Vol. IV. No. 83. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



18.3 



lint. This being so it appeare evident that a cotton crop 

 will make but small demands upon the soil if the cotton 

 seed is returned as manure, or if equivalent quantities of 

 manure of other kinds are given. When, as is often advised, 

 the bush of the cotton plant is burned to destroy pests, there 

 ■will be some loss of nitrogen, but the mineral constituents 

 will be returned to the soil. 



In the article in the West Indian Bulletin {Vo\. V, 

 p. 223), it is estimated that a crop of 200 lb. of^ lint 

 per acre will be accompanied by 4-13 ft. of seed. This figure 

 is somewhat below that indicated by our experience in the 

 Leeward Islands, where I would estimate rather over .500 ft. 

 Taking the 443 ft. mentioned, it is found that this contains 

 1.5i- ft. of nitrogen, 7i ft. of phosphoric acid and 7 ft. of 

 potlish. The greatest 'demand on the soil will therefore be 

 in respect of nitrogen, particularly as some nitrogen will be 

 lost by burning the bush, and also as there is always 

 a natural tendency on the part of the soil to lose some of its 

 nitrogen. A dressing of about .500 ft. of cotton seed per 

 acre will thus restore the plant food removed by a moderate 

 crop of cotton, and if this is supplementary to the use of 

 a moderate amount of organic manure, it will probably be 

 all that is required. 



It may, however, happen that cotton seed is not 

 available or only in limited amounts, or that the amount 

 of organic manure is limited ; under these circumstances 

 the use of artificial or chemical manures may be desirable. 

 For this purpose I would suggest a general manure 

 like that mentioned on p. 57 of the pamphlet A. B. C. 

 of Cotton I'lantinij, but with rather less phosphate : the 

 pho.5phate might, I think, be safely reduced to 40 ft., and 

 the proper manure would be prepared by mixing 300 ft. of 

 good superphosphate, 40 ft. of good suliihate of potash, and 

 100 ft. of good sulphate of ammonia ; this mixture should be 

 applied at the rate of 440 ft. per acre * or in proportionately 

 small quantities when used in conjunction with cotton .seed 

 meal or the organic manures mentioned above. Thus, for 

 example, 250 ft. of cotton seed and 200 ft. of the above 

 mixture would probably be a good manuring for a field in 

 fairly good condition. 



Manures for cotton should be given early. They may with 

 advantage be placed in the furrow or ' hole ' where the 

 cotton seed is to be sown. Cotton seed so used should be 

 applied about a month before the seed is sown so as to allow 

 the cotton seed used as manure to decay and become 

 incorporated with the soil before the young plant springs up. 

 Chemical manures should lie applied alx'Ut a week liefore 

 seed sowing. 



The oil which the cotton seed contains has no manurial 

 value: on the contrary, it rather retards the decay of the seed, 

 thus delaying the manurial action of the manure; it is not, 

 however, seriously detrimental. Cotton seed from which the 

 oil has been pressed is therefore somewhat more useful as 

 manure, as it is concentrated by the removal of the oil and is 

 lendered rather more rapid in its action. 



In some cases, where animals are kept, it may be found 

 more profitable to feed the cotton seed to animals and to 

 use the resultant manure for the cotton fields. This is sound 

 farming, provided that the needs of the cotton fields are 

 honestfy considered, that the manure from the animals is 

 properly conserved, and some allowance made for loss and 

 waste. It is in this connexion that the artificial manure 

 mixture mentioned above may be made to play a useful 

 part. The manure from the animals should be worked into 



* With snperpliosi^hate costing $22, sulphate of potash 

 $05, and sulpliate of annuunia 1=75 per ton, the above 440 lb. 

 of mixture will cost §7 '40. 



the .soil during its early preparation, and then a week or two 

 before seed sowing a dressing of from 2 cwt. to 4 cwt. of the 

 mixture should be given according to circumstances. 



ANTHRAX. 



Anthrax has long been known as a very fatal disease. 

 From its nature, however, very little can be done to cure an 

 animal affected with it. The course of the disease is, in fact, 

 so short that frequently its presence is not suspected till the 

 first victims are found dead, and its spread is sometimes so 

 rapid that serious loss occurs before any measures can be 

 taken for its suppression. Preventive inoculation is being 

 practised in many places, and it has been found that the 

 annual loss in anthrax regions has been greatly reduced by 

 this means. 



Inoculation for the prevention of any disease consists in 

 producing a mild form of the disease by me-ins of a pure 

 culture of the organism causing the disease. In this way an 

 inoculation fluid is produced containing a large number of 

 anthrax bacilli, which have been so modified by heat until 

 much of their original virulence is lost, and the disease 

 produced by inoculation with this fluid is much milder than 

 when contracted from natural sources of infection. 



In the case of anthrax inoculation, two fluids are used, 

 one — the weaker —for the first inoculation ; the other, used 

 for the second inoculation about twelve days after the fii st, 

 being considerably stronger. The fluids are injected by 

 means of a h}-podermic syringe under the loose skin about the 

 neck. These inoculation fluids are used for cattle and sheep, 

 and though there has been much controversy as to their 

 value, the experience in British Guiana and Trinidad, as well 

 as in other countries, indicates that a large degree of 

 immunity can be obtained by their use. 



The anthrax vaccines used in Trinidad and British 

 Guiana are prepared by the Liverpool School of Tropical 

 Medicine, and it is believed that animals which have been 

 properly inoculated are not likely to be attacked in case of 

 subse(|uent outbreaks of the disease. 



In addition to inoculation to prevent anthrax, other 

 preventive measures may be adoi)ted. 



If pools of stagnant water exist in localities where 

 anthrax is known to occur, they should be drained, or they 

 may be fenced otf .so that the animals may not have access to 

 them. Tortions of a pasture known to be infested should be 

 fenced ofi", or the pasture abandoned for a few years. The 

 carcasses of animals that have died from anthrax should be 

 properly disposed of, since every portion of such animal 

 contains the anthrax organism, which, when exposed to the 

 air, forms spores. These spores are very resistant to heat or 

 cold, drying out or soaking, and are capable of growing in 

 suitable conditions, even though they may have experienced 

 years of unfavourable conditions. iVuthrax carcasses .should 

 be burned or buried. If buried they .should be covered with 

 quick-iime. On no account should any such carcass be 

 opened. Stables where anthrax animals have been kept 

 sliould be thoroughly disinfected by means of strong solutions 

 of chloride of lime, as should also the .spots in pastures where 

 such animals have died. 



The U. S. Department of Agriculture recommends that 

 inoculation should not be practised in localities where 

 anthrax has never occurred, as the disease germs are present 

 in the vaccine fluid, and there is a possibility that the 

 disease might be introduced into a new locality, if the fluid 

 happened to be carelessly used. It is also recommended that 

 none but trained veterinarians should perform the work of 

 inoculation. 



