Vol. IV. Xo. 78. 



THE AGRICULTUKAL NEWS. 



103 



to regard cotton as a botanical 'pariah ' for wbicli anything 

 i.s good enough. Our season was abnormally dry. I am 

 c^uite aware that cotton can thrive on a lesser rainfall than 

 sugar-cane, but estates in the same island more favoured 

 with rain seem to indicate that with more moisture we should 

 have done better. 



I will not theorize about the effect of cotton on the 

 .subsequent cane crop. We at least did not consciously rob 

 Peter to pay Paul, and I would observe that the balance of 

 evidence available to me seems to indicate that, under such 

 conditions as detailed above, the following cane crop is not 

 likely to suffer. 



I am, etc., 



(Sgd.) ARTHUR M. LEE. 

 Bendal's, Antigua, March 27, 1905. 



RABBIT KEEPING 



Belgian Hares. 



In the accompanying illusfcration (tig. 9) two 

 Belgian hares are shown. The Senior Country Reader, 

 III, from which the illustration is taken, contains the 

 following reference to this breed of rabbits : — 



It is now stated by competent authorities that the 

 Belgian hare is the best for table use, and the most profitable 

 to rear and market. 



The Belgian hare rabbits are large and handsome 

 animals, weighing from 7 lb. to 11 B). They have prick ears 

 and are of nmch the same colour and appearance as the hare. 

 They do well in confinement, and do not eat so much in 

 proportion to their .size as .some of the smaller breeds. Wild 

 rabbits may be greatly improved by turning out amongst 

 them some Belgian hare bucks. 



Fig. 0. Belgian Hares. 

 [From Senior Cuuniry Reatlxr, III.'] 



Further information as to the characters of the 

 breed will be found in the Agricultural N'etvs, Vol. Ill, 

 p. 333. With regard to the choice of breeds for the 

 West Indies, Mr. Barclay strongly recommends the 

 Belgian hare. He saj's, in pamphlet Xo. 34, Rahhit 

 Keeping In the West Indies: — - 



The Belgian hare is comparatively common in .lamaica 

 and thrives easily with such ordinary attention as every 

 domestic animal should receive. It is large, not thick-set, 



but rather slim and active, of a grey colour deepening to 

 a rich reddish-brown on the back. I have had does weighing 

 10 tt)., but find such not so successful as breeders as those 

 weighing 7 lb. to 8 lb. Bucks I have had to 1 2 ft. but such 

 size and weight do not fit them for breeding successfully. 

 Bucks from 8 fc. to 10 Ki. areas heavy as is desirable. 



A year or two ago a Belgian hare craze or fad broke out 

 in the United States, and great sums were paid for show 

 specimens. It is best, therefore, to import from the United 

 Kingdom where more sensible notions prevail in regard to the 

 proper place and value of the Belgian hare. The sura of lOs. 

 is enough to pay there for very good, selected specimens for 

 breeding. In Jamaica, young ones can be had for is. and 

 upwards for fair specimens, and 10.«. each for a good well- 

 grown buck or doe should secure well-bred stock. 



In the preface to the same pamphlet it is stated: — 

 The Imperial Department of Agriculture has imported 

 a number of these animals, which have been kept with 

 considerable success at the Agricultural Schools at 

 St. Vincent, St. Lucia, and Dominica, as well as at the 

 E.\periment Station at Jlontserrat. The officers in charge of 

 these institutions report that Belgian hares have done well, 

 and that the demand for the young animals is usually in 

 excess of the .supply. 



SCIENCE NOTES. 



Papain. 



W^e extract the following from the PlMrmaceutlcal 

 Journal of March 11 last, which, in view of the efforts 

 to establish a papain industry in Montserrat, is likely 

 to be of interest in the West Indies : — 



Several interesting experiments on the action of papain 

 have been made by Professor Vines, and the results are 

 quoted in the Lancet. The samples of commercial papain 

 tested were obtained respectively from ilessrs. Christy, 

 Finkler, and Merck. The acticju on fibrin of these different 

 samples of papain was not uniform, Christy's proving to be 

 the most active. All the samples of papain tested, however, 

 [iroved capable of effecting complete proteolysis or, at any 

 rate, peptolysis in various degrees. The action was more 

 vigorous in the presence of hydrocyanic acid than in the 

 presence of toluol, and it was, on the whole, stronger in the 

 iilkaline than in the acid liquids, though the difference was 

 not great. The most striking tryptophane reaction was given 

 liy Finkler's papain, on account, probably, of its containing 

 the largest amount of readily proteolysable proteid. With 

 respect to the reaction of the liquid, Chri-sty's and Merck's 

 samples gave better results in acid than in alkaline liquids, 

 whilst Finkler's was more active in an alkaline than in an 

 acid medium. Experiments were made also in which the 

 result could be compared between the fibrin-digesting and the 

 peptolysing activity of the i)apain in each case. The results 

 go to show that the various samples of papain experimented 

 upon differ widely in their general proteolj'tic activity and in 

 their relation to acid and alkali, as well as to the various 

 antiseptics employed. ' The last word as to the properties 

 of papain will not have been pronounced until a series of 

 careful observations shall have been made with perfectly fresh 

 materials.' The interesting conclu.sion is suggested that 

 papain contains a fibrin-digesting but not peptolytic protease 

 of the nature of pepsin as well as a peptolytic but not 

 fibrin-digesting protease of the nature of an erepsin. If this 

 be so it will be the first clear demonstration of the existence 

 of a pepsin in the vegetable kingdom. 



