236 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



July 28, 1917. 



GLEANINGS. 



In the West India Committee Circular oi April 19, 1917, 

 the correspondent in Tobago writes that a proprietor of that 

 island has imported a motor lorry for the conveyance of his 

 produce, supplies, etc., and that no doubt more of these will 

 be in use there before long. 



The sugar industry in Mauritius had, according to the 

 Louisiana Planter of May 26, 1917, twenty-eight factories 

 in operation during the past season. The normal juice 

 -extracted was 80 per cent maximum and 71"70 per cent, 

 minimum. The average hours of daily work for the mills 

 ■was 223 maximum and thiiteen hours minimum. 



According to ihe Board of Trade Statistics, quoted by 

 the Produce Mai ket Review of April 7, 1917, the average 

 increase in the price of bread in the United Kingdom since 

 the beginning of the war was, up to November last, 6.5 per 

 csnt., and having regard to the further advance since then, 

 the present price shows an increase of slightly more than 

 100 per cent. 



In 1915 Jamaica imported rice to the value of £105,998. 

 As pointed out by the Agricultural Instructor for South 

 Westmoreland and Hanover in the Journal of the Jamaica 

 Jlgriculturat Society, Vol. XXI, No. 1, the industry is capable 

 of great development, and, if the rice were cultivated to its 

 fullest extent, there would not be the need for this large 

 importation. 



In the Dominica Chronicle, of July 4, 1917, the total 

 ■value of the exports from Dominica in 1916 is given as 

 jE2r2,310. To ihi.s amount ihe following items contributed 

 as under: lime juice, raw, £50,452; lime juice, concentrated, 

 je44,S55; fresh limes, £47,852; essential oils, £20,662; 

 cacao, £17,151: citrate of lime, £9,244; coco-nuts, £1,275; 

 lay leaves, £359; and vanilla, £48. 



' t^ ^tries' of experiments as to the food value of the 

 inaize kernel, as described in Experiment Station Record, 

 Vol. 36, No. 4, tend to show that it was necessary to make 

 salt additions to rations deriving their inorganic content 

 from maize before growth could take place, and that it is not 

 easy, if at all possible, to make up a satisfactory ration 

 -vrholly derived from the corn kernel and its parts. 



The West India Committee Circular of June 24, 1917, 

 repioduces useful methods for the destruction of cockroiches 

 recommended by the Lancet. For actual, (juick destruction, 

 stoving with bromine or suljihur dioxide is apparently best; 

 but for domestic application powdered sodium fluoride which 

 lias the effect of effectually driwng away the cockrcach and 

 vliicli at the same time keep.s indefinitely, is recommended. 



The Field of June 16, 1917, contains a ricipe for ginger 

 beer. To 10 gallons of water put 10 ff>. best loaf sugar and 

 8 oz. of bruised ginger (unbleached the best). Biil for one 

 hour and put it into a barrel with 1 oz. hops and 4 spoon- 

 fuls of yeas:. Let it stand for three days, then close the 

 barrel, putting in 1 oz. of isinglass. In a week it is ready 

 for use. It is an improvement to bottle it after being in the 

 barrel the week. 



The production of biet sugar in Russia in 1915-16 is 

 given in the Louisiana Planter of May 19, 1915, at. 

 £1,640,000 short tons with about 212,000 tons leftover 

 from the previous crop. Th" requirements of Russia are 

 under normal conditions estimated at 1,850,000 tons. At 

 the termination of the war, Russia bids to be one of the 

 largest sugar producers in the world, outside of Cuba and 

 British East India. 



During the season for September 1, 1915 to August 31, 

 1916, the total output of ginned cotton in Egypt as given in 

 The Board of Trade Journal of May 24, 1917, was estimated 

 at 6,020,400 cantars (cantar = 99 05 lb.) as against an actual 

 output of 4,774,770 cantars in the previous season, while 

 in the calendar year 1916, 5,416,936 cantars of ginned cotton 

 were exported from Egypt as compared with 6,899,132 cantars 

 in the previous year. 



Invaluable work is, as is shown in the report for the six 

 months ended December 31, 1916, being done by the 

 Committee of the West Indian Contingent Committee in 

 providing comforts for the battalions of the British West 

 Indies Regiment and in assisting the men in many other 

 way.-<. The Committee is also authorized to act as a central 

 authority for the control and distribution of dutiable gifts to 

 men from the West Indies serving in British regiments 

 stationed in England. 



A proclamation dated June 8, and published in the 

 St. Lucia Gazette of June 9, 1917, prohibits under the Cus- 

 toms (Exportation Prohibition and Restriction) Ordinance 

 1916, the exportation from St. Lucia of all kinds and every 

 kind of (a) animals used for food and (b) foodstuffs whether 

 raw or manufactured except fresh fruit and such articles, 

 including ships' stores, as miy be exported with the permissioa 

 of the Treasurer and upon such terms and conditions as the 

 Treasurer may direct. 



In the Annual Report of the North Western District of 

 British Guiana for 1916 it appears that an additional area 

 of 88 acres of coffee consisting principally of the Liberian 

 species was put under cultivation. The crop of coffee in the 

 district has increased from 69 acres in 1911 to 639 acres in 

 1916. The farmers aie experiencintc difficulties in the 

 picking through .scarcity of labour, and in the curing for the 

 want of proper machinery. The averaee price for the local 

 grown coffee in Georgetown was lOic per lb. 



If the food they are attacking can bo shut up or placed 

 beyond their reach, mice can, as is advised in the Agricultural 

 Gaze'.te of New South Wales oi May 1917, be poisoned with 

 strychnine mixed with flour and placed in suitable vessels 

 such as saucers. Out in the open a kerosene tin half full of 

 water wilh the top cut off, sunk level with the ground, makes 

 an effective trap when placed where mice are congri'satine, 

 and where mice are not so numerous, an attractive bait 

 placed on the botium of the tin (no water Leiug left in the 

 tin) will often catch great numbers. 



