7oL. X. No. 230. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS 



57 



The investigations showed that the young twigs 

 and lea\'es yielded on the average about 1-2 percent, of 

 distiUate, containing O'S to 0-9 per cent, of camphor 

 and 0-3 to 0-4 per cent, of oil, from the latter of which 

 camphor could still be obtained, on a large .scale; the yield 

 of camphor is therefore estimated at 1 per cent. The 

 results were very different with woody branches, as 

 these yielded only about O'lG per cent, of distillate con- 

 sisting of O'OG per cent, of camphor and nearly 01 per 

 cent, of oil. The advice is therefore given that, in 

 growing camphor trees, large leaf formation should be 

 aimed at as far as possible. 



Other matters of usefulness that were discovered 

 were that it is best to distil during dry weather, and 

 that there is no definite difference between the yield of 

 camphor from leaves and twigs, whether these are 

 collected from low or high altitudes. 



The Effect ot Light ou the Development or 



Fruits and Seeds. 



• An abstract of a paper in the Experiment Station 

 Record of the United States Department of Agriculture, 

 Vol. XXIII, p. 723, gives the results of experiments 

 which were undertaken recently for the purpose of 

 studying the effect of light on the development of 

 fruits and seeds. For the purpose, the fruits of several 

 species of plants were exposed to diffused light; while 

 others were kept in complete darkness, by enclosing 

 them in paper bags, those for the former purpose being 

 double, and those for ,the latter, black. 



It was found that light is absolutely necessary for 

 the commencement of the development of the fruit. 

 If, however, the embryo had been permitted to grow 

 for a short time, development was found to take place 

 in darkness; though the amount of dry matter in a fruit 

 produced under these conditions is smaller than that 

 in one which is developed normally. Another light 

 effect is that, as the amount of this is decreased, the 

 proportion of ash in the fruit appears t( i become greater. 



Corn Ear Characters and Yield. 



The Bidletin of the Ohio Experiment Station, 

 No. 212, p. 37, presents the results of five years' experi- 

 ments, having for their object the determination of the 

 connexion between the different characteristics of corn 

 and the yields. One of the results (jbtained showed 

 that the seed from long ears gave greater returns per 

 acre than that from shorter ears. This lessened yield is 

 the result of employing seed from short ears, as that 

 from medium ears gave results like those obtained 

 when long ears were used. As regards shape, again, 

 cylindrical ears showed themselves superior, in the 

 definite connexion, to those which tajiev. 



For the first planting, better yields were obtained 

 with seed from bare-tipped ears than with that from 

 those which were well covered. In the second year, 

 however, with seed selected from that obtained already 

 there was a difference in favour of the well covered 



tips — a difference which was greater still in the third 

 year. As regards the produce of seed from the differ- 

 ent kinds of tips, it was found that seed from those 

 which were well covered gave a larger percentage of 

 well covered ears, than that from incompletely covered 

 ears. 



Among other results, the outcome of former inves- 

 tigations was confirnied, in that the heavier ears gave 

 more produce than those which were lighter. A fur- 

 ther matter of interest is that the smallest yields were 

 obtained from the seeds which germinated earliest; the 

 latter were those containing the greatest percentage of 

 starch. Lastly, it may be mentioned that good yields 

 were found to be correlated with good germinating 

 power. 



Calcium Cyanamide and Nitrate of Lime. 



On page 280 of the last volume of the Agricultural 

 Neivs, information on this matter is presented, and 

 references are given to notes that have appeared recent- 

 ly, from time to time on the same subject, in this 

 publication. 



In continuation of the matter, it is of interest that 

 a leaflet has just been published by the Aberdeen and 

 North of Scotland College of Agriculture, which 

 describes field exjjeriments with thesi' manures, for the 

 purpose of making comparison of them with nitrate of 

 soda and sulphate of ammonia. In the result, it was 

 shown that both forms of manures can be usefully 

 employed in growing Irish potatoes. 



As was found in the other investigations, however, 

 to which reference is 'given above, there was little to 

 choose between the different manures, in the special 

 connexion wherein they were employed. 



Trade of Samoa, 1909. 



It is shown, in Bipluiiiatie and Consular Reports 

 No. 4-543 Annual Series, that the total exports of this 

 German possession during 1909 were valued at 

 £1.51,068; of these the chief were copra, value £129,003, 

 and cacao, value £20,309. 



The report states that the rubber plantations 

 which have been started are doing well, and that if 

 success is obtained in this direction, there will be 

 a great increase in the area occupied by the plant. 

 This is particularly the case on account of the fact that 

 the Government now controls all the lands owned by 

 the natives, and there are large tracts owned by 

 Europeans. The immigration of small settlers is not 

 encouraged, however. 



Much progress is being made in cocoa-nut plant- 

 ing, the trees being placed for the greater pare between 

 cacao trees that exist already. This planting of cacao 

 land in cocoa-nuts has been brought about chiefly 

 through the appearance of a cacao canker which, while 

 it can be kept in check by constant attention, causes 

 a large amount of damage if it is neglected. 



