'Vol. IV. No. 72. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



II 



^^- 



SISAL HEMP CULTURE IN THE IXDIAN 

 TEA DISTRICTS .■ By H. M. :Nrann, ^[.Sc., and James 

 Hunter. Fithlitihed hy the Indian Tin Association, I'JOJf. 



It is suggested that a large part of the lands now lying 

 waste throughout the Indian tea districts might be utilized 

 for the growth of sisal hemp. This pamphlet has therefore 

 been prepared to give information as to the equipment 

 required and the commercial prospects of a venture in this 

 -direction. 



The authors deal at some length with the botany and 

 agricultural requirements of the sisal plant. Full informa- 

 tion is given as to planting and the care of the plantation. 

 Dealing with the preiiaration of the fibre, illustrated 

 ■descriptions are given of the different fibre-extracting 

 machines in use, from the original Mexican ' Easpador ' to 

 the automatic machines, such as Todd's. 



After discussing somewhat fully the prospects of a sisal 



industry, the authors state that it will be a number of years 



before there is likely to be an}' such slackening in the 



annual demand as to lead to serious over-production and 



-ii reduction in price below a renuuierative figure. 



FISHES OF BRITISH GUI AN A: By T. Sidney 

 Hargreaves, F.G.S., Beinemra : The Argosy Co., Ltd., lOO.ff. 



The author states that the intention of these 'Notes' is 

 to try to interest peoi)le in the work of the Fisheries 

 Committee, ' so that those who are in a position to supply 

 information will ... so helji on the work of arriving at 

 -some definite conception of the value of the fishes of the 

 colony as a food supply, and the extent to which that sup[)ly 

 x:an be increased.' 



It is mentioned that a sixty-days' inspection of the 

 market fish stalls showed that thirty -one distinct species had 

 been exjiosed for sale. 



Among the fish on which notes are given are : snook, 

 tarpon, (|ueriraan, mullet, flounder, porgy — all peculiar to the 

 coasts, estuaries, and rivers — snapper, grouper, cavally, 

 lierring, bashaw, etc , among the deep-sea fish. Interesting 

 notes are given on angling and the habits of different fish. 



Dealing with the subject of imported fish, the author 

 states that during the last fifteen years the salt-fish bill of the 

 colony has been 14,732,917. 'It is encouraging to hear that 

 a venture is on foot to initiate a salt-fish industry, even 

 though on a small scale.' 



SCIENCE NOTES. 



Shape of Plant Stems. 



The following note, in reference to a meeting of 

 the Linnean Society on November 17, 1904, is taken 

 from the Ga.rdener-s' Chronicle: — 



Lord Avebury gave a summary, illustrated by lantern- 

 slides, of a paper entitled ' Note on the Shape of the Stems 



of Plants.' It pointed out that while most plants had round 

 steins, in some they were triangular, some quadrangular, etc., 

 but that so far as he knew no attempt had been made to 

 explain these differences. He thought they could, however, 

 be accounted for on mechanical princiiiles. 



In building, when the main object was to meet a strain 

 in one direction, the well-known girder was the most 

 economical disposition of material. In a tree-stem it was 

 necessary to resist strains coming from all directions, and 

 the woody tissues acted as a circular series of girders. In 

 herbs with opposite leaves the strains were mainly in two 

 directions, and were met by two opposite girders, thus 

 giving the quadrangular stem. 



Taking our native flora, he showed that all horb.s witli 

 quadrangular stems had opposite leaves, and as a rule herbs 

 with opiiosite leaves had quadrangular stems. Sedges had 

 triangular stems and grasses round stems, and while sedges 

 had the leaves in threes, those of grasses were distichous. 

 Pentagonal stems might be accounted for in a similar %\-ay, 

 and incidentally this threw light on the petals of so many 

 flowers. Thus plants had adopted, millions of years ago, 

 lirinciples of construction which have gradually been worked 

 out by the skill and science of our architects and engineers. 



Effect of Scarcity of Plant Food. 



The following is a short summary of an article, by 

 Profe.ssors H. Wilfarth and G. Wimmer, on the action of 

 the scarcity of nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash 

 on plants. The article originally appeared in the 

 Jdurmd fi'i r Landivirtlufchitft for 1903: — 



A deficiency of nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potasli 

 produces characteristic alterations on the leaves of plants by 

 means of which, especially in sand or water cultures, one can 

 determine without further investigation which constituent is 

 deficient. 



With a deficiency of nitrogen the leaves lose their 

 normal sad-green colour and take on a clear-greeu to 

 yellowish one ; finally they dry with a clear, brownish-yellow 

 colour. 



AVhen phosphoric acid is deficient -the leaves take on 

 a deep, clear-green, almost blue-green, colour. With a greatei- 

 scarcity there apjiear on the leaves, first at the margin but 

 later over the whole leaf, dark spots. In the end, the leaf 

 dies with a dark-brown to black-green colour. 



The results of a scarcity of potash are specially detailed. 

 Characteristic of this are spots apjiearing in the neighbour- 

 hood of the leaf margin which become distributed over the 

 whole leaf : the stalk, mid-rib, veins, and the parts of the 

 leaf bordering these, however, retain their green colour, 

 iloreover, the leaf curves, with its convex side above. The 

 leaves finally dry up. The symptoms of potash scarcity are 

 specially well studied with beet, tobacco and buckwheat. 



Para Rubber in the Malay States. So far as 



I am able to judge from press reports and from personal 

 interviews with experienced persons, the growing of Para 

 rubber in the ilalay States is not only proving successful, 

 but in the very near future is likely to command the world's 

 attention. The growth is continuous and when the trees 

 are cared for, is amazingly ra}iid, as heat is perpetual and 

 rains frequent. As the Philippine Islands are in the same 

 latitude and have vastly superior soil, I feel that everything 

 should be done to encourage the development of rubber 

 I'lantations in those islands. (U. S. Monthly Consular 

 Reports, August 1901.) 



