Vol. XVI. No. 387. 



THE AGRICULTURAL ITOWS. 



63 



PALM KERNEL CAKE AS FOOD FOR 

 PIGS. 



Now available are the results of the important experi- 

 ments conducted in England under the supervision of the 

 Director of the Institution for llesuarch in Animal Nutrition, 

 Leeds University, in connexion with the value of palm 

 kernel cake and meal as food for pigs. The reader will be 

 aware that there are two important reasons why this article 

 .should be fed as much as possible to live stock in Great 

 Britain: first, because there is a large supply of the cake 

 available on account of the transfer of the palm kernel cake 

 market from Germany to England; secondly, because it is 

 necessary to save as far as possible feeding any kind of food 

 to animals which can be consumed by human beings. The 

 ■experiments in question were carried out on a lot of fifty- 

 four pigs, and covered a period of twenty-four weeks. The 

 meal (oil extracted) and cake ^^t■re fed against a grade of 

 "wheat milling offal known locally as 'thirds' jr 'fine sharps'. 



It may be stated that the composition of palm kernel cake 

 compares very favourably with that of 'thirds'. Botli contain 

 about 17 per cent, of protein, and while palm kernel cake 

 has rather more oil than 'thirds', its percentage of soluble 

 carbohydrates is less. Assuming eijual digestibility for the 

 three -foods, and using the conventional method of the 

 agricultural chemist for assessing the relative values of 

 feeding stuffs from chemical analysis, it was expected that 

 the 'thirds' would prove slightly superior to the palm kernel 

 cake meal, and a good deal better than the extracted palm 

 kernel meal. 



The experiment has demonstrated that palm kernel 

 cake and extracted palm kernel meal can be safely used as 

 foods for pigs in proportions ranging up to almost one-third 

 of the total food supply. With the consumption of equal 

 ■weights, palm kernel cake produced a rate of gain of live 

 ■weight almost but not quite equal to that obtained with 

 'thirds', but the extracted palm kernel meal proved appreci- 

 ably inferior in this respect. At the prices paid for the 

 foods, the palm kernel cake has proved relatively somewhat 

 cheaper than the 'thirds', but the extracted palm kernel meal 

 has not justified its price. The appearance, flavour and 

 general quality of the meat obtained by the use of the palm 

 kernel foods have proved in every way satisfactory. 



Further details concerning this experiment may be 

 obtained by consulting the Jounml of the Board uj Agricul- 

 ture of England and 'Wales for December 1916. 



WEST INDIAN PRODUCTS. 



Sea-weed as a Potassic Manure.— It is now 



generally recognized in Great Uritain (according to the 

 Journal of the Board of Agriculture for December 1916), 

 that the most promising of all the present available sources 

 of potash is seaweed, of which there are abundant quantities 

 around the coast of the British Isles. One ton of the fresh 

 seaweed, it is stated, contains as nmch as 1 ^ cwt. of kainit. 

 One of the most urgent needs of the present time in Great 

 Britian is to develop this source of potash. Needless to say, 

 the collection and transport of this material involve a good 

 deal of labour at a time when it is more than difficult to 

 secure. In the WesD Indian islands however, it should be 

 "eiBily possible to make greater use of seaweed as a manure. 



DRUGS AND SPICES ON THE LONDON 

 MARKET. 



ilr. J. R. Jackson, A.L.S., has forwarded the follo-w- 

 ing report on the London drug and spice markets, 

 for the month of December: — 



During the first two weeks in December the amount of 

 business in the drug and spice markets wa.s, both in quan- 

 tities and prices, quite of a satisfactory nature. The tendency 

 in the latter has been, and is still, advancing, but at thtt 

 period under review, that is at the close of the year, there ia 

 always a certain falling off, both in supply and demand, aa 

 well as in depreciation of values. The system of buying only 

 sufficient for present needs continues to be the rule and will 

 continue to be so, so long as the war lasts. The following 

 are the chief details in West Indian products. 



GINGER. 



At the first spice auction on the 6th of the montl* 

 common to good common .Jamaica was quoted at from 80s. 

 to 85i-. and 90s. to 105s. for medium to good. A larga 

 quantity of washed Cochin was also disposed of, rougli 

 fetching 47.s. 6rf. and wormy 4-t«. A week later further 

 sales (if rommon to good common Jamaica fetched similar 

 prices to those quoted above, namely 80s. to 85s. 



MACE AND NUTMEGS. 



At auction on the 13th mace wa.s in good supply, 

 147 packages of West Indian being offered and sold, fine 

 fetching 2s. to 2s. \d. perfi)., good pale Is. lOrf. to Is. llrf., 

 fair Is. Id. to Is. 9d., ordinary reddish Is. 5rf. to Is. Qd.^ 

 comnton Is. Zd. to Is. 4d., and broken 8c?. to \Ohd. per ft. 

 At the same auction nutmegs were also in good supply, 50(1 

 packages being offered and sold at steady rates. 



SAKSAP.\EILLA. 



This drug ■was in good supply and fair demand 

 at the drug auction on the 14th of the month wheik 

 29 packages of grey Jamaica were ott'ered, 14 of which 

 were disposed of at Is. 10c/. per ft. for good grey 

 fibrous; 58 packages of Honduras were also offered and 

 52 sold, good fetching Is. 6rf. to Is. Id. per ft., Is. id. 

 for fair and Is. '2d. for inferior. Of 8 bales of Lima- 

 Jamaica offered, only 3 were sold, good fetching Is. Id. 

 per ft. and chumpy Is. 6c?; 25 bales of Mexican were also 

 brought forward, but were held at Is. per ft. Seven bales 

 of native Jamaica were also ott'ered, and were bought in at» 

 Is. for red and yellow mixed. 



CITRIC ACID, AKKOWROOT, PIMENTO, KOLA AND LIME JUICE. 



Citric acid has been firm throughout the month at 

 a stationary price of 2s. 6d. per ft. Arrowroot was ia 

 good sujiply at the beginning of the month at advanced 

 rates, 3\d. to 3|rf. being paid for good common St. Vin- 

 cent and ihd. for fine. It was reported that as- 

 many as 1,000 barrels jiad been disposed of at tha 

 beginning of the month. Pimento was quoted at the begia- 

 ning of the month at 3hd. per ft., and at the close it had 

 risen to 3Jc?. At auction on the 14th Kola was represented, 

 by very large quantities, as many as 234 packages: only 25 

 however, found buyers, 15 bags of Java fetching Qd. per lb. 

 for fair bright halves, and 10 bags of fair halves from 

 Zanzibar sold at 5-]<Z. per Jb. In the middle of the month iti 

 was reported that there were large stocks of lime juice itfc 

 hand and that good raw West Indian was obtainable at 2s. 9c<, 

 per gallon. 



