140 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



April 29, 1911. 



GLEANINGS. 



The exports of cotton from Montserrat, up to the end of 

 last month, amounted to 374,879 lb. This is the largest out- 

 put of cotton from Montserrat, since the introduction of the 

 industry. 



The amount of cotton picked in Antigua up to the end 

 of March was about 245 bales. From present indications, it 

 is expected that there will be an increased area in this crop 

 during the coming season, while that planted in onions will 

 be probably smaller. 



' An account of a simple method of electroplating, by 

 means of a proprietary article called Galvanit, was given in 

 the Af/ricultural News, Vol. IX, p. 136. It maybe of use 

 to state that this substance may now be obtained from 

 Messrs. Davidson k Todd, Port-of-Spain, Trinidad. 



According to the Government Gazi'tfe of the Federated 

 Malay States for December 23, 1910, the exports of cultivated 

 rubber during the twelve months ending December 1910 were 

 12,212,-526 lb. For 1909, they amounted to 6,087,815 8). 

 The export for December 1910 was 1,234,669 lb 



The Textile Mercury for March 4, 1911, states that there 

 has been a material falling off in the demand for Manila 

 hemp, which is considered to be due to the inferior quality 

 of the fibre that is being produced. Prices for the hemp are 

 lower at present than they have lieen for ten years. 



In connexion with the extension of the Land Settlement 



Scheme of St. Vincent to I'nion Island, it is stated in the 



St. Vincent Government Gazette for March 23, 1911, that 



' applications for the purcha.se of allotments in Union Island 



under the scheme were to be received up to March 30, 1911. 



An announcement in Tropical /,?>V for February 1911, 

 states that the Kolonial Wirtschaftliches Komitee of 

 Berlin has decided to award, at the International Rubber and 

 Allied Trades Exhibition, 1911, their gold medal, for the 

 best method of extracting rubber from Manihot and Kickxia 

 (Funtumia elastica) plants. 



In the Agricultural News for October 29, of last year, 

 an account was given of the Bambarra ground nut ( Voand-.eia 

 iuhterranea), and at about the same time seeds of this plant 

 were distributed for trial among the various experiment 

 stations. In relation to this matter, it is of interest that the 

 Superintendent of .Agriculture, Orenada, now reports that the 

 plants raised there from this seed fruited heavily during last 

 month. This is of interest in relation to the extension of 

 growing of the Bambarra ground nut, in the West Indies, 

 from other parts of the world where it has already proved 

 useful. 



H. M. Consul at Jerusalem reports that great damage 

 has been done to the Jaffa orange crop by a very violent 

 storm, which arose on the afternoon of February 10. It is 

 calculated that oranges sufficient to make 100,000 cases were 

 torn from the trees, while those remaining have all been more 

 or less damaged. {The Hoard ot Trade Journal, March 2, 

 1911.) 



Mention was made, in the i.ssue of the Agricnltiiral News 

 for March 1 8, last, of three leaflets published by the Perman- 

 ent Exhibitions Committee of British Guiana, dealing with 

 the sugar industry, the balata and rubber industries, and the 

 rice industry. Since then, copies of three other equally 

 attractive and useful leaflets in the same series have been 

 received; these have reference to the timber industiy, the 

 cacao and coffee industries, and the cocoa-nut and lime 

 industries. 



Diplomatic and Consular Reports, No. 4613 Annual 

 Series, shows that Alexandria still remains the chief cotton 

 port of Egypt, the exports in 1909 being valued at 

 £20,941,671, as compared with those from Port .Said, which 

 are stated to have been worth £\ 1,828. The importance of 

 Port Said in this respect is likely to increase on account of 

 the construction of a channel between Lake Menzaleh and 

 the Suez Canal, the effect of which will be to reduce the cost 

 of the transport of cotton from the interior. 



Statistics show that the output of sugar from Formosa 

 is rapidly increasing, while the consumption in Japan is only 

 rising slowly. The Board of Trade Journal for December 

 29, 1910, gives figures with reference to this matter, and 

 shows that the sugar producers in Formosa will have to turn 

 their attention, in consequence, to the shipping abroad of 

 sugar in order to dispose of their surplus produce; thus it is 

 anticipated that Formosan sugar will enter the Chinese and 

 Corean markets, with centrifugal sugar, by next year. 



The Experiment Station Record of the I'nited States 

 Department of Agriculture, for October 1910, gives an 

 abstract, on page 429, of a paper presenting the results of an 

 investigation concerning the fixation of nitrogen in .soil, when 

 cellulose is used by the bacteria as a source of energy. It is 

 claimed that the experiments show that the beneficial re.sults 

 obtained by adding a small quantity of farmyard manure to 

 plant remains, which are then to be buried in the soil, are 

 due to the fact that it provides the proper bacteria for 

 making available the cellulose in the plant remains as 

 a .source of energy for the nitrogen-fixing organisms. 



The Jiiilletin des Seances de la Socii'te Nationale d'Aari- 

 culture de France, 1909, p. 890, gives a description of 

 experiments with a fungicide containing caustic soda and 

 copper sulphate, to which a certain proportion of a form of 

 black soap had been added. It was found that this mixture 

 was very cft'ective against fungi — probably more so than 

 ordinary Bordeaux mixture: the ettect of the copper was to 

 prevent the germination of .spore.s, and of the soap to cause 

 them to swell up and burst, while the presence of the latter 

 made the liquid more fluid and more adherent. The claim is 

 also made, in regard to fungi attacking leaves, that the 

 possession of the power to penetrate the ti.ssues enables it to 

 destroy the mycelium of fungi within leaves that have been 

 attacked. 



