Vol. X. No. 248. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



345 



cases. There was no dirterence between the quantities 

 of nitric nitrogen formed under the two sets of condi- 

 tions. 



Lastly, most nitrification took place with am- 

 monium sulphate; the loss of lime in the drainage was 

 less with nitrates than with ammonium sulphate; and 

 there was no relationship between the amount of lime 

 present in the drainage water and the e.xtent of 

 nitrificati(jn. 



The Priprioca : a Perfume Plant. 



The following description of this plant is repro- 

 duced from the Bulletin of the Bureau of Agricultural 

 Intellirjcnce and of Plant Diseases for S'oveniber 1910, 

 p. 77: ' The leaves of this plant when bruised give off 

 an agreeable but complex perfume, recalling clove, cin- 

 namon and bergamot at the same time, and its scent is 

 perhaps sweeter than that of the other plants. Priprioca 

 has been identified by Messrs Camus with the Mespilo- 

 daphne pretiosa =[Ocotea pretiosa], a tree growing 

 in Brazil, in the provinces of Rio de Janeiro and 

 Minas, in the forests of Amazonia, and in Guiana near 

 the Orinoco. The tree has been briefly described under 

 the names of Fao pretiosa, Casca pretiosa, and 

 medlar-bay (laurier nejie).' 



Ocotca pretiosa, almost unknown in Europe, 

 is said to contain in all its parts an essence which 

 could be employed in perfumery and for soap, as 

 a substitute for the essential oil of linaloe. 



that the demand for no other article is so far in excess 

 of the supply as is the case with cotton, it seems only 

 reasonable to assume, concludes the Journal, 'if the 

 cotton can be produced in sufficiently large quantities, 

 a great industry will be built up in South Africa in 

 time to come.' 



Oultivation of Cotton in the Transvaal 



The Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, Vol. 

 LIX, p 972, mentions that the development of the cot- 

 ton-growing industry in the Transvaal has recently been 

 making excellent progress. For some time past experts 

 have been endeavouring to induce farmers, whose prop- 

 erties are situated in that part of the country where 

 the soil and climate are such as will give the plant 

 a fair trial, to make tests. Many farmers who have con- 

 ducted these tests have been convinced that good crops 

 are to be obtained from their land, and that this branch 

 may possibly be made a profitable adjunct to their 

 general farming operations. The effoits of the Govern- 

 ment experimentalists are said to have been attended 

 with striking results: a comparison between American- 

 grown cotton and some from the Rustenburg experi- 

 mental station has shown that one variety (Bancroft,) 

 at least, is well up to the mark. The American yield 

 test gives forty-eight bolls of seed-cotton to the pound, 

 whereas that grown at Rustenburg yielded forty-three 

 bolls to the pound. This, says the Journal, is regarded 

 by Manchester experts as eminently satisfactory, the 

 ihore so when viewed in the light of the productions of 

 former years. 



The question, however, that is said to be harassing 

 the promoters ot extensive cotton cultivation is not so 

 much as to whether the cotton equals the American stan- 

 dard, but whether it can be made a cotnmercial success. 

 As to this, there appears to be a w ide difference of 

 opinion. Jf it be true, as is asserted in some quarters. 



Trade and Agriculture of Grenada. 1910-11. 



The Annual Report of the Coloni'd Treasurer, 

 Grenada, on the Treasury and Island Revenue Depart- 

 ments of that Colony for the year l!tlO-ll, shows that 

 the value of the imports and exports during the year 

 was £279,368, and £29I,7tJO, being an increase of 

 £11,132 and £(3,914, respectively, over the correspond- 

 ing figures for 1909, and disclosing the total trade of 

 the colony for the year t<i have been £.571,128. 



The e.xports from Grenada in 1910 comprised 

 principally cacao, spices, cotton .-ind cotton seed, which 

 together amounted in value to 97 p^r cent, of the total 

 exports. In regard to cacao, there was a record crop 

 last .season, and 118,667 ewt. (76,2.5.5 bags), of the value 

 of £2-59,365 were exported, being an increa.se of 11,539 

 cwts. (7,756 bags) in quantity and .£10,967 in value 

 over these figures for 1909, this representing 88 per 

 cent, of the total gross exports of the Colony. 



The values of other articles of export in 1910 

 were: spices £17,872, cotton £.5,797, cotton seed 

 £2,221; each of these showed a decrease as compared 

 with the similar values for the year 1909. 



The imports into Grenada for the year amounted 

 to £279,368 — an increase of £11,132 as compared with 

 the figures for 1909. 



Rice and Beri-beri. 



The Annual Report of the Indian Museum 

 Industrial Section for 1910-11 contains the results of 

 analyses made of various samples of rice in connexion 

 with an outbreak, in Bengal, of the disease known as 

 beri-beri, as it had been suggested in the previous year 

 that there was some relationshij) between the consump- 

 tion of white rice and this disease. Jlajor E. D. W. 

 Greig, I. M.S., was placed on special duty to investigate 

 the outbreak of beri-beri in F^engal; during the enquiry 

 various samples of rice obtained were analyzed, as were 

 also a large number of specimens of other foodstuffs in 

 general use in India. As regards rice, the analyses 

 showed that samples of Indian rice, from which the husk 

 had been removed, contained 06 to 0'8 per cent, of 

 phosphoric anhydride, while the average amount found 

 in polished rice is 0-1 per cent. Some samples which 

 had been highly polished contained no more than 26 

 and 0'22 per cent. A full analysis was also made of 

 rice bran, or the polishings of the grain, which is re- 

 moved- in preparing rice for the market. In this 

 substance an organic phosphorated constituent was 

 removed, soluble in hydrochloric acid; this is of great 

 value. Analyses were also made of edible products 

 used by the Marwaris, who very seldom develop beri- 

 beri, and the richness of their diet in phosphorus was 

 very noticeable. 



