360 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



X0\K.\ICER 11, 1911. 



EDITORIAL NOTICES. 



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All applications Jor Copies of the 'Agricultural 

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Vol. X. SATUllDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 1911. No. 249. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Contents of Piesent Issue. 



The cditiirial in this issue treats of S[)ec-ial Uses 

 for Concrete iu Wnnn Climates. It draws attention 

 to different \im\s in which concrete maybe employed, 

 in addiiion to ihe usual methods. 



Page 8-54 presents an article giving information 

 concerning the employment of sugar as a catch crop 

 with rubber. 



( )n page 356, there will be found articles of interest 

 dealing with the prospects of cocoa-nut growing in the 

 Virgin Islands, and with the present position of the 

 production and consumption of the avocado pear, in the 

 United States. 



Attention is drawn to a notice concerning the forth- 

 coming West Indian Agricultural Conference, to be held 

 next year in Trinidad, which is given on this page. 



The Insect Notes are presented on page .■J62. They 

 give information concerning some insects injurious to 

 grouiid nuts: and the legislation that exists in Porto 

 Rico against the imp'irtation of the ])ests and diseases 

 of plants. 



The Fungus Notes, on page 3(JG, comprise the com- 

 mencement of interesting articles presenting observa- 

 tions on root diseases in the West indies. 



A useful article that has ajjpeared recently, dealing 

 with the value of different crops as green manures, is 

 abstracted on page 3()7, as much of the matter in the 

 information atid conclusions pos.sesses apjilicability to 

 conditions in the West Indies. 



The West Indian Agricultutal Conference, 1912. 



As is stated on another page of this issue of the 

 Agriciillii/ral News, the Imperial Commissioner of 

 Agriculture is visiting Trinidad, for the purpose of dis- 

 cu-siiig with His E.Kceliency the Governor, and those 

 immediately interested, the arrangements for the forth- 

 coming West Indian Agricultural Conference, which 

 will be held in that Colony from January 23 to 30, 

 1912. 



.'V <;rpMt deal of interest is being i-hown in regard 

 to this Conference, both in the West Indies and in 

 England, and invitations lo send delegates have been 

 issued to a number of institutions in England. Among 

 the institutions that have been apjiroached in this way 

 are the Koyal Botanic Gardens, Kew, the Imperial 

 Institute, the British Cotton Growing Association, the 

 West Indi.i Committee, the Entomological Research 

 Committee and the Roihanuted E.xpeiiinental Station. 



The account of a recent meeting of the British 

 Cotton (Jrowing Association, given under the heading 

 Cotton Notes, on p;ige 35S, shows tliat this msiitulion 

 has already iiominaLed its delegates, and particulars 

 are afforded i-oncerning the lepnsentatives chosen. 



'i'he Royal Mail Steam Packet Company has kindly 

 placed at the disposal of the Imperial Department of 

 Agriculture a certain number of free pa?sages, from 

 England to Trinidad and return, for the use of delegates 

 to the Conference. It is not certain at present, how- 

 ever, if all the delegates from England can be accom- 

 modated with free passages in this way. 



A Glucoside from Tephrosia Puipurea. 



Information concerning Tephrosia inirpnrea has 

 been given from time to time in the Agricultural 

 News (see Vols. VIII, p. 40.5; IX, p. 281; and X, pp. 

 24.5, 2S4, 293). A further detail of interest appears in 

 a note bearing the above title, wdiich is given in the 

 Agricidtural Journal of India for July 1911, p. 325, 

 on a paper, dealing with the subject, \vhich ap[jeareil in 

 the Journal of the Chemical Society for Srptember 

 1910. 



It is statod that T. jiurpurea is common in many 

 paits of India, especially in the Uinted Provinces, where 

 it is often a weed An investigation (.f the plant was 

 begun in India and finished at the Davy Earad-iy Labor- 

 atory of the Royal Institution of Loudon, which has 

 shown that the leaves of tlie plant contain about 2i 

 per cent, of their dry weii;ht of a glucoside. 



The glucoside, on hydrolysis, gave rise to two 

 sugars — rhamnose and dextrose, and to a yellow crystal- 

 line substance which was found to be cpiercetin. 



The importance of this circumstance is derived 

 from the fact that ipiercetin is u.sed lo a largo extent 

 in the dyeing industry, .so that it is in demand in 

 commerce. 



The investigation showed, further, that T. pur- 

 purea does not contain indican, or any other substance 

 yielding indigo. 



