412 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS, 



Decembef. 29, 1917, 



According to an article in the Farm Joiunal, November 

 1917, one of the easiest ways to kill rats is to run the 

 e.xhaiist fumes from a motor car into the rat holes. The 

 plan is to close up all the rat holes except one, in a building, 

 and having attached one end of a sutBcient length of ordinary 

 hose to the miitfler of a motor car, to put ihe other end 

 down the rat hole left open, and start the engine. The 

 method is said to have been verv succe.ssful. 



GLEANINGS. 



The Comparative Statistical Report of sugar manufac- 

 tured in Porto Rico from 1909 to 1917, issued by the 

 Government, shows a wonderful increase in production which 

 las almost doubled. In that island 277,092 short tons were 

 made in 1909, whereas the crop of 1917 has reached the 

 total of 503,081 tons. 



Turmeric {Curcuma longa) is cultivated all over India 

 lor iis rhizomes, which are used as a condiment and also as 

 a dye. The dye attaches itself readily to wool, silk, or cotton, 

 Calcutta d}-ers obtain a brilliant yellow by mixing turmeric 

 ■with carbonate of soda, and along with indigo, shades of 

 gieen are produced. (The Wealth of India, August 1917,) 



Progress in the development of the indigo industry in 

 India is the subject of an article in Th: Times Trade Supple- 

 ment, June 1917, The conclusion is reached that indigo 

 may be produced iu India, and sent to England in paste 

 form ready for use, at prices which will put it on a level 

 ■with the artificial material manufactured by German methods, 

 which had almost ousted it latterly from the market. 



According to an article in the Jamaica Gltaner, Xoveiii- 

 fcer 2, 1917, there has been a movement among banana 

 planters to secure some fund for ensuring the banana industry 

 against future hurricane?. At a meeting held at Highgate, 

 a resolution was passed to approach the Government on the 

 question of tht rating of one half-penny on every payable 

 bunch of bananas exported from the island, to form an 

 insurance fund. 



In 'Seasonal Hints', November 1917, published by the 

 authority of the Minister cf Agriculture, Ottawa. (_)ntario, 

 some useful adviie is given to poultry keepers. Hens over 

 two years old it is staled, ought to be sold or eaten. Only 

 the best of the jne year-old hens which have proved their 

 ft rtility should be kept. It dies not pay to keep old hens. 

 A two year old Leghorn hen may be worth keeping, but 

 . t«oyear Plymouth Rock hen is usually a loss. 



The Committee appointed by the (iovernment of British 

 Guiana to enquire into and report upon the leasing of 

 Crown Lands, and whether the policy of .selling Crown 

 Lands to small cultivators should tJe revived, has presented 

 thtir repoit, in which they conclude that under certain 

 mcdificaiions it is advisable to revive that policy. The 

 report is published as a paper of the Second Special 

 Stssion, 1917, of the Combined Court of British Guiana. 



Professor Antonio Berlese, in a recent book on insects 

 infesting houses, recommends that a solution of sodium 

 arsenite (2 per cent.) and molasses (10 per cent.) in water 

 should be sprayed, every eight or ten days when tlies are 

 prevalent, on plants near houses, and on manure heaps, and 

 that bunches of straw or twigs should be dipped in the 

 solution and hung up outside houses, near doors and windows. 

 as a means of destroving house flies. {Nature, November 1, 

 1917.) 



Work on control of Japanese nut grass {Cyperus rotundus — 

 a noxious weed in the West Indies also) has proved that spray- 

 ing with arsenite of soda is the most effective niean.s of 

 control, if the spray is applied when the grass is in full 

 bloom. Ploughing with a disc plough is also effective, if 

 done at intervals of four or five weeks during exceedingly 

 dry periods. The tubers found on the surface of the soil 

 after effective ploughing can be raked together and destroyed. 

 (Report of the Hawaii Agricultural Experiment Statirin, 

 1916.) 



The Hoard of Trade Journal, September '">, 1917. states 

 that a Law has been published in Venezuela which prohibits 

 the killing and hunting of herons in that country, and aho 

 the exploitation and exportation of egret plumes except 

 under the regulations prescribed by the Law. No one may 

 collect egret plumes, or export them without a certificate 

 vouching for the fact that they have not been obtained 

 by the prohibited method of killing the bird. Egret 

 plumes are only to be collected at the heronries during the 

 moulting period, from July to November inclusive. 



In Colonial Ri ports — Annual, No, 932, the Colonial 

 Secretary of the Bahamas states with regard to the trade 

 of those islands, that the exports of preserved pine-apples, 

 grape fruit, and tomatoes show steady increases in quantity 

 and value. There was a satisfactory increase in the export 

 of sponges, particularly in the better grades, both in quantity 

 and value. The total sponge output for the year was 

 1,317,622 tt),, valued at £136,551. Exports of sisil have 

 also increased, amounting to 8,369,245 lb., valued at 

 £114,465. 



There is evidently a movement in Jamaica in favour of 

 extending rice cultivation in that island. A correspondent 

 in the Journal of the Jamaicx Aiiriculturnl Society, October 

 1917, states that the possibilities in Jamaici for growing 

 rice have never been seriously considered until very recently 

 in the wcctern parishes. The extensive cultivation of rice 

 will not displace any other industry, and ever)' shilling gain- 

 ed from it would be a direct addition to the wealth of th< 

 island. While some development has taken place within tlie 

 last year in rice growing, it is nothing like what there is 

 room for. A yield of as much as 40 bats to the acre, each 

 of 160 tt) weight, has been reaped here under favourable 

 conditions. Twenty bags to the acre can be put down as 

 a fair average yield. 



