360 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



November 9, 1912 



EDITORIAL NOTICES. 



Letters and matter for publication, as well as all 

 specimens for naming, shonld be addressed to the 

 Commissioner, Imperial Department of Agriculture, 

 Barbados. 



All applications fur copies of the 'Agricultural 

 News' should be addressed to the Agents and noc to 

 the Department. 



Local Agents: Messrs. Bowen & Sons, Bridge- 

 town, Barbados. London Agents: Messrs. Dnlau & 

 Co., 37, Soho Square, W. A complete list of Agents 

 will be found on page 3 of the cover. 



The Agricultural News : Price Id. per number, 

 post free 2d. Annual subscription payable to Agents, 

 2s. 2d. Post free, 4s. 4d. 



Agricultural fleiu.^ 



Trade of Venezuela, 1911-12. 



Statistics originating from H.M. Legation at 

 Caracas show that the imports and exports of merchan- 

 dit^e to and from Venezuela for the financial year ending 

 June 30, 1912 were worth £224,434 and £328,368, 

 respectively; m 1910-11 they were £200,447 and 

 £242.300. 



The coffee crop of Venezuela for 1911-12 was above 

 the average. In spite of the drought io is probable 

 that the crop to be shipped in 1912-13 will be only 

 about 20 per cent, less than that exported in 1911-12. 

 Last year's crop of cacao was very small because of 

 drought, and prospects are poor for this year. The 

 drought has also caused the balata and rubber exports 

 lor this year to be small, but conditions have improved 

 lately in the Orinoco region. 



Vol. XI. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1912. No. 27-5. Vanilla in the Seychelles, 1911. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Contents of Present Issue. 



The editorial of this issue brings forward various 

 conclusions that have been reached regarding The Influ- 

 ence of Molasses on Soil Fertility. It summarizes the 

 results of recent investigations, as well as information 

 that has been given already concerning the subject in 

 this journal and in other places. 



An article on page 355 deals with detailed work 

 regarding the fuel value of megass that has been carried 

 out recently in Hawaii. 



An interesting illustrated article having for its 

 subject the budding of the avocado pear is to be found 

 on page 357. 



Information concerning the buchu of South Africa, 

 sent by Mr. J. R. Jackson, A.L.S., and in addition 

 abstracted from a recent number of the Kew Bulletin, 

 is given on page 362. 



During the year mentioned almost the smallest 

 crop of vanilla on record was obtained; it was 11,008 

 kilos. (24,218 lb.) worth Rs. 223,200 (£14,880). 1$, is 

 explained in Colonial Exports — Annual, No. 271, that 

 the cause of the small yield was not disease of the plants 

 but unseasonable rainfall at the flowering season. The 

 last good crop was in 1907, and was valued ak 

 a million rupees. 



The crop of 1912 is expected to be as low as that 

 of the previous year. If nothing unfavourable occurs at 

 the present time, the year 1913 should see a large crop. 



Prices have been high for several years, and it is 

 stated that there is no longer much dread that vanillin 

 will replace the natural product in popular favour. 



Vanilla is sold chiefly in London and Paris, in 

 about equal proportions. 



A summary of the results of the continuation of 

 work having for its subject the influence of radioactive 

 substances on plants appears on page 363. 



The Fungus Notes of this issue are on pages 866 

 and 367. They deal with a disease of sugar-cane called 

 Iliau, which up to the present appears to be confined 

 lo Hawaii. A summary of a bulletin giving an account 

 of recent woi'k with the disease is supplied, and note is 

 made of the remedial measures that have been 

 suggested. 



Page 367 contains an account of various matters in 

 connexion with the representation of the West Indies at 

 the recent Canadian National Exhibtion held at 

 Toronto. 



The Cutting of Sisal. 



Opinions vary greatly regarding the best way to 

 cut leaves of Agave for the production of sisal hemp 

 The subject receives attention in the Journal d' Agri- 

 culture ^Tropicale for May 1912, which quotes an article 

 in the Bulletin Economique de I' Indo-Chine as say- 

 ing that to cut too plentifully, leaving a straight stump 

 in the place of the crown of twenty-two leaves which 

 should nourish the plant, constitutes one of tte most 

 clumsy methods, besides giving leaves of irregular 

 maturity and therefore fibre that sells at an inferior 

 price. It is pointed out that this view receives confir- 

 mation in a letter sent to the Agricultural Department 

 of New South Wales by the Director of the Fibre 

 Department of the International Harvester Company of 

 America. So far, the procedure in Australia, for this 

 recently introduced cultivation, has been that of Java. 

 In Yucatan, it is admitted that a leaf ought to be allowed 

 to become almost horizontal before it is cut; in any case 

 i •. ought not to be removed before its angle has become 

 at least 22'. 



