24 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



January 21, 1911. 



EDITORIAL NOTICES. 



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Vol. X. SATURDAY, JANUARY 21, 1911. No. 228. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Contents of Present Issue. 



The editorial of the present number treats of 

 Some Relationships of Departments of Agriculture to 

 Commerce. It shows how the energies of such dejjart- 

 ments may be expended in many diverse ways, even 

 though the particular phases of such expenditure in 

 various directions may often be temporary. 



A presentation of the results of recent sugar-cane 

 variety experiments in Antigua is made on page 19. 



The second < if the articles describing a method for 

 cotton selection throughout the season is given on pages 

 22 and 28, as was promised in the last issue. 



1'he Insect Notes, on page 26, contain an account 

 of an insect pest of cacao in Uganda. The blocks for 

 Figs. 2 and 3 have been used by permission of the 

 United States Department of Agriculture. 



On page 27, a review is given of the report on the 

 Botanic Station, etc., St. Vincent, for 190,9-10. 



The Fungus Notes are presented on page .'SO. They 

 contain the second, and concluding, article dealing with 

 work that has been doiw recently in connexion with 

 the bud-rot disease of palms in India. 



The results of the Intermediate and Final iOxamin- 

 atioiis, held in connexion with the Courses of Heading 

 of the Dej)artmi nt, on Noxcmber 7, 1910, are given on 

 page 31. 



Sugar Importation into Japan. 



Diplomatic and Consular licjMrts Xo. 4-511 

 Annual Series deals with the trade of Japan during the 

 year 1909. Among other matters, to some of which refer- 

 ence has been mafle already in the Agricultural Xews 

 (Vol. IX, pp. ol3, 329 and 408 ), it shows that the total 

 imports of sugar into that country during 1909 had 

 a value of £1,364, (JOG. The greater portion of this was 

 drawn from Java, which provided an amount worth 

 £1,226,.500, or over £.524,000 less than in the preceding 

 year. Of the other cnuntries for which definite figures 

 are given, the Philippines come next with £46,000, 

 closely followed by Hong Kong (export sugar) with 

 £31,600. 



The greatest efforts are being made at the present 

 time to extend the sugar industry of Formosa, so that in 

 a few yeai-s it may happen that Japan will be able to 

 obtain all the sugar and sugar-cane products required 

 by her from her own possessions, including Formosa. 

 That these efforts exist is shown by the fact, among 

 others, that the exports of sugar from Formosa to Japan 

 during 1909 were 121,000 tons, as against 46,000 tons 

 in the preceding year. 



The Trade of India, 1909-10. 



A review of the trade of India for the year ending 

 March 31, 1910, by the Officiating Direetoi--General of 

 Commercial Intelligence, has been issued recently. An 

 article on this appears in the Journal of the Royal 

 Society of Arts, for November 18, 1910, from which the 

 following matters of more general interest are taken. 



The trade during the year showed a marked im- 

 provement, and there are signs that the depression that 

 has existed in India for some time is coming to an end. 

 During 1909. large advances took place in the total 

 value of imports into the United Kingdom, France, 

 Germany, Belgium and the United States, and the 

 amount of the exports is much higher in the case of 

 all but the last-mentioned country. An exception- 

 ally favourable monsoon was experienced in 1909, so 

 that the total outturn exceeded the estimates, in the 

 case of jute, by 14 per cent.; other increases above the 

 estimates were as follows: cotton 22 per cent., wheat 26, 

 rice 43, the chief oil seeds 24 and 44 per cent. The 

 opinion is gi\enthat the rcstoi-ation of industrial activ- 

 ity in India, and the de\elopment of internal trade, can 

 only be assund by a continuance of general agricul- 

 tural prosperity in that country-. 



The amounts of beet and cane sugar imported into 

 India increased by about 44 per cent, in quantity, and 

 5'B per cent, in value. The supply <>{ beet sugar is 

 obtained chiefly from Austria-Hungary, while cane- 

 sugar chiefly comes from .lava and Mauritius. The state- 

 ment is made that the potentiality of India as a sugar 

 producer is decreased by the following circumstances, 

 among others: the difficulty of concentrating cultivation 

 around cential factories; and the nature of the demand, 

 which is practically restricted to that for molasses and 

 low grade sugar, produced in wasteful and primitive 

 ways. 



