Vol. IV. No. 91. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



307 



moreover, more difficult to crusli, owing to the extreme 

 toughness of the rind. 



The Hinton-Naudet process, to wliieh reference has been 

 made in jirevious reports from tliis consulate, * has now 

 been adopted at Porto Rico and Trinidad in two large 

 factories with a capacity of 1,L'00 and 600 tons per day, 

 respectively, with results most satisfactory to the sugar 

 planters who speak enthusiastically of it. There seems little 

 doubt that, sooner or later, all jilanters will be comjjelled to 

 install the new system, which not only reduces the cost of 

 sugar manufacture and facilitates the whole process, but — 

 a point of even greater importance — extracts the whole of 

 the juice, except about 0--36 f per cent., instead of allowing 

 a large proportion of the sugar to go to waste, as has hitherto 

 been the case. In these days of keen competition such 

 advantages are of the utmost importance. 



A descri|ition of the process will bo found in the report 

 from this consulate for the years 1901 and 1902 (No. 3,057, 

 Annual Series), to which I would refer those desiring full 

 details, but it may be useful to append a technically worded 

 summary of its advantages, which has been furnished nie by 

 Messrs. W. Hinton and iSons, of Funchal, who were the first 

 to apply the system (already in vogue on the Continent for 

 beet sugar) to the extraction of the juice of the sugar-cane. 

 These advantages, brieflj' summarized, are : — 



1. Single crushing. 



2. Defecation of the juice and its filtration, after 

 defecation, in its own niegass (or cane waste) in diffusors. 



3. Recovery of all sugar in juice and megass, with 

 a loss of from 0'36 to 0'4 per cent, f 



4. The megass, after being passed through a mill to 

 extract the waste, is used as fuel in the ordinary waj'. 



5. Total abolition of all skimmings, filter presses, and 

 of the acidity resulting from their use. 



6. A defecated juice unaffected in [luritj- and perfect!}- 

 brilliant. 



7. A much higher yield in sugar, entailing less expense 

 and less fuel, as the defecation of the juice is made in 

 special heaters with the use of exhaust steam. 



Cane Farming at Trinidad. 



The following informatiion i.s abstracted from 

 returns relating to the Trinidad Cane Farmers' Crop 

 of 1905 (with figures for the seven previous years), laid 

 before the Agricultural Society on September 12, 190-5, 

 and published as Society Paper No. 235 : — • 



WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY. 



In reference to the extracts from a report on 

 wireless telegraphy by Sir VV. H. Preece, K.C.B., which 

 were published in the Agricultuntl iVcuw (Vol. IV, 

 p. 251), it may be of interest to publish the following 

 review of a paper on the ' Absorption of electromagnetic 

 waves by living vegetable organisms,' which appeared 

 in the Experiment Station Record for June 1905: — 



In connexion with a report on investigations of wireless 

 telegraphy carried on for the War Department, the autlior 

 gives an account of some phenomena suggested by the action 

 of trees as conductors for electromagnetic oscillations. The 

 experiments were carried on princi[ially in the vicinity of 

 San Francisco, a grove of Eucalyptus tress being utilized as 

 the receiving station. 



The apparatus and method of experiment are described, 

 and it is said that the trees were found to serve as a substi- 

 tute for the towers and masts usually required to carry the 

 antennae wires. The investigations showed that the trees 

 were capable of receiving and giving off the electric current 

 required in wireless telegraphy, and marked differences in 

 efficiency were noted with different species of tree?, such as 

 willow, pine, spruce, oak, etc. A tree with a small leaf 

 surface and in an unhealthy condition was found to be 

 poorly suited for the purpose of the experiment, and dead 

 trees practically behaved as insulators. 



After a little practice it was found that two men could 

 install a sending station in from 10 to 15 minutes, or 

 a receiving station in even less time. All that was necessary 

 was to fasten the apparatus to the side of the tree and attach 

 the wires, one above and one below, nailing them into the 

 tree. 



In the course of the experiments an attempt was made 

 to measure the electrical resistance of plant cells between the 

 metallic electrodes inserted in the trunk of a tree, and several 

 curves were taken, but sufHcient regularit}' was not observed 

 to enable any generalization regarding the phenomena. In 

 summing up his investigations, the author believes that 

 living plants may serve a more important part in electrical 

 phenomena than has been generally supposed, and he urges 

 a more general study of the physical phenomena as relat3d to 

 plants. 



* See Agricultural News, Vol. Ill, p. 354. 



t Not 30 per cent., as has been erroneously stated. 



FISHING IN JAMAICA. 



The recently issued hand-book Jamaica in 190-'> 

 has the following note on the fishing to be obtained in 

 that island: — 



The rivers of Jamaica offer great attractions to the 

 fisherman. At the mouths of nearly all the rivers, snook, 

 June-fish, snapper, and the famous tarpon are to be caught 

 with rod and reel or hand-line ; the last named (viz., tarpon) 

 being a rival to the celebrated salmon on a rod, and some 

 great fishermen declare that he is sui)erior. The tarpon also 

 abounds in the bays and inlets, and they often scale over 

 100 Bj. Tarpons have been caught with rod and line at 

 Jamaica up to 56 R). in weight ; with a net up to 153 lb. 

 It is seldom that callipever and snook, or mullet are taken 

 with a cast net. When it is, it is only by a fluke. Higher 

 up in the rapids are found the far-famed mountain mullet, 

 also hog-nose mullet, sand fi.sh or mud-fish, snook, tarpon, 

 and drummer, all to be caught with rod and reel. The 

 mountain mullet is an excellent substitute for brook trout, 

 and the hog-nose mullet, and callipever are like lake trout 

 and just as game ; they nearly always scale between 3 R. 

 and 8 lb. 



