412 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



December 23, 19U. 



GLEANINGS. 



It is noted, for the purpose of record, tliat the Barbados 

 Official Gazette for October 9, 1911, contains regulations 

 relating to the T.arbados Science Department, made by the 

 Education Board and approved by the Governor-in-Execu- 

 tive-Committee. 



The distribution of plants from the Dominica Botanic 

 'Gardens during last month ^vas as follows: limes 7,487, cacao 

 995, grafted cacao 50, Para rubber 850, grafted mangoes 16, 

 mi.-cel]aneous 8, the total number sent out being 9,406. The 

 rainfall at the Botanic Station for the month wiis 094 inches. 



The C'oinnicirial and Indzistrial Gaxette, which is an 

 otHcial publication issued in St. Petersburg, states that 

 favourable progress was being made with the cotton crops in 

 Russian Central A.sia and the Caucasus Good yields are 

 also expected in the Trans-Caspian and Trans Caucasian 

 Provinces. 



At the St. Lucia Botanic Gardens, during last month, 

 .8,000 seeds of Para rubber were received; 7,000 of these 

 were sown at the Experiment Station and the rest at the 

 Botanic Station. The distribution from this Station during 

 November comprised 9,348 plants, including cacao 450, limes 

 8,750, coffee 100, Para rubber seeds 500, and 81 packets of 

 vegetable seeds. 



The Board of I'rade ,J on null, for September "28, 1911, 

 draws attention to a notice issued by the Italian Ministry of 

 Agriculture, Industry and Commerce, fixing the price to be 

 paid to holders ot stocks of citrate of lime and concentrated 

 lemon juice, for the working year 191 11 2, at about 55s. 

 per cwt. of citrate of lime (basis, G4 per cent, of citric acid), 

 or for an equivalent quantity of concentrated lemcn juice. 



Among the planting material sent out from the Antigua 

 Botanic Station during November, there were included: limes 

 5,305, cocoa-nuts .105, cacao 104, red cedar S3, onions 2,600, 

 sweet potato cuttings 41,000, miscellaneous plants 72; 80 

 bags of seed were also sent out during the month. In con- 

 nexion with the cocoa-nut industry that exists in the island, 

 1,150 seed cocoa-nuts were imported in the .same month. 



Information contained in .Diplomatic and Consular 

 Keports, No. 4G41 — -Annual Scries, shows that in the year 

 1910,1,555,273 jiine-applcs were exported from St. Michael's, 

 in the Azores. Of these, 340,697 fruits went to London and 

 Southampton, and the rest to Hamburg. The exports to 

 London and Hamburg in 1909 amounted to 414,956 and 

 1,017,487 fruits, respectively. 



In the Jjidletiii of the Bureau of Aaricultural Intelligence 

 and of Plant Diseases for November 1910, attention is drawn 

 to a new method of tapping rubber trees. According to this, 

 strong pre.ssure is applied to the bark, for a certain distance 

 around ihe tree, by means of steel rings fixed round the trunk, 

 the incision being between the rings. The rings are gradu- 

 ally made to E^pproach the incision, with the result that the 

 latex is squeezkl out 



During thef'Charcot E-xpedition to the Antarctic regions 

 examinations were made of samples of rain and snow 

 collected in different localities. A paper in the Comptes 

 liendus de I'A'-adfniie des Sciences, 191), p. 166, shows that 

 the amounts cf^nitrates in the samples were much the same 

 as those in the rain and snow of temperate Europe. The 

 average quanti'Tj- of nitrates in rain was 0'225 mg. per litre: 

 in snow it wa>; 0'233 mg. 



It is reported by H.M. Consul-General at Manila that 

 a modern su.gar mill having a capacity of about 100 tons of 

 cane per day is to be erected in Luzon, Philippine Islands; 

 this is expected to begin woik on .January 1, next. The 

 fact that the JUgar shipments in 1910 only amounted to 

 99,105 tons, while free entry, into the United States, of 

 300,000 is permitted under the Payne Law, is causing local 

 producers to make special etibrts to increase the export of 

 sugar to that country. 



Attention is given, in the Experiment Station Record, 

 Vol. XXIV, p 620 (June 1911), to the part played by mus- 

 covite mica in soils, as regards the furnishing of plant food. 

 The work described has shown that this substance is capable 

 of supplying a greater amount of potash to plants than that 

 derivable from orthoclase felsjiar. The reason is stated to be 

 the higher solubility of the mica — a solubility which is in- 

 creased by the use of gypsum, peat, ammonium sulphate, 

 quicklime, monbcalcium phosphate and other substances. 



The growing of cotton was introduced as an industry in 

 Santo Domingo only about three years ago, when the Govern- 

 ment distributed American (."^ea Island) seed among a num- 

 ber of small planters. The cultivation promises to be success- 

 ful, and gins are now in operation in Monte Cristi and 

 Puerto Plata, at which ports the fibre sells at 16s. ^d. to 21s. 

 l)er 100 lb. A small quantity of cotton was first shipped in 

 1908; the export figures in 1909 reached 47,820 1b.; while 

 last year 137,768 B). was exported, with a declared value of 

 £3,600. (The Textile Mercury, October 21, 1911, p. 333.) 



Information has been received by the Commissioner of 

 Agriculture, from the organizing manager, Mr. A. Staines 

 Manders, that the Third International linbber and Allied 

 Trades p]x|)osition will be held at the New- Grand Central 

 Palace, 46th to 47th Street and Lexington Avenue, New 

 York City, from September 23 to October 3, 1912. The 

 further information has been received that Mr. H. ( ', Pearson, 

 Editor of the Indin Rvlilnr World, has consented to become 

 the Vice-President of the F.xposition Mr. A. Staines Manders 

 will be remembered as the organizer of the successful rubber 

 exhibitions held in London in 1908 aud 1911. 



