Vol. V. No. 108. 



THE AGEICULTURAL NEWS. 



189 



\ 



WIDTH OF CART TIRES. 



A note ill the Queensland Agrivaltaral Journal 

 ■on this subject contains the following : — ■ 



All European countries, advanced in road-making, have 

 laws regulating the width of tires used on wagons, carts, and 

 vehicles for heavy draught. In France the width of tires 

 i-anges from 3 to 10 inches, usually from -l to 6 inches. 

 Every market wagon and tonnage wagon is practically a road 

 Toiler; the forward axle is about 1-1 inches shorter than the 

 rear axle, so that the hind wheels ruu in a line about an inch 

 outside the level rolled by the fore wheels. In Germany all 

 •carts for heavy loads must have a width of tjre of at least 

 4 inches. In Austria the law demands from 4^ to 4i inches. 



Broad tires thus perform the duty of rollers in keeping 

 •a smooth and compact roadway free from ruts. Narrow tires 

 tear up ; wide ones consolidate. A wagon with 5-inch tires 

 requires one horse less with a heavy load than one with -S-inch 

 tires. 



The Missouri Experiment Station has made a series of 

 tests extending from Januarj' to September of last year in 

 order to ascertain the value of wide tires as compared with 

 narrow ones. 



The Director of the station states that the conditions 

 under which the narrow tires offer an advantage over the 

 wider ones are ' unusual and of short duration,' and, further, 

 that ' through a majority of days in the year, and at times 

 when the dirt roads are most used, and when their use is 

 most imperative, the broad-tired wagon will pull materially 

 lighter than the narrow-tired wagon ' ; also that ' a large 

 number of tests on meadows, pastures, stubble land, corn 

 ground, and ploughed ground in every condition, from dry, 

 hard and firm, to very wet and soft, shows without a single 

 exception a large difference in draught in favour of the broad 

 tires. The difference ranged from 17 to 120 per cent.' 



Asa result of all experiments conducted, he says : 'It 

 appears that 6 inches is the best v/idth of tire for combina- 

 tion farm and road wagon, and that both axles .should be 

 the same length, so that the front and hind wheels will run 

 in the same track.' 



BOTANICAL LABORATORY, JAMAICA. 



Mention was made in the Agricultural JVews 

 (Vol. Ill, p. 3S) of the fact that the buildings at the 

 Cinchona Gardens in Jamaica had been taken over by 

 the New York Botanical Garden to be maintained as 

 a botanical research laboratory. The Journal of the 

 New York Botanical Garden for April 1906 has 

 the following reference to the work that is being 

 accomplished there: — 



The Garden Laboratory at Cinchona, Jamaica, will be 

 occupied during the spring by Professor Duncan S. Johnson, 

 of Johns Hopkins University, and a party of his students, 

 who go there to prosecute cell-studies on native plants of 

 the .Jamaica mountains, in continuation of the important 

 investigations in cytology long prosecuted by him. As 

 already reported in the journal. Dr. Forrest Shreve, also 

 a student of Professor Johnson, is at present at Cinchona 

 investigating the mistletoe and other parasitic plants of the 

 forests, and pursuing studies on filmy ferns and on the 

 relationships of tropical plants to soil and moisture. The 

 demand for the use of this laboratory is increasing, and we 

 are fortunate in being able to supply facilities for the use of 

 the numerous students who desire to investigate one feature 

 or another of the tropical flora. 



WITCH BROOM DISEASE OF CACAO 

 IN SURINAM. 



The Demerara Aryosy, of May 19, reports 

 Governor Idenburg's opening address at the annual 

 session of the Legislative Board in Surinam on IFay 8. 

 His Excellency spoke as follows of the efforts that were 

 being made to fight the witch broom disease of cacao : — 



Encouraging also is the .satisfactory condition of the cacao 

 fields, where, on a somewhat large scale, the combating of 

 the disease was attempted. The experiment was commenced 

 in November 1904, on Maasstroom, and in April 1905 oa 

 Susannasdaal. A heavy lopping of the trees was followed 

 by spraying with a preparation of copper. The trees thus 

 treated produced a new, healthy, and strong top, and have 

 set much fruit this year. On Maasstroom, unfortunately, 

 a great many pods were lost through their getting black, 

 a circumstance which, however, must not be ascribed to the 

 infection. On Susannasdaal the trees are now full of sound 

 fruit, in marked contrast to the surrounding fields, which 

 abound with infected fruit. If those experiments continue 

 successful, they may lead to important conclusions in solving 

 a difficulty of great moment to the colony. The future may, 

 therefore, be looked forward to, in this respect, not entirely 

 without hope. Years of struggle, care, and disappointment 

 have shown the undesirable results that have followed the 

 action of colonial agriculturists in so largely devoting their 

 attention to the cultivation of one product only. 



Although the crisis in the cacao industry continued, the 

 production in 1905 was considerably more than in 1904. 



IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRI- 

 CULTURE AND AGRICULTURAL 

 EDUCATION. 



The following is a copy of a resolution passed by 

 tlie Clergy of the Church of England in Antigua, and 

 forwarded to the Imperial Commissiouer of Agriculture 

 by his Lordship the Bishop : — • 



The Clergy of the Church of England in the island of 

 Antigua, assembled at a clerical meeting this seventh day 

 of May, do hereby resolve : — 



1. Thai the work in connexion with the agricultural 

 education in secondary and in elementary schools, which has 

 been developed and fostered by the Imperial Department of 

 Agriculture in the island of Antigua, has been of great benefit 

 to the schools and education generally. 



2. That the work now being done is likely to lead to 

 good residts in the future. 



3. That their grateful thanks are hereby tendered to the 

 Imperial Department of Agriculture for their valuable help ia 

 the past, and it is hoped that every effort may be made to 

 continue the work on the present lines. 



DEPARTMENT NEWS. 



The Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture left; 

 Barbados in R.M.S. ' Orinoco' on Wednesday, .June 6, 

 for the United Kingdom. 



Mr. Thomas Thornton, A.R.C.S., Travelling 

 Inspector in connexion with Cotton Investigations, lefb 

 Barbados in R.M.S. ' Eden' on May 29 for St. Vincent. 

 Mr. Thornton returned to Barbados on June 5. 



