"Vol. XI. No. 260. 



iVTHE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



121 



A By-product from Funtumia Elastica. 



The seeds of Funtumia elastica are borne in 

 a follicle, which is a fruit something 'like a pod, that 

 open.son the lower siile the seeds being attached to this 

 side. Each of these seeds is furnished with silky, very 

 light tufts of fibre. 



■ Attention is drawn to this matter in the Journal 

 d' Agriculture Tropicale for .January 1912, p. 27, 

 where it is stated, after a first examination, that the 

 fleece formed from these tufts would find a use on the 

 market, pro\ idt^d that the price is not too high; that i.s 

 to .say offers would be accepted on the basis of about 

 4d. per lb., landed at Havre. It has been found that 

 the average weight of one fruit, containing 190 to 22.5 

 seeds, is nearly 1 oz., and in this there are about 52 

 per cent, of husks, 'Mi per cent, of seeds and 12 percent. 

 of uncleaned tufts of fibre. 



It is stated that it would be possible, at the sixth 

 year after planting, to obtain about 88 ft. of the fibre 

 per acre of Funtumia, in open cultivation. 



Trade and Agriculture of British Honduras, 

 1910. 



The following details concerning the trade and 

 agriculture of British Honduras during 1910 are taken 

 from Colonial Reports — Annual, No. 706, issued at 

 the beginning of this j'ear. 



The principal trade was with the United Kingdom 

 and the United States, and to these countries the 

 following chief products were exported in the amounts 

 stated: mahogany 10,0(39,053 feet, cedar 711,237 feet, 

 logwood 2,006 tons, bananas 441, LSI bunches, plantains 

 3,514,101 fruits, cocoa-nuts 4,871,321 fruits, chicle (for 

 chewing gum) 2,790,890 ft., sarsaparilla 2,967 lb, 

 rubber 1(),835 lb., sponges 4,079 ft.; and tortoiseshell 

 2,703 ft. 



This list does not include the comparatively unim- 

 portant agricultural export, cacao; of this, the amount 

 shipped in 1910 was 32,023 lb., as compared with 

 39,868 ft in the previous year. 



The sugar produced was practically all taken up 

 for local consumption. For the manufacture of this, 

 forty-six mills were in operation — eleven worked by 

 steam, two by oil engines, and the rest by cattle. 



In connexion with the timber trade, two saw mills 

 were in operation during the year. 



Sea Island Cotton in Cuba. 



A review of a report by the United States Deputy 

 Consul-General for Cuba is given in the Tertile Mer- 

 cury for March 9, 1912. This shows that experiments 

 in the odtivation of Sea Island cotton have been 

 carried out during the past three years by the Artemisa 

 Tobacco Company, at Artemisa, Pinar del Rio Province. 

 The chief object of the trial.s was to find out if cotton 



can be grown in Cuba, free from attacks of the boll 

 weevil, if certain methods of cultivation are adopted 

 and the seed is planted during the autumn months. 



In the first trial, selected Sea Island cotton seed 

 from Florida was planted on a- very small scale in 

 September, when a good return was obtained and no 

 boll weevils appeared. After the harvesting of the 

 ciop all the remains of the old cotton were burned; 

 and equally good residts were obtained on repeating 

 the experiments in exactly the same way, in the second 

 and third years. 



It is considered to have been demonstrated that 

 cotton planted in Cuba, in September, will not suffer 

 from the boll weevil, provided that precautions are 

 taken to prevent the insect from being brought into the 

 fields, and that all old plant remains are burned as soon 

 as the crop has been gathered. 



It is said that the lint produced is of good quality 

 and of exceptional length. This fact, taken together 

 with the circumstance dealt witb above, namely that 

 Sea Island cotton may be grown in Cuba free from the 

 attacks of boll weevil, makes the matter of much impor- 

 tance to the island, as it appears to contain many 

 localities suitable for the raising of long stapled cotton. 



Rubber from Dominica. 



The Dominica Ojficial Gazette for March 22, 1912, 

 contains a report by the Imperial Institute on samples 

 of Para rubber grown in the island and exhibited at 

 the last International Rubber Exhibition, held in 

 London. 



The samples consisted of biscuits of Para rubber 

 from the Botanic Gardens. These are described as 

 consisting of light-brown rubber and having a diameter 

 up to 5 inches and a thickness of J-inch; they were 

 clean and well prepared, and the physical properties of 

 the rubber were satisfactory. The loss on washing, 

 which is made up of moisture and impurities, was 08 

 per cent. 



The percentage composition of the dry, washed 

 rubber was: caoutchouc 939, resin 29, proteid 2-8, 

 ash 4. The commercial valuation is given as about 

 4.S. lOd. per ft. in London, with fine hard Para at 4*'. ild. 

 per ft , and fair average quality plantation Para biscuit 

 at 4s. lOfd to 4«. Uld. per ft. 



In remarking on the samples, the following state- 

 ments are made: — 



' The results of the analysis show that this Para 

 rubber from Dominica is of very good quality, as it 

 contains 94 per cent, of caoutchouc in the dry mate- 

 rial, and only small amounts of resin and proteid. 

 It is slightly superior in composition to the pre- 

 vious specimen of Para rubber from Dominica shown 

 at the rubber exhibition held in London in 1908, and 

 subsequently examined at the Imperial Institute (see 

 Imperial Institute Report dated February 10,1909). 



'The results of these investigations show that the 

 Para trees in Dominica will furnish rubber of excellenfc 

 quality which will realize good prices in the market.* 



