Vol. X. No. 229. 



THE AGRICULTUKAL NEWS 



4l 



The Distribution of Weeds. 



A note on this subject was given in tlie last number 

 of the Agricultural. News, in which a peculiar nietl'.nd 

 of the distribution of weeds was described. Additional 

 interesting information on the subject is contained in 

 the Textile Mercury for December 24, 1910. 



Mention is made of sub-tropical water plants, first 

 of all, that are occasionally found growing in collections 

 of warm water near Lancashire cotton mills, such col- 

 lections of water beitig formed through the manipula- 

 tions at some of the stages in cotton-spinning. It 

 appears that the seed from which such plants grow are 

 brought into England with imported cotton. 



Not only cotton, but wool also, is a seed carrier. 

 In illustration of this, eighteen exotic plants were 

 exhibited at the December meeting of the Liiniean 

 Society, which had been selected from about 200 

 observed near the river Tweed and one of its tribut- 

 aries. The plants are found growing in a locality where 

 the chief industry is weaving, and the seeds had been 

 brought in with imported wool. The plants include 

 natives of the Mediterranean region which have benome 

 naturalized in Australia, and it is the prickly fruits of 

 these that cause deterioration in value of the fleeces. 

 It is a matter of some interest that, although all these 

 plants die in winter, fre.sh importations of wool renew 

 the planting material for them in the following year. 



Trade and Agriculture of Brazil, 1909. 



No. 457.5 of the Annual Series of the Diplomatic 

 and Consular Reports, dealing with the trade of Brazil 

 during 1909, hn.s just been received. It shows that the 

 value of imports and exports combined, during the year, 

 was £100,>S86,000, which is an increase from 80 million 

 pounds for 1909, the value for 1907 being nearly 95 

 million pounds sterling. The high figure lor the year 

 under report was reached mainly on account of increased 

 exports of every kind, while the total of each product, 

 with the exception of cacao, realized a higher price 

 than in the previous year. 



The report goes on to deal with agriculture, stat- 

 ing that a Federal Department of Agriculture was 

 created in 1909; one of the chief measures of this 

 department has been the making of arrangements for 

 agricultural instruction, and the formation of various 

 bureaux for the conduct of its work. 



The fact that one of the chief sources of re\'enue 

 of the states of Brazil is the tax on e.Kports, and the 

 circumstance that this is levied chieHy on agricultural 

 produce, together with the condition that the sources 

 of federal revenue are the duties on imports, cause the 

 Brazilian planter to have no inducement to export his 

 crops to foreign markets, because of the increased cost 

 of production. Agriculture has therefore to be encour- 

 aged by the granting of bounties, the lowering of rail- 

 way charges for carrying agricultural produce, and the 

 development by the Government of cold storage and 

 experiment station schemes. 



The following were the values of the chief agri- 

 cultural exports of the country during 1909: rubber 

 £18,926,0(il, coffee £33,475,170, cacao £1,598,959, 



tobacco £1,339,336, cotton £591,814, sugar £689,266, 

 Paraguay tea £1,657,787. 



A matter of interest is that, in regard to rubber, 

 the extent of the natural forests of the Amazon valley, 

 covering one million S(piare miles and producing the 

 finest Para rubber, is still unknown, and there is the 

 possibility that only a fraction of the rubber in these 

 forests has been exploited The Brazilian Government, 

 nevertheless, favours measures for the encouragement 

 for the planting of Hevea on a large scale. Little seems 

 to be effected, however, in the direction of protecting 

 the forests that exist already. 



Bonuses for Stock Importation, St. Lucia. 



At a special general meeting of the St. Lucia 

 Agricultural Society, held on December 30, 1910, it 

 was unanimously decided that a grant of £40 should 

 be made to Mr. G. M. Peter, on the importation by him 

 of a thoroughbred pedigree stallion, and on condition 

 that the animal is approved by the society. 



The grant is further subject to the following con- 

 ditions : (1) that the animal is guaranteed to remain in 

 the island for four years, at the service of the public; 

 (2) that the animal must have completed his third year, 

 and must not be over eight years old; (3) that the 

 animal be over 15 hands; (4) that the St. Lucia Agri- 

 cultural Society contribute the sum of lO.s. toward each 

 service fee, the owner of the mare paying 20.s.; (5) that 

 Mr. Peter agrees to move the stallion to the districts of 

 Soufriere, Vieuxfort and Dennery, provided that ten 

 guaranteed mares are ready for service in each of those 

 places. 



Machinery for Threshing Ground Nuts. 



In the Agricultural Netvs, Vol. IX, p. 124, an 

 announcement was made concerning the Ellis Keystone 

 Grain and Peanut Thresher. Since this time, en- 

 quiries have been made concerning the machine by 

 the Natal Agricultural Journal, and the results of 

 these are presented in the November number of that 

 publication, p. 567. 



It appears that, if the plants are not too large and 

 damp, and mixed with grass, the different machines will 

 thresh and clean the following number of bushels of 

 ground nuts per hour: No, 1, 30 to 40: No. 2, 40 to 60; 

 No. 3, 60 to 80. To run them, the first of these requires 

 a 4 h.p. gasolene engine; the second a 4 h.p. steam or 

 a 6 h.p. gasolene engine; and the third steam or gaso- 

 lene engines of 6 or 8 h.p. 



In reply to the question as to whether the machines 

 will deal with soy beans, it is stated that there is an 

 uncertainty as to if they are capable of doing this. The 

 price list shows that the cost of them runs from $\\5 

 for a No. 1 Champion thresher and cleaner, with a 20- 

 inch cylinder, to ^230 for a No. 3 thresher and cleaner, 

 with a 28-inch cylinder, fo.b. Pottstown, Pa., U.S.a! 

 An attachment for dealing with grain may also be 

 obtained, the price of one suitable for the No. 1 thresher 

 being $30. 



