300 



THE AGRICULTURAL, , NEWS. 



September IC, 1911. 



GLEANINGS. 



Thi' Hoard of Trade Journal for July 20, 1911, states 

 that, the Monthly Report of the Sudan Central Economic 

 Board gives the total export of cotton up to the end of May 

 from Tokar (Red Sea Province) as about 6,680 tons. At the 

 time of reporting there remained about 90 tons to come in. 



It is reported by H.M. Minister at La Paz, Bolivia, that 

 the production of rubber in that State, in 1910, amounted to 

 3,061 tons. The greater part of this rubber was shipped by 

 way of the Amazon River. The statistics show that, of the 

 amount exported, the United Kingdom took 1,274 tons, 

 Brazil 810 tons and Germany 565 tons. 



It is stated that trials are being made by the Bombay 

 Department of Agriculture, on the Dhaiwar Farm, of a new 

 method of harvesting ground nuts. In this, the stalks of the 

 plants are first cut, and the nuts are then removed from the 

 soil with a heavy harrow. This should reduce the expense 

 of harvesting the nuts, and in consequence, cau.se the cultiva- 

 tion to be taken up on a larger scale. 



A preliminary statement issued by the Chamber of Agri- 

 culture of Mauritius shows that the production of sugar in 

 this island in 1910-11 was 218,786 tons, as compared with 

 229,631 tons in 1909-10, and 192,401 tons in 1908-9. The 

 total weight of cane bought by factories, or ground for dif- 

 ferent planters, during the last crop, was 813,384 tons, as 

 compared with 897,425 tons in that of 1909-10. 



At a meeting of the British Cotton Growing Associa- 

 tion, held on August 1, 1911, it was reported that the total 

 purchases of cotton in Lagos, from the beginning of the 

 present year, amount to 5,129 bales as compared with 5,228 

 bales and 11,166 bales for the same period in 1910 and 

 1909, respectively. It is estimated by Sir Walter Egerton, 

 the Governor of Southern Nigeria, that the Lagos cotton crop 

 during the coming season may amount to 15,000 bales. 



The principal agricultural articles for export from French 

 West Africa in 1909 were as follows: ground nuts, 228,000 

 tons value £1,772,240; rubber, 4,318 tons value £1,273,480; 

 palm nuts, 43,369 tons value £410,560; palm oil, 21,437 

 tons value £373,760; gum arable, 3,459 tons value £68,240; 

 maize, 9,335 tons value £28,(»00; gum copal, 150 tons vahie 

 £14,960. The e::iports also included 152 tons of cotton 

 worth £5,800. 



Reference has been made from time to time in the Agri- 

 cultural A'eHw to the occurrence of prussic acid in sorghum 

 {Agricultural J'n/'s, Vols. I, p. 70; IX, p. 275; X, p. 123). 

 Work carried on in recent years at the Nebraska Agricultural 

 Kxperiment Station, has confirmed the existence of prussic 

 acid in the stalks of sorghum. In another, similar investi- 

 gation with corn, no trace of prussic acid was found, no 

 matter at what st.ige the plants were examined. 



An abstract in the Bulletin of tlie Bureau of Agricul- 

 tural Intelligence and of Plant Diseases for January 1911 

 states that good rubber has been obtained from Euphorbia 

 Tirucalli — a plant mentioned in the Agricultural Kevjs, 

 Vol. IX, p. 232. It is stated that a pound of rubber may 

 be obtained from Zh pints of the latex, and that a plant 

 six years old will yield over 5 lb. In East Africa, the plant 

 exists in thickets, near the rivers, containing 300 to 400 

 trees. 



The production of cotton is the most important industry 

 of the State of Texas, from 20 to 30 per cent, of the entire 

 cotton crop of the United States being grown in that State. 

 There were only four cotton mills in Texas in 1899; there are 

 now seventeen, of which number fifteen are in active opera- 

 tion. These fifteen mills have an aggregate capitalization of 

 £464,375, are equipped with 2,508 looms, and 112,336 spin- 

 dles, and consume an average of 40^000 bales of cotton 

 a year. (The Textile Mercury, July 29, 1911.) 



The Journal of the Royal Society of Arts for July 28, 

 1911, draws attention to the scarcity of cinnamon in Ceylon, 

 which is being brought about by the substitution of rubber 

 or cocoa-nuts for the plant. The deficiency is being made 

 good in the European market by the offer of Cassia bark, from 

 China, in its place. It is stated that this bark possesses 

 a stronger and somewhat coarser flavour than cinnamon, and 

 is gaining appreciation. It is estimated roughly that the area 

 of cinnamon cultivated in Ceylon is 45,000 acres. 



Information received concerning agricultural conditions 

 in St. Kitts during August 1911, shows that the reaping of 

 the old cane crop was still being carried on, in the case of 

 a few estates. Both the new cane and the cotton in the 

 northern districts of the island were healthy, and making 

 good progress, but in the Valley District, near Basseterre, 

 these crops were being affected by the prolonged drought. As 

 has been indicated before, the picking of early planted cuiion 

 has been carried on for some time, and fair returns are being 

 obtained. 



In the West Indian Bulletin, Vol. XI, p. 207, an abstract 

 is given of a [mper describing the sugar industry of Xegros 

 in the Philippine Islands, in which it was shown that at the 

 time of writing, the methods of sugar production were 

 antiquated throughout the island. In connexion with this it 

 is of further interest that, according to the Louisiana Planter 

 for July 22, 1911, a large central factory, having a mill with 

 a daily capacity of 1,000 tons, is being put up at San Carlos, 

 in the middle of^ the sugar country of that island. It was 

 intended at first to introduce a 600-ton mill, but tlie number 

 of contracts signed for the provision and grinding of cane 

 necessitated the acquisition of the larger one. 



