

 so-called No. 1 quality taken by the United States being 

 equal to the No. 2 quality that goes to China. It may 

 be mentioned that one of the uses of agar-agar in the 

 tropics is for making cultures of fungi and bacteria all 

 temperatures at which ordinary gelatine would melt. 



