Vol. XI. No. 274. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS, 



341 



small production of lime juice, as compared willi citrate of 

 lime, in Sicily. It is also stated that the position of the 

 Camera Agruniaria has improved during the year, and the 

 following interesting information is giveB: 'It is calculated 

 that the worlds production of citrate of lime and concen- 

 trated juice amount to an average of about 7,200 metric tons 

 per annum, of which about five-sixths are produced in Sicily. 

 The remaining 1,000 tons are produced in the British 

 Antilles (principally in the islands of Dominica and Mont- 

 serrat), in Mexico, and in Central and South America.' 



TULIP WOODS AND TULIP TREES. 



An article in the AV/" liulhtin. No. 5, 1912, p. 241, 

 gives a useful account of eleven plants that are either called 

 tulip trees or yield woods called tulip woods. It draw.s 

 attention to the confusion that exists generally through 

 the use of one common name for several kinds of trees, and 

 states that this confusion is increased in the cage under dis- 

 cussion because some of the plants called tulip trees do not 

 give wood designated as tulip wood. The term tulip wood 

 seems to be associated with at least seven dift'erent kinds of 

 trees. Among the plants de.scrjbed, there are three that are 

 of interest in the West Indies or British Guiana, and the 

 following information concerning them is for the greater part 

 ■abstracted from the article mentioned. 



DICVPBLLIUM CAEYOVHVLLATUM, OK LIC.MM.X iJUIANEN- 



si.s. It seems that this plant is plentiful in the Guianas 

 and in Brazil, 'where it attains a height of 50 or GO feet, 

 ■with a trunk 3 feet or more in diameter with reddish, cor- 

 rugated bark and strong, close-grained wood.' Like some 

 other members of the Lauraceae it possesses wood, leaves and 

 bark which are fragrant, hence its name 'bois de rose', and 

 probably '< 'ayenne sassafras'. Its bark is called 'clove bark' 

 and 'Brazilian clove bark', because of its scent and taste; 

 distillation with water gives an essential oil called 'clove bark 

 ■oil', bearing a strong resemblance in all its properties to 

 clove oil and used in perfumery. 



The name tulip wood is given to this wood in England. 

 It seems, from iJiplomatir and Cnnsn/ar Repirrt$, Xo. 481S 

 Annual Ij'eries, that the timber and oil are quickly becoming 

 important articles of commerce, and development of its 

 exploitation is expected in the fore.?ts of Brazil. The export 

 Las increased steadily since 1902; in 1910 it was 1,262 tons, 

 and it all went to Grasse (Alpes Maritimes), France. The 

 essential oil is also shipped to France. 



THESPEsiA poruLNEA. This is known in some parts of 

 the West Indies as 'seaside mahoe'; in India it seems to be 

 commonly called 'tulip tree'. The flowers are yellow and 

 purple, and very much like those of cotton, to whose family, 

 the Malvaceae, it belong.^;. 'The wood is fairly strong and 

 'heavy, fine-grained ■with light-coloured soft sapwood and 

 hard, red heartwood. It is used for gun-stocks, wheel-spokes, 

 boat-timber, carts, and furniture. The bark yields a good 

 fibre, and the capsules a yellow dye like gamboge. Both 

 bark and wood contain tannin,' 



In the West Indie.s, this plant is usually seen growing 

 ■near lagoons and swamps. The fibre in the bark is u.sed by 

 fishermen. 



HIBISCUS ELATus. It is Stated that the two common 

 names of this plant are 'blue mahoe' and 'tulip tree'. In 

 Stone's Timbers of Commerce, the wood is described as 

 possessing a faint, aromatic or peppery scent, causing sneez- 

 ing when it is worked. It finds uses in making gun-stocks, 

 carriage poles, ships' knees and fishing rods, and is like 

 European ash but is said to be more durable and longer in 

 the fibre. 



PRODUCTION IN THE UNITED STATES 



1911. 



I KOI' i'i;oi>uc TiON. Most of the crops of 1911, as far as 

 their production is ascertained, compare unfavourably with 

 the average production of the preceding five years. Cotton 

 is the most conspicuous exception. If the commercial expecta- 

 tions of the size of this crop are realized, it will be one- 

 quarter larger than the five-year average, and also the largest 

 cotton crop ever grown. 



The sugar-beet crop is much above the average produc- 

 tion of the previous five years, and is the largest ever grown, 

 while rice and buckwheat are considerably above. 



All other crops are below the five-year average in pro- 

 duction, hay being the most prominent one in percentage of 

 deficiency. 



VAi.UK "IK wKALTH I'KODiK ED. For the first time in 

 many years the total value of farm products has declined from 

 that of the preceding year. The estimate for 1911 is based 

 on the census items and .$8,417,000,000, or •■?277,000,000 

 under the total for 191 0. The loss is chargeable to the general 

 classes of animal products and animals sold and slaughtered. 

 Dairy cows are the only farm animals for which increase of 

 price is indicated. Eggs, wool, butter, and poultry have 

 likewise suffered in farm price during the year. In conse- 

 quence of the decline of prices of farm animals and their 

 products, the group is estimated as having produced a value 

 of $2,913,000,000 in 1911, or s321,000,000 below the 

 amount for 1910. 



On the other hand, the crops are worth more than those 

 of 1910, the estimate of farm value being •■^5,504,000,000— 

 a gain of •■?44,000,000 over 1910. Farm prices of all crops 

 are higher than for 1910, except for cotton, cotton seed and 

 rtax seed, and this general fact, notwithstanding the other 

 general fact that production was low, makes about ten crops 

 of 1911 the most valuable ones of the same kinds that tha 

 farms of this country have ever produced. 



If the census value of farm products for 1899 is repre- 

 sented by 100, the relative standiui; of subsequent years can 

 be readily perceived if they also are represented by index 

 numbers. After 1899 the total value of farm products 

 increased yearly about five to seven in the index number 

 for six years, ending with 1905. For 1906 the increase was 

 ten, for 1907 it was fifteen, for 1909 it was sixteen, for 

 1910 the increase was le^s than two, and for this year there 

 is a loss of six in the index number. At the end of six 

 years after 1899, or the year 1905, the index number had 

 risen from 100 to 133; in five years more it mounted to 183; 

 and the highest point reached 184"3 for 1910. The number 

 for 1911 is 178"4. The progression was broken by this year, 

 so that two other years, 1909 and 1910, exceed 1911 in the 

 value of the wealth produced on farms. 



Little is known of the total agricultural wealth produc- 

 tion of foreign countries, but the little that is known affords 

 interesting comparisons. A rough but ofticial estimate of 

 the value of the wealth produced by agriculture in Italy 

 in 1910, a year of large production, is .^1,351,000,000^ 

 Official returns of the production in .Japan, averaged for the 

 three years 1905-7, give an annual value of a little more 

 than 1613,000,000. The official yearbook of the Common- 

 wealth of Australia reports for 1908 a value of -$484,000,000. 

 According to the Canadian census of 1901 the value of the 

 farm products of the foregoing year was §363,000,000; the 

 census of 1911 has not yet published the corresponding 

 figures for 1910, but the annual official report of agriculture 

 indicates a present production valued at about -f 900,000,000. 

 {From the Yfuhook of the United States Department o£ 

 Agriculture, 1911.) 



