Vol. XI. Xo. 262. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



153 



Additional means of control for yaws are suggtsted, 

 including the compulsion of patients to appear for 

 examination, and stress is laid upon the importance of 

 llie co-operation of the planters and their overseers 

 with the Government, in the matter, 

 — — — ^^►-♦-^^■^ 



A New Artificial Manure. 



A report from H.M. Acting Consul at Christiania, 

 Norway, states that the local newspapers have signal- 

 ized the production of a new artificial manure, which 

 has received the name Bi-phospbate. This is stated to 

 be actually a by-product in the manufacture of nitrate 

 of lime at the Notodden Works. The nitric acid pro- 

 duced in making nitrate of lime is used to dissolve 

 apatite (bone earth) or other raw material, and the 

 manure is produced by subsequent treatment of the 

 prod uct. 



It is expected that the price of the new manure 

 will be low; its chief use will be in the replacement of 

 superphosphate and basic slag. 



Legislation against Anthrax in St. Vincent. 



At a meeting of the Legislative Council of 

 St. Vincent held on December 4, 1911, the Council 

 went into committee over a Bill for an Ordinance to 

 Provide for the Compulsory Vaccination of Animals, as 

 a Precaution against Anthra.x in Infected Districts. 



Among other matters, in addition to that of com- 

 pulsory vaccination, the Ordinance is intended to define 

 and limit the conditions under which a district might 

 be declared infected, and to make provision for the pay- 

 ment of compensation for animals dying from theefifects 

 of vaccination. A clause, included at first in the Bill, 

 by which owners had to pay for the vaccination of their 

 animals, was eliminated. 



With reference to this Ordinance, it should be 

 pointed out that powers are only given by it in pro- 

 claimed districts, and as an emergency measure. 



Manurial Experiments with Tea. 



Attention is ^iven in the Experiment Statioii 

 Record, Vol. XXIV, p. 738, to experiments that have 

 been carried out at the Heeleaka Experiment Station, 

 India, for the purpose of investigating the effects on 

 tea of various methods of cultivation and manuring. 



The experiments have been made continuously 



for the five years during which the station has been 



in existence. In this time, five plots which received 



no manure, but were given careful and repeated culti- 



»• vation, showed a considerable increase in yield. 



Consideration of the returns of leaf during the 

 five years has led to the cimclusion that the yields are 

 influenced both by the local climatic conditions and by 

 seasonal variation. The heaviest yields were generally 

 received during the months of greatest rainfall. 



The trials showed further, that the best method of 

 employment of suitable manures was their application 

 in small divided doses during the year, in order to lessen 

 the loss in drainage water. 



Prize-holdings Competition in Jamaica. 



At the end of last year, a prize-holdings compe- 

 tition, held in the parish of St. Andrew, .Jamaica, 

 received the attention of the judges, and the report is 

 printed in the Journal of the Jmnaica Agricultural 

 Society for February 1912. 



There were fifty -four entries in the competition, 

 forty-nine of which were inspected and judged; of these 

 there were ten in the first class, a similar number in 

 the second class, and twenty-nine in the third class, 

 the total number being smaller than that in the pre- 

 vious competition, probably because of the severe 

 drought during the year. 



Among matters that showed weakness were the 

 keeping of stock and the paying of attention to fences 

 and gates. It was advised that after the drought the 

 coffee trees should be pruned, and that the old ones 

 among them which had been .seriously affected should 

 be removed entirely. The suggestion is made that 

 the cultivation of bananas might be profitably extended 

 in various districts. Catch crops such as yams suffered 

 seriously in the drought, and more attention to mulch- 

 ing is advised. 



Eradication ot Noxious Weeds in Grenada 



An Ordinance, No. 2 of 1912, dated March 23, 

 1912, the purpose of which is to make provision for the 

 eradication of noxious weeds in Grenada, has received 

 the assent of the Governor of the Windward Islands. 

 In the schedule of the Ordinance, 'to clear' is defined 

 as meaning to dig up and burn, or to pull up and burn, 

 noxious weeds: or to employ other means of destruction 

 prescribed by an inspector under the Ordinance; and 

 'persons responsible' shall, in relation to lands, mean 

 the occupier of land or, in the case of unoccupied lands, 

 the owner thereof or his agent in the Colony. 



According to the regulations, it is the duty of 

 responsible persons to clear lands of noxious weeds and to 

 report the occurrence of such weeds to a Justice of the 

 Peace, Magistrate, or Inspector, or at the nearest police 

 station, or directly to the Superintendent of Agriculture. 

 Any land, whether enclosed or not, may be entered 

 upon by an Inspector for the purpose of ascertaining if 

 any noxious weeds exist thereon. In case of such 

 existence, the Inspector serves a notice giving details of 

 the nature of the weed and the localities in which it 

 occurs, and the person responsible is required to clear 

 the land within the time specified in the notice. 



If, after notice has been given, the land is not 

 cleared of the weed, the responsible person will be liable, 

 on conviction, to the penalties provided in the Ordin- 

 ance, and the Court may further order such person to 

 pay the cost of clearance. In the event of failure to 

 clear the land, an Inspector may enter upon it, with or 

 without assistance, and eradicate any noxious weed 

 found thereon. 



Other regulations provide for the serving of notices 

 and for the protection of the Inspectors during the exer- 

 cise of their duties. 



A preliminary note on this Ordinance appearerl in 

 the AgricuLtural News for March 16. 



