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THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS, 



November 23, 1912. 



GLEANINGS. 



The plant distribution from the Antigua Botanic Station 

 during October included: limes 19,216, forest trees 577, 

 coco-nuts 493, miscellaneous plants 34, sweet potato cuttings, 

 38,100, seeds 2 gallons and 8| lb. and 3 packages. 



The Bulletin of the Pan- American. Unioi> for August 

 1912 shows that the production of coffee in Guatemala 

 during last year was about 645,000 cwt. At the end of the 

 year there were in the State 2,156 coffee plantations, covering 

 an area of 880,320 acres. 



The Uganda Official ffa;f»e for September 15, 1912, con- 

 tains a declaration by the Acting Governor of the Protectorate 

 to the effect that epizootic lymphangitis is a disease, for the 

 purposes of the Cattle Disease Ordinance, Uganda, 1902. 

 An account of this disease was given ia the We$t Indian 

 Bulletin, Vol. XII, p. 72. 



The values of the chief exports from British Honduras 

 during 1911 were: chicle (see page 375) $968,392, mahogany 

 *850,801, coco-nuts $131,140, bananas 193,392, cedar 

 .*89,455, logwood 854,549, plantains $23,206, tortoiseshell 

 ■*:19,485, and rubber 818,647. (From Colonial Reports — 

 Annual, No. 733; October 1912.) 



Information received from the Director General of the 

 Department of Agriculture, Egypt, shows that the cotton 

 crop of both Upper and Lower Egypt was estimated at the 

 beginning of last month to be above the average for the past 

 ten years. The rice crop of Lower Egypt was below normal 

 and that of tapper Egypt above normal. 



Among the plants distributed from the St. Lucia Botanic 

 Station during October, there were chiefly: limes 6,350 and 

 Para rubber 1,380. Smaller numbers of cacao plants, oranges, 

 grafted mangoes and decorative plants and cuttings, as well 

 as others, were also sent out. Ia the seed distribution there 

 were 98 packets of vegetable seeds and -i-gallon of horse beans. 



Regarding the exhibit from Dominica at the Canadian 

 National Exhibition held recently in Toronto, information 

 has been received to the effect that this exhibit has been 

 awarded a gold medal diploma bv the exhibition authorities. 

 'I'he plant distribution in this island, by the Agricultural 

 Department during October was: limes 11,825, Congo coffee 

 1,500, cac?.o 550, Para rubber 300, grafted cacao 11, 

 budded citrus 40 and miscellaneous 60; the total was 

 14,286 plants. The rainfall at the Botanic Station during 

 October was 7'26 inches, of which 526 inches fell on 

 October 3, 4 and 5. There was no rain after the 14th 

 ultimo. 



It is stated in Diplomatic atid Consular Reports, No.. 

 4932 Annual Series, that the imports of cotton into Japaa 

 from Corea for 1911, only amounted to 900 tons worth 

 £32,600, compared with 2,200 tons worth £47,900, in 1910. 

 Notwithstanding the encouragement of cotton-growing in.^ 

 Corea by the Japanese Government, the results have not beea 

 very satisfactory. 



A heavy fall of rain was experienced in St. Lucia 

 on October 8, when as much as 2' 10 inches fell at the 

 Botanic Station, which was Hooded, the drains being 

 silted up. The Experiment Station was also flooded and 

 a large number of lime seeds and seedlings intended for 

 next season was washed away and lost subsequently. Ther 

 rainfall for the month at the Botanic Station was 1301 

 inches; at the Experiment Station it was 12'64 inches. 



A special meeting of the St. Vincent Agricultural and" 

 Commercial Society, at which His Excellency the Acting 

 Governor of the AMndward Islands presided, was held on Octo- 

 ber 30. At this, Mr. H. A. Ballou, M.Sc, Entomologist to the- 

 Imperial Department of Agriculture, gave an account of thej 

 different pests seen in the island during his recent visit, and 

 made suggestions for dealing with them. The distributioik 

 from the Botanic Gardens during the month was mainly 

 concerned \vith cacao plants and mahogany seedlings. 



A note appears in the Tropical Agriculturist for Sep- 

 tember 1912 on the lac tree (Schleichera trijuga), the source 

 being the Indian Trade Journal. It is from the seeds of 

 this tree that Macassar oil is obtained, and they have l)eerk 

 collected from Orissa under the name of Paka seeds. The 

 composition of the seed is 40 per cent, of shells and 60 per 

 cent, of oil, the percentage of oil being equivalent to about 

 36 per cent, of the nuts. The tree occurs in the dry, deci- 

 duous forests over the greater part of India, Burma and. 

 Ceylon. 



In the Board ot Trade Jourual for October 10, 1912, 

 publicity is given to a decree regulating the collection and 

 sale of rubber in French West Africa. The decree is designed 

 to protect the ruliber industry of that country by prohibiting 

 the manufacture, sale of, and traffic in, coagulated rubber 

 otherwise than in sheets or in cakes having a maximum 

 thickness of 1 cm. The tapping-of rubber trees is also pro- 

 hibited during not more than three months of each year; the 

 period of this prohibition is to be decided .separately by the 

 Governor of each Colony. 



Reference is made in the Agricultural News, Vol. XT,. 

 p. 44, to schemes that have been put forward for the general' 

 improvement of the harbour of St. Thomas, Danish West 

 Indies. According to the Standard (London) for October 9, 

 1912, the Danish Syndicate that had obtained a concessioni 

 from the Government for the work has returned the concession 

 because of the failure to raise the necessary capital to carry 

 out the extensive plans. It appears that only about 

 one-quarter of the npjnej' has been forthcoming, and that 

 the syndicate will, with the sanction of the Government^ 

 merely carry out that part of the scheme dealing with the- 

 deepening of thehaibour. 



