Vol. Y. No. 97. 



THE AGR [CULTURAL NEWS. 



In reference to the above, a correspondent 

 ■writes : — 



If ilr. Iius-sell Murray can get his proposal through, it 

 vould be a great boon to tlie Barbados sugar planters, as they 

 could then ship to Canada centrifugal muscovado sugar 

 ■which would go direct into competition without having to be 

 refined. 



In support of what I have said above, I may mention 

 that a few days ago I received a letter from Messrs. AV. H. 

 Millman i^: Sons, to whom I had sent a small consignment 

 of 12 tons of vacuum-pan sugar on October 31 last, 

 asking if I could send them a car-load of from 12 to 15 tons 

 of soft, dry muscovado sugar, as they had had several 

 inquiries for sugar of that description. 



The data recorded prove that sodium chloride dissolves 

 large quantities of lime, magnesia, and [lotash from the soil, 

 but no [ihosphoric acid. 



In connexion with the experiments mentioned in this 

 paper there will doubtless exist countries where the mineral 

 substances of the soil are so firmly combinetl and so difficult 

 to be assimilated that it is an advantage to be able to dissolve 

 them with so clieap an ingredient as salt water, and it is very 

 probable that Phipson and Hanson are right for .lamaica and 

 Demerara in advocating manuring with salt for sugar-cane. 

 But the fact cannot be generalized, and in Java, for instance, 

 I should not advise the manuring with salt, as in the Java 

 soil the potash is so readily available that all experiments 

 witli fertilizers made in the last twenty years have proved 

 unanimously that an increase in the soluble potash in the 

 soil by manuring with potash fertilizers did not improve 

 either the tonnage of the cane or its sucrose content. 



The Influence of Soda Salts in the Soil on the 

 Composition of Sugar-cane. 



The International Sugar Journal, for December 

 1905, contains a valuable paper by Mr. H.C. Prinsen 

 Geerligs, of Java, on the above subject, in which it is 

 shown that while the sugar-cane will assimilate soda 

 only as a last resort, yet the presence of such salts 

 leads to various combinations -with potash, lime, and 

 magnesia, placing these at the disposal of the plants. 

 The following information is extracted from Mr. Geer- 

 ligs' paper: — 



It is a remarkable fact that sugar-cane grown on a salt 

 soil contains an exceedingly small amount of soda salts, even 

 in those cases wliere these canes are rich in chlorine. Cane 

 can thrive very v\-ell on land which does not contain any 

 chlorine salts at all, which proves that it does not need those 

 salts for its development. If, however, cane is planted on 

 land which is salty owing to its vicinity to the sea sliore, or 

 from any other reason, the analysis of the juice of such cane 

 shows a large amount of chlorine : but then this constituent 

 is not combined with soda but with potash. The aim of the 

 investigations, which are set forth in this article, was to 

 examine in what way the chlorine, which was first combined 

 with soda in the soil, was absorbed by the plant in coml>ina- 

 tion with potash. 



The analysis of a large number of samples of Java 

 molasses and molasses from other countries, among which 

 such were chosen as were from places originally near the sea, 

 indicated that a high chlorine content always coincides with 

 a high amount of potash, while the amount of soda is always 

 insignificant, although the chlorine had originally occurred in 

 combination with that element. 



The analyses of cane juice from various experimental 

 |ilots with fertilizers of every kind equally show a well- 

 marked prei)onderance of the potash salts above the soda 

 salts in the juice. 



Fi'om all these analyses and data it has become evident 

 that sugar-cane has a predilection for potash, while assimilat- 

 ing as little soda as possible, to such an extent that wheie 

 an abundance of sodium chloride exists in the soil, the cane 

 takes only the chlorine, ^^hereupon it is no longer combined 

 with the soda but with potash. In this case this potash 

 must have been present somewhere, and hence there is no 

 doubt that that element had been present in the soil as 

 a silicate and had been transformed into potassium chloride. 

 In other words, there was a mutual interchange between the 

 elements of sodium chloride and potassium silicate, forming 

 potassium chloride and sodium silicate. 



PROMOTION OF AGRICULTURE IN 

 PORTO RICO. 



The following is extracted from the Ei;peytiacnt 

 Station Record, of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, 

 for November 1905 : — 



Pre-ss reports state that the establishment of a Bureau 

 of Agriculture for Porto Rico is in contemplation. The 

 University of Porto Rico, at Rio Piedras, near San Juan, has 

 a 100-acre farm which the trustees propose to use for illus- 

 trating improved methods and for giving students practical 

 training in agriculture. There is now a class of twenty- 

 eight such students. The present herd of twelve cows is to 

 be doubled, and a model dairy installed. The institution is 

 now selling its milk to people in the neighbourhood, and 

 with the new equipment it is proposed to handle and put up 

 this milk according to the most modern sanitary methods. 

 An attempt will also be made to improve the dairy stock by 

 the im[iortation of a blooded bull from this country. 



Thorough-bred swine are also to be introduced, and 

 three stallions. One of these stallions will be kept at the 

 Universitv', one at the Experiment Station, and the other at 

 some convenient point on the' south side of the island. Slips 

 sufficient for the planting of 100 acres of sisal will arrive 

 within a short time and will be distributed to persons who 

 wish to exiieriment with the growing of this fibre plant. In 

 numerous ways the propaganda for the improvement of 

 conditions will be carried on with the co-operation of the 

 Federal Experiment Station at Mayaguez, whose pioneer 

 work has pa\-ed the way for this more popular work about 

 the island. 



THYMOL. 



Thj'mol is prepared from ajava or ajowan seeds pro- 

 duced by Caruiii coptkum, which is extensively cultivated in 

 India. This is a small plant belonging to the natural order 

 U'tnhel/iferae. In their Semi-Annual Report (October- 

 November 1905), Messrs. Schimmel &, Co. state : — 



'The cheap period of this article has now passed. The 

 prices of ajowan seed have advanced about 10 per cent. ; the 

 supply is also limited, and it is difficult to obtain large parcels. 

 Under these circumstances no firm offers for thymol can be 

 made at present, but each case must be dealt with on its 

 own merits. Thymol must be protected from light and heat, 

 and is best kept in yellow bottles.' 



As has been stated in the Agricultural News (Vol. IV, 

 p. 202), thymol has been successfully used in the West 

 Indies for worms in horses. 



