60 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



February 25, 1905. 



We are infoniied that Dr. Carl Otto Weber, the well 

 known chemical authority on india-rubber, died .suddenly on 

 January 14 at his residence in Massachusetts, U.S.A. 

 (Nature.) 



GLEANINGS. 



The Sea Lsland cotton farmers are continually looking 

 for better seed, and considerable new seed will be sold this 

 season. {Cotton Trade Journal of Savannah, Ga., I'.S.A.) 



Mr. Elias Buekmire, Foreman of the Botanic Station at 

 St. Lucia, has taken temiioniry charge of the ^Montserrat 

 Stations in consequence of the transfer of Mr. Jordan to 

 Antigua. 



It may not be generally known that the root bark of 

 the cotton plant i.s used medicinally. Directions for 

 preparing extracts and decoctions of cotton root bark are 

 included in the 'Indian and Colonial Addendum' of the 

 British I'karmacopceia. 



The West India Committee Circular of January .31 

 contains a report of Mr. W. G. Freeman's lecture on the 

 ' West Indian Fruit Industry.' The chair was occupied by 

 Sir Wm. Thiselton Dyer. A portrait of Mr. Freeman 

 accompanies the report. 



The Governor of Jamaica has approved different rates 

 being charged for the conveyance of bananas on the Jamaica 

 railway at different periods of the year : a higher rate at the 

 period when prices of fruit are higher, and a lower rate 

 when prices are less. 



Quite a large number of trees have been jilanted by the 

 King. It is now always expected that whenever he stops at 

 a country house a tree will be planted in commemoration of 

 the visit, ilany he planted as Prince of Wales have now 

 assumed goodly proportions. (Barbados Daily News.) 



Professor Harrison writes to the Imperial Commissioner 

 of Agriculture : ' The results of this year's manurial experi- 

 ments with the varieties [in British Guiana] are most striking 

 and supply overwhelming proof that the new varieties are 

 very similar to the Bourbon in their manurial requirements.' 



The Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture will attend 

 the Agricultural Show to be held at Grenada on March 16 

 and 17. A meeting of the Experiment Committee of the 

 Agricultural and Commercial Society has been arranged for 

 March 15, at which the Commi.ssioner will attend for the 

 purpose of conferring with the members. 



An account is given in the Nineteenth Century and 

 After of what is described as ' the world's greatest discovery 

 in horticulture ' — the production of a coreless apple. When 

 grown by itself, and therefore not subject to cross pollination, 

 the tree is incapalile of bearing fruits with seeds in it. It 

 is stated : ' The coreless apple will produce as great 

 a sensation when brought before the public as the seedless 

 orange did a few years ago.' 



The measures taken by the Government for ensuring the 

 purity of French Guinea rubber have been completely 

 successful, and that product has now an assured position on 

 the markets of Europe. {Consular Report on French Guinea.) 



During the past fortnight 5 bales of West Indian 

 cotton have been imported. ^ledium fine is quoted in 

 Liverpool at \od. per D). ; and West Indian Sea Island, 

 medium fine, Wld. per 11).; fine, 12i(?. per lb.; extra fine, 

 14'c/. per H). ( West India. Committee Circular.) 



In the Governor's address at the opening of the 

 Combined Court at British Guiana it was stated that it was 

 proposed to amalgamate the Board of Agriculture, the 

 Government Laboratory, and the Botanic Gardens in the 

 Department of Science and Agriculture under the guidance 

 of Professor Harrison. 



The annual meeting of the Briti.sh Honduras Society of 

 Agriculture and Commerce was held on January 13 last. 

 A letter was read in which his Excellency the Governor made 

 the suggestion that a Bill should be prepared for giving 

 a legal status to the society with the view of securing 

 permanency of its ojierations and so ensuring the life of 

 the society. The suggestion was referred to a committee for 

 consideration. 



In a letter to the Demerara Argosy the Hon. B. Howell 

 Jones makes the following sporting offer to the Editor of the 

 Chronicle in connexion with a discusssion on cane farming: 

 ' If he will get one of the Agricultural Instructors to visit 

 Pin. La Bonne !Mere, and the Instructor reports favourably 

 upon the farmers' cane cultivation, I shall be most pleased to 

 hand over the sum of 010 to the Rescue House of the 

 Salvation Army.' 



]Mr. A. J. Brooks writes from Dominica that Emilia 

 Dctouches was awarded the Banksian medal and a special 

 prize of £1 by the council of the Royal Horticultural Society 

 for exhibits of meals and starches at the recent exhibition of 

 colonial fruit. This exhibitor obtained a Diploma of Jlerit, 

 as well as nine special prizes and one first prize, for similar 

 exhibits at the Agricultural Show held at Dominica on 

 February 24 and 25, 1904. 



In reference to the note in the Agricultural News (Vol. 

 II, p. 328) to the effect that in the Malay States an Inspector 

 bad been appointed under the ' Cocoa-nut Trees Preservation 

 Enactment' to ensure united and systematic action against 

 the enemies of the cocoa-nut palm, it may be mentioned that, 

 according to the Annual Report ior 1903, 'the plantations 

 are still renuuierative, and the damage caused by beetles is 

 now insignificant.' 



According to a note in the Pharmaceutical Jowmal, the 

 .seeds of the baobab tree {Adansonia digitata), a native of 

 tropical Africa, which is to be found in some of these islands, 

 contain an oil which might advantageously be used in the 

 place of cocoa-nut oil in the manufacture of vegetable lards, 

 and also for high-priced toilet soaps and unguents. Seeds 

 examined by Ballund yielded 63-3 per cent, of kernels which 

 contained ()3'20 per cent, of a whitish, solid fat. 



