Vol. X. No. 232. 



THE AGRICULTUKAL NEWS. 



alkaloids and the colour. Little is known, even yet, as to 

 the pai-t which alkaloids play in the physiology of plants; 

 their proportions seem to vary with changes in nutrition, 

 but there is no certainty as to the way in which these varia- 

 tions take place. 



The usefulness is suggested of performing experiments 

 entailing rigorous selection, for the purpose of finding out if 

 the possession of one character or the other has anything to 

 do with heredity. This plan is difficult of accomplishment, 

 however, because of the time that the plant takes to grow and 

 the short period spent liy Europeans on the West Coast of 

 Africa; while the natives and mulatto.? are incapable of carry- 

 ing out such work, except in regard to annual plants such as 

 rice and millet. 



The information contained in this article is of interest 

 in connexion with the results of an examination of kola 

 nuts from the Gold Coast, which was conducted at the 

 Imperial Institute; these are given in Colonial Reports — 

 Miscellaneous, No. 71, dealing with food stuffs. Here it is 

 stated that the Hausas, who are the largest purchasers of the 

 nut, have a preference for the white variety, a'ld believe 

 that the seeds lose a large proportion of their tonic properties 

 when dried. Trials were therefore made for the purpose of 

 determining if this opinion is correct, when it was found 

 that, with the white seeds, the total alkaloids, principally 

 caffeine, were as follows: fresh 2'36, dry 2'48 per cent., 

 calculated on water-free substance; while the similar figures 

 for the red seeds were 2 00 and 2'33 percent. This shows, 

 further, that the alkaloid content is slightly in favour of the 

 white nuts — a fact which supports the conclusion reached in 

 Professor Heckel's researches, mentioned above. 



SAGO AND THE SAGO PALM. 



The following extracts are taken from an article on 

 this subject in the Journal of the Royal Society of 

 Arts for January 20, 19II : — 



Ceram — one of the Moluccas — is probably the metropol- 

 is of native sago manufacture in that part of the world. 

 The whole of this large island is practically covered with 

 forest, and the greater area is very mountainous; but there 

 is much low-lying coastal land, and there the sago palm 

 (Metrujylon Sayu of botanists, a species which only occurs 

 in the East Indian Archipelago) grows luxuriantly. It is 

 turned to almost as many uses as the lianiboo, for besides 

 furnishing sago, its leaf-fronds provide ' attap ' or thatch; the 

 whole mid-ribs of the leave-s, termed ' gaba-gaba', make raft- 

 ers and posts for houses, and when split are used for floors 

 and walls; split into smaller strips they make excellent cord. 



Many people seem to think that cocoa-nuts and other 

 fruits growing in these wild countries may l)e plucked by any- 

 body who wants them; but all such trees, even in the depths 

 of the forest, are private property, and the sago palm is no 

 exception. Every palm is owned, either privately or by 

 villages, or the Dutch Government; but the trees and prepar- 

 ed sago are sold so cheaply that probably no death from star- 

 vation is ever heard of in the Dutch East Indies, for the .sago 

 from Ceram is sent all over the islands. 



Natives come to Ceram, which is very thinly populated, 

 from Ambon and many other islands far and near; procure 

 a Government licence to cut .so many trees, and live and 

 work in a sago-swamp till they have converted the trees into 

 sago, sailing for home with the finished product. The trunk 

 of the palm often attains forty-five feet in length to where 

 the leaf-fronds spring, and a diameter of two feet; but thirty 



feet to the crown is a fair average, and even then the trunk 

 will usually measure two feet in diameter. Such trees at 

 Piroe cost, standing, two to three guilders each (about four 

 shillings), and one man can fell, extract the pith, build the 

 washing apparatus, and prepare the sago in about fifteen 

 days, if he works hard; but the Malay is not fond of hard 

 work, or indeed any work, and in these islands he can live 

 almost without labour. From one sago palm he can obtain 

 a supply of food which, varied a little with fish and vege- 

 tables, will last him many months. The natives distinguish 

 four varieties of palm viz: Sagu duri and Sagu makanaru, 

 which are both thorny, the young trees being armed on the 

 trunk and leaf-sheaths with immense, strong, slender spines, 

 sharp as needles; and Sagu tuni and Sagu mollea, which are 

 thornless. The amount of sago produced from these palms 

 varies from about ten packages of finished sago from Sagu 

 makanaru to eighteen or twenty from the other trees, each pack- 

 age weighing about twenty-five catties (say 80 R.). The life 

 of a palm is said to be about ten years, before it is ready for 

 felling; this is done as soon as the flower spike appears, and 

 the tree is always cut down before it is in full flower, other- 

 wise much of the pith is spoilt. 



After giving a description of the way in which the 

 sago IS obtained from the palm, the article goes on to 

 say:— 



The prepared sago is usually baked into smaH cakes 

 about four by three inches and an inch thick, in a little clay 

 oven with about half-a-dozen slits; the powdered sago is dried 

 and deodorized in the sun for a day or two, then sieved, and 

 again spread out to dry. The powder is then filled into the 

 slits of the oven, which has been previously heated almost to 

 a dull red, face down, over a wood fire. The upper side is 

 then covered with plantain leaves, and in a few minutes the 

 cakes are ready. They cost a cent each (about a farthing) in 

 the Malay markets, and keep indefinitely, and are therefore 

 much used on the Malay praus for their long sea voyages. 



ARGENTINE CORN. 



The Journal of the Jamaica Agricultural Society 

 for December 1910 publishes the following information 

 about Argentine corn: — 



Argentina is now entering into competition with the 

 United States all through the world, with corn; the Argentine 

 has been even sending beef and mutton into the United States. 

 Argentine corn is being imported into Jamaica by Messrs. 

 Wessels Bros & Von Gontard, who advertise in this issue. 



The following comparative analysis of Argentine corii 

 and American corn have been made by the Hon. H. H.Consins, 

 M.A., Island Chemist; these we have pleasure in publishing: — ■ 



Argentine corn, American corn, 



Constituents. per cent. per cent. 



Moisture 1411 1411 



Proteids 1041 9-18 



Fats 5 09 3-43 



Crude fibre 1-59 1-87 



Ash 1-33 1-23 



Carbohydrates as .starch 67-00 70-18 



The Argentine corn contains about 1 -3 per cent, more 

 proteids, and is markedly higher in fats, than the average 

 American corn, with which it is compared, and Mr. Cousins 

 is therefore of opinion that it is to this extent superior for 

 feeding horses and mules in Jamaica. 



