76 



THE AGRICULXmiAL NEWS. 



March 4, 1911. 



GLEANINGS. 



A report by the International Sugar Committee, publish- 

 ed in the Franl-fu rtr r Zeihinij of December 20, 1910, gives the 

 yield of sugar in Europe in 1909-10 as 6,092,070 metric tons. 

 The estimated production for 1910-11 is 7,947,560 metric 

 tons. 



During January last, more than 22,000 cane cuttings, 

 1,000 lime plants and 104 mi.scellaneQus plants were sent out 

 from the Antigua Botanic Station. In regard to sugar-cane, 

 several boxes of seed were sown, and nearly 100 varieties 

 were planted out at the Skerretts Experiment Station. 



A report by the Inspector of Agriculture, Uruguay, 

 shows that the area of land under grain cultivation in the 

 Republic during 1909 was aljout 1,2.58,000 acres; the similar 

 figures for 190.5 and 1900 were 1,150,000 and 1,193,000, 

 respectively. As regards maize, the area increased from 

 364,000 acres in 1900, to 508,000 acres, in 1909. 



and 

 crop for 



The Department of Agriculture of Eastern Ben 

 Assam has issued a forecast of the winter rice 

 1910-11 en a basis of 9i cwt. as the normal yield per' acre. 

 This should make the to'tal outturn of 109,046,600 cwt. (or 

 67,851,223 bags of 180 lb.), which is about 5 per cent, less 

 than the final estimate for the crop of last year. 



The tolluwing figures are given in the Lidia-UulJnr Journ- 

 al for January 21, 1911, for the imports of Mani<;oba rubber 

 into the United Kingdom during the years stated, the 

 amounts being in tons: 1901, 176; 1902, 590; 1903 865- 

 1904, 860; 1905, 675; 1906, 878; 1907. 1,024; 1908 405- 

 1909, 770; 1910, 651. 



An article in the Wti<ttrn Daily Pnss (Bristol) foi- Janu- 

 ary 7, 1911, shows that the exports of bananas from Jamaica 

 to Avonmouth during 1901-2 was 600,000 bunches; this has 

 increa.sed to 7^0,000 bunches in 1909-10. In the same 

 period the numbei of cases had increased from 36,000 to 

 65,000. These figures refer, of course, to exports in the 

 Elder Dempster line of steamers. 



Attention is drawn to the fact that a useful paper 

 entitled The Culture of Hevca in the Malay Peninsula, by 

 Dr. P. J. S. Cramer, Director of Agriculture, Surinam, is 

 given in The Proceedinc/s of the Agrindtural Society of 

 Trinidad and Tohago for .January 1911. The paper is 

 translated from Bulletin No. 25 of the Departement van den 

 Landbouw, Suriname, August 25, 1910. 



In relation to the employment of arsenate of lead as an 

 insecticide, it is of interest to note that the United States 

 Association of Economologists and Oflicial Analysts regards 

 samples of this substance to be adulterated which contain : 

 moisture exceeding 50 per cent.; total arsenic oxide less than 

 12 5 per cent.; or a proportion of soluble arsenic equivalent 

 to more than 075 per cent, of arsenic oxide. 



The distribution of plants from the Dominica Botanic 

 Station during January included: cacao plants 680, grafted 

 cacao 135, rubber 357, spineless limes 400, limes 200, grafted 

 mangoes 8, the total for the month being 1,886. A matter of 

 interest is that over 25,000 Para rubber seeds arrived during 

 the month, and were dealt with at once, in order that the pe^ 

 centage of germination may not be lowered through any delay. 



The Annual Report on the Forest and (iardenx Depart- 

 ment, Mauritius, 1909, which has just been received, states 

 that from cuttings of D. 625 and D. 14 7, acquired from this 

 Department, twenty- three pits of each were planted. It is 

 also of interest to note that among the canes offered for 

 auction at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Pamplemousses, there 

 have been included B. 208, B.306, D.74, D.9.5, D.109, D 130 

 and D.145, 



During the month of January, the distribution of plants 

 from the Nevis Experiment Station comprised; sweet potatoes 

 1,000 lb., young cocoa-nut plants 20, and a quantity of sweet 

 potato cuttings. In regard to the distribution of varieties 

 of sugar-cane that have been made from this station in the 

 past, it is satisfactory to be able to state that success has 

 been obtained with most of these, during the past season, in 

 spite of the unfavourable weather. 



His Excellency the Governor of British Guiana has 

 appointed a committee for the further consideration of the 

 question of the establishment of agricultural loan banks in 

 the Colony. The place of Chairman of the Committee will 

 be occupied by His Excellency, and the other members are 

 the Immigration Agent General, the Auditor General, the 

 Surgeon General, the Solicitor General, the Hon. R. G. 

 Duncan, Dr J. 8. Nedd and Mr. J. Mc.F. Corry. 



A Chefoo (China) correspondent writes to the Textile 

 Mercury for January 21, stating that much is being done by 

 the Industrial Taotai (Presiding District Ofiicer) there, 

 toward the extension of the cotton industry. Experiments 

 have been made with American varieties of cotton, but 

 these have not been successful, and such cotton is not so far 

 supplanting the native kinds. Further trials are to be made, 

 however, as there is a keen desire to develop a large cotton 

 industry. 



A report by Mr. II. A. Tempany, B.Sc, Superintendent 

 of Agriculture for the Leeward Islands, on a visit made 

 recently by him to St. Kitts, in company with the Imperial 

 Commi.s.''ioner of Agriculture, states that the average return 

 of cotton in that island will probably be 200 lb. of lint per 

 acre. Mr. Tempany states further, that excellent results 

 have been obtained from the trials conducted by cotton 

 planters in the island with the .strains of selected cotton seed 

 originated by the Department of Agriculture, and that there 

 is a strong demand for similar seed to be used during the 

 coming season. 



