THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS, 



AuGLST 31, 1912. 



An account of sisal-growing experiments that are being 

 conducted in Curasao has been given recently by the United 

 (States Consul. The results appear so far to be favourable: 

 the phints have survived an abnormally dry period, and have 

 given sisal of excellent quality. In consequence of the suc- 

 cess, a comiiany called the First Sisal Culture Co. of 

 Curai^ao, has been formed for the exploitation of the fibre-- 

 in the island. 



GLEANINGS. 



The lievisla Azumreya for 1911-12 states that it is 

 expected that from 20,000 to 2.5,000 tons of 9G° sugar will 

 be exported from Mexico to the United Kingdom during this 

 year. In the season 1911,158,627 tons of sugar, 83,348 

 tons of molasses and 49,107 tons of panela (a brown sugar) 

 tvere produced in Mexico, 



It is shown in The Board of Tradt Jtuinal for July 4, 

 191 '2, that the number of bales of cotton imported into the 

 1 nitcd Kingdom during the twenty-six weeks ended June 27 

 was 2,830,474, including 5,620 British West Indian, 5,213 

 British West African, 17,523 British East Afiican, and 

 1,044 bales Foreign East African. 



A copy of a bulletin on the condition of crops in 

 I'.cypt on July 1, 1912, has been received from the Director- 

 f ;eneral of the Department of Agriculture. This shows that 

 the condition of the cotton, sugar-cane and melon crops at 

 that date was well above the average, while that of wheat 

 and rice was somewhat below the average. 



The AaricuUural News of FelTuary 3, 1912, p, 41, coro- 

 tained a note on a suggestion that has been made to the effect 

 that tobacco seed might be utilized as a source of oil: the- 

 seeds contain 15 percent, of a drying oil. As is pointed out 

 in the Bulletin of the Imperial Jusfitufc for April 1912, 

 p. 153, the ordinary conditions of tobacco cultivation are nc>t 

 such as to produce tobacco seed in quantity, so that the 

 suggestion does not appear to 1 ^e practicable. 



During the year 1910, tin and rubber were exported 

 from Bolivia to the value of £5,160,000, the value of the 

 rubber being £2,200,000. The total exports during that 

 year reached the value of £6,000,000, the shipments of 

 products other than tin and rubber being made up by silver 

 (£420,000), bismuth, copper and other minerals, witb 

 a certain amount of coca and raw- hides. (From Diplomatic 

 and Consular ^e/w/s, No. 4888 Annual Series, July 1912.) 



The results cf inoculation experiments that have beei:; 

 carried out witli horse beans in Germany are quoted in the 

 E-'pcriinent fitalion Record for May 1912, p, 617, and it is 

 stated that decided benefit was received from inoculation in al3 

 cases. The kinds of inoculation practised were seed inocula- 

 tion with gelatine cultures, seed inoculation with soil cultures^ 

 and soil inoculation with soil cultures, on upland moor soii 

 which had never grown horse beans; the best results were- 

 obtained from seed inoculation. 



lu the report of the Government Botanical Gardens, 

 8aliaranpur, India, for 1911-12, it is stated that the Jequie 

 Manicoba trees (Jfanihot dicholoma) in the gardens continue 

 t > make only slow progress, and it is concluded that the 

 plant requires a more equable temperature and a somewhat 

 moister atmosphere than those which obtain at Saharanpur. 



According to the Tej.lile Mercwy for July 13, 1912, 

 c-xperiments have been made at Casablanca in cotton-growing, 

 from seed obtained from Porto llico. The experiment was 

 only on a small scale, and the plants were watered by hand 

 during the dry season. Other trials were made at a place 

 about 50 miles from Casablanca, but like the former w-ere 

 not on a scale sutlicient to give useful results. 



11. M Consul at Amsterdam states that a factory is being 

 erected for the manufacture of artificial 'rubber' from fresh 

 .-L-a fish, the cost of this being only about one-sixth of that in 

 the manufacture of natural rubber. The invention has been 

 examined and reported upon by an English chemist, and his 

 report may be seen by British firms at the Commercial Intel- 

 ligence Branch of the Board of Trade, 73 Basinghall St., 

 Loudon. E,C. 



The Bulletin of the Bureau of A(jricultural IntMiyence 

 and of Plant Diseases ior June 1912, p. 1395, contains an 

 account of a machine for raising water which is describedl 

 under the name Hydropulsator. This is employed in the 

 same way as the ordinary ram, but the two valves of this ma- 

 chine are replaced by a kind of turbine which revolves and 

 closes alternately the discharge pipe and the outflow pipe. 

 The apparatus can be made in large sizes, and does not 

 require much head of water. It has proved itself already to- 

 be practicable, and observations are stated to have showre 

 that it [lossesses an efficiency of 70 per cent. 



The Board of Trade of St. John, Kew Brunswick, has^ 

 issued a statement showing that the ex[)orts from that port 

 by transatlantic steamers, for the six months November 190t'' 

 to May 1910, were valued at $24,030,007. In the fiscal! 

 year ending March 31, 1910, the values of the exports fromi. 

 the chief eastern ports of Canada were: from Montreal 

 ••$77,501,549, from Halifax .fl 1,595,755, from Quebec 

 $5,751,375, and from St. John $24,988,519; as regards; 

 St. John, they were valued at $20,668,517 in the precedints 

 similar period. The latter facts show that the trade of the 

 port is making substantial increases and that future progress^ 

 may be expected. 



