Vol. XVI. No. 392. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS, 



137 



(6) The pasture is greatly benefited, and cattle 

 soon grazed closely where pigs have been folded. 



Altogether open-air pig-keeping would appear to 

 be the cheapest and most effective way of raising large 

 numbers of those animals. 



Supply of Ground Provisions at Barbados. 



The Barbabos Advocate for Saturday, April 21, pub- 

 lishes a Minute by His Honour Sir William Chandler, 

 Kt., C.M.G., President of the Legislative Council of 

 that Colony, dated March 20, describing the position 

 of the colony as regards the supply of ground provisions, 

 and covering a circular letter forwarded by him to the 

 attorney or manager of every sugar plantation in the 

 island, appealing to them to state the minimum number 

 of acres on the estates under their control, which they 

 would plant in potatoes in April, May, or June this 

 year, with a view to meeting the probable shortage in 

 food supply, consequent on the very high price of wheat 

 flour, meal, etc., and the increasing difficulties of getting 

 freight for sufficient imported foodstuffs for the island, 

 at the end of the crop season. 



From the Return annexed to the Minute, it is 

 seen that the planters who have replied have pledged 

 themselves to plant (weather permitting) before the 

 end of June ne.xt, 2,430 acres of sweet potatoes. As 

 to the amount of produce obtainable from this acreage, 

 taking the average number of cane holes per acre 

 over the whole island as 1,400, and the average 

 return of sweet potatoes per hole as 8 ft., it is 

 estimated that the a\erage return would be about 

 11,200 lb. or ') tons per acre, or a total of 12,1.50 tons. 

 Sweet potatoes as a general rule, are edible when four 

 months old, and will keep in the ground remaining 

 edible until seven months old. If, therefore, it is aro-ued, 

 fairly equal quantities of the 2,480 acres above referred 

 to, were planted in March, April, May, and June, there 

 should be a plentiful supply of sweet potatoes available 

 for consumption in the months of August, September, 

 October and November. It may be remarked, however, 

 that weather conditions have so far been against plant- 

 ing operations in March and April. 



It is pointed out that the above allocation of 2,430 

 acres to sweet potato cultivation this year, has no refer- 

 ence to what is called the planting of 'fall potatoes', 

 by which is meant the planting of potatoes in land 

 from which canes have been reaped, but which is to 

 be thrown out of cane cultivation for a year, and in 

 the case of the current year, not to be planted in canes 

 until November 1918, for reaping in 1920. The 'fall 

 planting' would appear to be the customary practice 

 on sugar plantations at Barbados; hence the 2,430 acres 

 proposed to be appropriated this year will be additional 

 to the normal area devoted to potato cultivation 

 annually in the colony. 



Attention is called to the alleged disinclination of 

 the plantation labourers to do anything else but cane 



reaping and sugar-maaufacMiring operations during the 

 crop season. This, of course, is a difficulty that will 

 have to be coped with and overcome. It might be 

 mentioned that there are certain proposals that have 

 been submitted by the local Government making com- 

 pulsory the increased cultivation of ground provisions, 

 which now await consideration of the Barbados Legis- 

 lature. In most of the other colonies steps have already 

 been taken in connexion with the increased produc- 

 tion of local food supplies. 



Potash Fertilizers from Felspars. 



The dearth of potassium salts in Great Britain 

 owing to the war has caused renewed attention to be 

 devoted to the possibilities of preparing soluble potas- 

 sium salts from the large deposits of felspar which are 

 found in certain parts of the country. It is pointed out 

 in Natare that the problem has occupied the attention 

 of chemists intermittently for many years, but the 

 processes devised in the past have proved commercially 

 unsuccessful, owing largely to the failure to obtain, 

 along with the potash salts, other saleable products 

 which might share the cost of manufacture. This diffi- 

 culty would appear to have been largely overcome in 

 the process patented by Mr. J. Rhodin, a Swedish 

 inventor, in which, along with the soluble potassium 

 salts, a marketable white cement is obtained. The 

 successful results obtained by this process with Swedish 

 felspars have been 'jrought to the notice of the Board 

 of Agriculture and Fisheries, and under the auspices of 

 a sub-committee of the Fertilizers Committee of the 

 Board, further tests with British felspars from Roche 

 in Cornwall, and Loch Eriboll, in Sutherlandshire have 

 been carried out, the results of which are summarized 

 in the February issue of the Journal of the Board 

 of Agriculture. 



The Roche felspar, containing 108 per cent. 

 K.^O, yielded 75 per cent, in a soluble form, whilst the 

 Loch Eriboll spar, with 86 per cent. KoO gave 60 per 

 cent, soluble. Swedish spar with 129 per cent. KjO. 

 yielded .54 per cent, in a soluble form. Expert opinion 

 described the cement as a true hydraulic cement, of 

 satisfactory colour, but of much lower tensile strength 

 than Portland cement. 



As a result of its examination, the sub-committee 

 expresses the opinion that encouragement should be 

 given to any movement for the manufacture of potash 

 and white cement by the Rhodin process on a 

 commercial scale, and that in the event of a public 

 company applying to the Treasury for permission to 

 raise capital to work this process, the application 

 should receive the strong support of the Fertilizers 

 Committee. 



It may be mentioned that potash manures are 

 much needed at present for potato growing. 



