332 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



October 12, 1912. 



GLEANINGS. 



Kegarding cotton cultivation in Turkey, H.M Vice- 

 Ccnsnl at Adana reports that the Government has granted 

 a concession over 111,150 acres to a French syndicate, in 

 the Cicilian Plain, and it is probable that a large planting of 

 Egyptian and American varieties will take place. 



A Proclamation contained in the St. Vincent Gomrnment 

 Gaselte for August 22, 1912. announces that the Government 

 has made into a forest reserve all such Crown Lands in the 

 Colony as are situated higher than 1,000 feet above sea-level 

 (except those already disposed of in some other way). 



A table in Vol. XLVI, Part IV, of the Agricultural 

 Statistics, issued recently by the Board of Agriculture and 

 Fisheries for 1911, show.s tliat tbe quantities ot sugar import- 

 ed into the United Kinf;dom, per head of the populati"n, has 

 been i-ince 1890, in five vear period.s, as follows : 1891 82 lb., 

 189G 86 lb., 1901 94 lb." 1906 86 lb, and 1911 94 lb. In 

 no year were the |)roportions exceeded, of 1901 and 1911. 



A report by the British .Acting-Consul at Para shows 

 that tlie total (|iiaiit.ity of rubber exported from Para, 

 Manaos, Iquitos and Itacoaiiara, by way of Para, during the 

 six months ended .Tune 1912 was 22,410 tons; for the 

 similar period of 1911 the amount was 17,731 tons. The 

 total expoits from these sources in the crop year 1911-12 

 reached 40,074 tons, and in the same period in 1910 11 

 32,9.30 tons. 



The St. Liii-iii (ioietfc for August 31, 1912, contains 

 the draft of an ( )rdinance to amend the Minor Pro<lucts 

 Protection Ordinance, 1899. It may be cited as the Minor 

 Products Protection Ordinance, 1899, Amendment Ordinance, 

 1912, and it enacts that the following subsection shall be 

 added to section three of the older Ordinance: '(2) In sections 

 eight, fifty-one and fifty-two, of this Ordinance "minor pro- 

 ducts' includes limes and coco nuts.' 



The Department of Land Becords and Agriculture, 

 Assam, reports that the estimated area under cotton in 

 Assam, this year, is 34,900 acres against 36,300 acres last 

 year, the decrease being due to unfavourable weather at the 

 beginning of the sowing time. The present prospects of the 

 crop are fair. 



The announcement is made in the Trinidad Royal Ga.ettt 

 for August 22, 1912, that the Department of Agriculture in 

 that island proposes to establish at Itiver estate a supply of 

 sugar-canes for planting purposes. It is expected that canea 

 will be ready for sale from about August 1913. Orders for 

 canes are requested and 'plants' will be sold at a maximuta 

 price of -f 2'40 p' r 1,000, excltisive of packing and freight, and 

 at cost price if the cost is less than .$2 40. 



Statistics issued by the Mauritius Chamber of Agricul- 

 ture indicate that, according to the factory figures, the total 

 production of the island for the sugar crop of last season 

 (1911-12) was 169,-551 metric tons (1 metric ton = 2,20-5 8).), 

 as against 222,837 in the previous season. The extraction 

 was somewhat lower than that of the year before, being 

 10'62 in place of 106-5 per cent. 



The St. Vincent Arrowroot (New Market Fund) Ordi- 

 nance 1910, which was to be in force up to December 1 of 

 the present year, has been renewed for a further period of 

 two years from that date, and power is re.served to extend 

 further the Ordinance at the end of this time if it is deemed 

 advisable. The new Ordinance is No. 9 of 1912, and was 

 published in the Goi-ernmtnt Gazette on August 22. 



The British Vice-Consul at San Luis Potosi (Mexico) 

 reports that the Forseck fibre-shredding machine, put on the 

 market in 1911, produces 87-5 lb. of cleaned fibre in ten 

 hours, and he expects that large quantities of ixtle or 

 Jechuguilla and maguey fibre will be available for export 

 during this year. It is stated that the machine can be used 

 also for the extraction of other Mexican fibres, such as 

 henequen (.sisal) and zapupe. (From Diplomalir and Consu- 

 lar Reports, No. 4976 Annual Series; August 1912.) 



It is shown in the Board of Tixuh Journal for August 8, 

 1912, that the total value of the sea-borne exports (excluding 

 specie) from the Gold Coast during 1911 was £3,471,309, 

 as compared with £2,613,919 in 1910. The values of the 

 exports of the principal articles in 1911 and 1910, respec- 

 tively, were: cacao, £1,613,468 and £866,571; gold and gold 

 dust, £1,057,692 and £280,060; rubber, £219,447 and 

 £358,876; palm kernels, £175,891 and £185,058; native 

 timber, £138,821 and £148,122; palm oil £128,916 and 

 £161,388; kola nuts, £93,099 and £77,716. 



In consequence of allegations of cruelty in pluck- 

 ing ostrich feather?, the Government of the Union of 

 South Africa has issued a statement by Dr. J. E. r»eurden, 

 M.Sc , F.R C.S., Professor of Zoology at Ithodes University 

 College, Grahamstown, to the effect that no such cruelty 

 exists. The first plumes (spadonas) of the bird are clipped 

 after all tie living matter has been withdrawn into the qui!), 

 which is still growing, so that the operation amoun-ts to no 

 more than cutting human hair or nails, or shearing a sheep. 

 Later, the living matter leaves the quills, which are then 

 drawn, so as to obtain a succeeding regular crop of plumes — 

 an operation which in any case would have to be effected 

 clumsily by the bird, and does not cause it to show the 

 slightest sign of irritation. These facts are true for all 

 subsequent crops of feathers. 



