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THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



April 21. 1917. 



An instructive paper was read before the Colonial 

 Section of the lloyal Society of Arts on January 30 last, by ' 

 Mr. Octavius C. P>eale, representative and piPt President of 

 the Australian Associated Chainbers of ^Manufacture, on 

 Imperial Industries alter the War. Pieferencc was made at 

 some length to the sugar situution, and it was pointed out 

 that the I'.ritish Empire is well able to produce the sugar 

 it re(iuires. Mention was made of the mutual benefit 

 derived by Canada and the West Indies in regard to trade, 

 particularly sugar and Hour. 



GLEANINGS. 



< )bservations relatuig to staple crops in St. A'incent show 



hat during March goci I progress had been made with the 



reaping of the arrowroot crop. During that month old cotton 



stalks bad for the most part been destroyed. Su^ar and 



ayrup manufacture were in full swing. 



According to The Board or Trntle Jowrnnl, the sugar 

 industry in Guatemala has developed in recent year.=, 

 particularly since the war. The past season is stated 

 to have been a very prosperous one for cultivation, and 

 there are indications that the industry will assume still larger 

 pro[iortions in the near future. 



Growing Long-staple American Cotton by Irrigation is 

 the subject of an article in the India Ruhh'.r World for 

 March 1. The area where this takes place is known as the 

 Imperial Valley, California (iovernment crop reports show 

 that the yield is high and that the staple has good length, 

 .strength, and uniformity. The average yield per acre is from 

 400 to 500 lb., whereas the averatie cotton yield in the entire 

 country is stated to be 170 B). 



It is stated in Colonial Reports — Annual, Xo. 910, that 

 there is room for considerable development of the fisheries of 

 British Guiana in several directions, specially in sea-fishing, 

 and curing with the aid of ice and smoking. A fair supply 

 of sea- fish is genera llj- ke[)l at the ice depot, but ice is not 

 generally used <As in other colonies, salt fish are imported 

 in quantity, but no attempt is made to cure the local fish. 

 Fresh-water fish is oblainahle in the markets but not to the 

 extent desired. 



According to the London oorre.=pondent of the Korlh 

 (Jueenflavil B(;/ifier, sweet potatoe.s have everywhere in 

 (.Queensland been found salisfactoiy food for pigs. (.,|ueens- 

 land farmers consider the swcii potato as preeminent- 

 ly the best root crop for hogs for autumn grazing. Fiy 

 means of a combination of swiet potatoes, peanuts and cow- 

 peas, the most proHtalile hogs may be produced Generally, 

 in feeding peanuts, it is the custom to add a small amount of 

 corn in order to balance thi- rations. 



According to advices 

 corn purchased last year 



from Mr. W- N. Sands, Indian 

 lit tlie Government ginnery, 

 St. Vincent, <in the profit sharing basis, was put on sale in the 

 form of meal for human consumption last month. The 

 suinily — 620 cwt.- -was far below th'' quantity that could have 

 been disposed of during the next four months owing to the 

 liigh prices of imported foodstuffs. The successful working 

 'if the corn drier, and tlie storage in perfect conilition of 

 a large quantity of corn should stimulate the planting of 

 lhi.-i crop during the coming season. 



The Punjab Government has sanctioned the registration 

 of a co-operative credit society in connexion with the Xorth 

 Western Railway, possessing unique features. It is stated 

 in the IlVf/f/i of Jndia for January 1917, that this Society- 

 will differ from the ordinary co-operative credit society in 

 three essential points, first, its committee of management 

 will not be wholly elected b)' the menrbers of the society. 

 but will be partly e.r officio; second, voting by proxy will 

 be allowed, owing to the fact that members will be scattered 

 all over the line: third, the IJaiflfeisen principle that no loan 

 should be only tor productive or provident purposes cannot 

 be strictly adhered to. 



The cattle-raising potentialities of British Guiana are 

 referred to in Colonial Reports — Annual, No 910. It is 

 stated that there are krge areas of land suitable for this 

 purpose. The number of cattle in the Colony is estimated 

 at 100,.300. but it is thought certain that this estimate is 

 far below the actual figure. Cattle raising was continued 

 on the Piup:inuni and Takatu Savannahs, and at December 31, 

 191.5, there were in existence for these localities twelve com- 

 missions held by eleven different ranchers, cmbricing an 

 estimated area of .59 H square miles. The number of cattle 

 on these ranches is estimated at not less than 12,500 heid. 



A forecast of the Indian indigo crop, 1916-17, apjiears in 

 The Board of Trade. Journal for February 8. The total area, 

 736,100 acres, is 114 per cent, in excess of the finally levised 

 area of 353. 100 acres of 1915-16. All the Provinces show 

 an increase in the area sown, the largest increases being in 

 the United Provmces and in the Punjab. The total yield of 

 dye is estimated at 95,500 cwt as against 55,100 cwt., 

 the finally revised estimate of 1915-lb, or an increase of 

 73 per cent. The season has not. on the whole, been favour- 

 able for the crop except in the Punjab, Bombay, and Siud. 

 1 1 eavy rainfall and floods adversely affected the crop in the 

 United Provinces and in parts of Behar, Orissa ,and JIadras. 



Kaiure for t'ebruary 22 last, publishes the following note 

 on the recent report on the Agricultural Department, 

 St. \'incent; 'In addition to the usual work, experiments on 

 cotton breeding are being made at the Experiment Station, 

 which, if they can befull}- carried out, should yield valuable 

 results. Plants possessing resistance to angular spot and boll 

 rot have been selected, and an effort is bring made to breed 

 from them resistant strains. Selection for lint characters is 

 also being undertaken. Should varieties be produced capable 

 of resisting the attacks of the cotton st.ainer— the main cause 

 of boll trouble- the cotton yield would be nearly double. 

 Work of this kind emphasizes the great need for the estab- 

 lishment of properly equipped .agricultural research stations 

 in the tropics in order that plant-breeding experiments need- 

 ing many years of careful research may be undertaken with- 

 out interruption ami hindrance.' 



