300 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS, 



September 22, 1906. 



GLEANINGS. 



W During the fortnight ended August 16, 3G bales of West 

 Indian cotton were imported into the United Kingdom. 

 {West Lidia Committee Circular.) 



The Lawes Agricultural Trust has issued a convenient 

 little ' Guide to the Experimental Plots,' of the Rothamsted 

 Experimental Station, price Is. net. 



There is a steady demand in Dominica for grafted mangos, 

 12.3 plants, grafted lay ai)[iroach on seedling stocks, being sold 

 at the Botanic Station during the year 1905-G. 



Mr. H. Ilesketh Bell, the new High Commissioner of 

 Uganda, has decided to plant 2-50 miles of the Uganda roads 

 with rubber trees. It will be remembered that this system 

 of road-side planting was started in Dominica during Mr. Bell's 

 regime. 



There is a very good demand for sugar throughout 

 Canada at the present time, cpiite large quantities being used 

 in the fruit canneries. Last year's pack was curtailed some- 

 what by the high juice of .sugar, but this year it will be 

 (juite large. {Maritime Mercliant, August 23, 1906.) 



An exhibition of India-rubber is to be held next month 

 in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeuiya, Ceylon, the object 

 being to encourage further the growth of rubber in the island. 

 It is thought that both Ceylon and the Malay States may soon 

 become important sources of sujiply of rubber. {Nature, 

 August 16, 1906.) 



Referring to a note in the A;/ricuUural Neifs (Vol. V, 

 p. 233), on a new fruit-canning factory in Jamaica, the 

 Maritime Merchant says: 'The trade of Canada handles 

 considerable jireserved pine-apples, and there is no reason why 

 it should not handle more. Hitherto, the supply has come 

 principally from Hawaii.' 



The Local Instructor for !Montserrat reports that from 

 December 1905 to the end of July last 138,296 ft. of cotton 

 had been shipped, as again.st 70,788 ft. for the crop of 1905. 

 Estimating the area of cotton last year at 700 acres, the 

 yield shows an average of 200 ft. per acre. It is thought 

 that about 900 acres will be planted in !Montserrat during 

 the present season. 



Mr. J. H. Hart, F.L.S., Superintendent of the Royal 

 Botanic Gardens in Trinidad, has forwarded to the Imperial 

 Commissioner of Agriculture .seeds of a palm ' which will 

 l)robably turn out to be a new species of Cocos. The seed is 

 from a tree, which has been grown from seed originally 

 collected on the mainland, and is now fruiting at the Govern- 

 ment House Gardens.' 



From a discussion 9f the results of recent work relating 

 to the assimilation of free nitrogen by fungi, Heinze {Annales 

 Ml/col.) comes to the conclusion that elementary nitrogen is 

 not assimilated by fungi other than bacteria. {Botanical 

 Gazette, August 1906.) 



A correspondent has pointed out that the table, pub- 

 lished in the last issue of the Afjricultural Neics (p. 285), 

 relative to rainfall at Grenada, might be misleading to 

 a stranger to Grenada. The Richmond Hill station is only 

 506 feet above sea-level. The rainfall at higher elevations 

 in Grenada is much greater than that shown in the table 

 referred to. 



The Vere Estates Company, Ltd., to the central factory 

 scheme of which reference was made in the Agricultural 

 Neu's ( Vol. IV, p. 258-), is proposing to plant cotton in the 

 Vere district of Jamaica on a fairly extensive scale. Laud 

 has been cleared, and t"he company is arranging to put in 

 as much cotton as possible before the October 'seasons.' 

 The services of a cotton planter froni Barbados have been 

 secured by the company. 



A few very fine apples continue to be jiroduced each 

 year by a tree planted by Mr. Snyder, seven years ago, at the 

 St. Elmo estate, Dominica. (See Agricultural News, Vol. II, 

 p. 28.) A fruit gathered from this tree a few days ago 

 measured HA inches in circumference, and weighed lOi oz. 

 The ajijile is known as .the Gravenstein variety, and''was 

 imported from Canada. It is growing at an elevation of over 

 2,000 feet. 



The cotton crop report of Messrs. W. W. Gordon i^' Co., 

 of Savannah, Georgia, dated August 20, 1906, states: 'There 

 has been too much rain in some sections of the South 

 Carolina Islands, resulting in serious damage. Favourable 

 weather conditions from now until the end of the season can 

 improve the situation materially. In general, the isrevailinc 

 impression seems to be that, with perfect seasons, a crop of 

 80,000 to 90,000 bales can still be realized. Excessive rain 

 will prove injurious, and extremely hot weather, with dry 

 scorcliing winds, will cause shedding and damage to the crop. 



In reference to the note in the last i.ssue of the 

 Agrindtural Xeivs (p. 283) on the Litchi, it may be of 

 interest to state that, according to a recent report on 

 ' Agricultural Investigations in Hawaii, 1905,' this fruit, in 

 a dried form, ' is becoming more extensively known in the 

 markets of the United States, and the successful efforts to 

 grow the trees in Hawaii indicate the possible success of more 

 extensive jilantings. The dried fruits from China sell in the 

 Washington maiket for about 50c. a box, containing about 

 1 quart, and the demand for the very limited production in 

 Hawaii is such that the price is very dear.' 



It is stated in the Proceedings of the Agricultural 

 Society of Trinidad, that Mr. George S. Hudson, of St. Lucia, 

 had forwarded 'some Immortel seed of the variety found most 

 useful for shade in that colony. ]Mr. J. G. deGannes kindly 

 offered to give the variety a practical test and report later. 

 The result of the exjieriiuent wil Ibe watched with interest.' 

 It may be mentioned that this species {Erythrina indica) is 

 a low tree with an umbrella-shaped crown, and Mr. Hudson 

 is of opinion that it will be found to give better re.sults as 

 a shade tree for cacao than the ordinary Immortel. With 

 this tree planters will better be able to regulate their shade. 



