ToL. V. No. 113. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS, 



269 



CULTIVATION OP CHILLIES OR 

 CAPSICUMS. 



In connexion -ivith the efforts being made to 

 ■encourage the cultivation of chillies in Nevis, it may 

 be of interest to state that the experiment referred to in 

 the Afiricidtural Neivs (Vol. V, p. 232) is reported 

 upon in the Annual Report on the station. Owing 

 to dry weather, the results were not as good as in the 

 previous year, but the}' appear to indicate that the 

 cultivation of chillies would prove remunerative. 



Mr. Hollings makes the following useful sugges- 

 tions : — 



It is essential, in order to preserve their bright colour, 

 that the peppers should not be picked till thoroughly ripe, 

 and then dried as rapidly as possible. The drying is easily 

 accomplished in the sun and wind in trays with fine 

 wire-netting bottoms, so as to allow the air to circulate freely. 

 These trays should fit into a rack one above the other, but 

 with a good air space between them ; the trays can then 

 easily be put out in the sun, and if rain threatens, run into 

 their rack under cover instantly. 



Peppers lose roughly about 70 per cent, of their picked 

 weight in drying ; about 2 per cent, are stalks, which have to 

 be removed before shipping, although they should always be 

 picked with them on. From 6 to 7 per cent, will, with the 

 most careful picking and drying, be .slightly discoloured and 

 should be rejected from shipment ; they will be quite good 

 for seed, and the remaining 2.3 or 24 per cent, are fit for 

 the market. 



Even such pungent things as peppers are not free from 

 the attacks of worms. The resulting crop of this season was 

 carefully selected and packed in barrels for shipment, 

 which was, however, unavoidably delayed. When the barrels 

 were opened and examined again before shipment, they were 

 found to be badly attacked by these worms and the envelope 

 or skin nearly destroyed. In some cases, the worm does not 

 seem to attack the seeds. 



PIG BREEDING IN TRINIDAD. 



The Annual Report on the Government Stock 

 Farm in Trinidad has the following on the subject of 

 pig breeding : — 



Two new breeds of pigs were added to the farm — 

 Poland-China and Berkshire. The former are not well known 

 in Trinidad, but seem to be well adapted thereto. The 

 favourite sized pig for the market is one giving from 100 lb. to 

 1 .50 ft), weight cleaned ; this quantity can generally be easily 

 disposed of, whereas a larger size may leave an overplus. 

 The Poland-China does not exceed this size, and is a plump, 

 pleasing pig, giving good results for feeding. They do not 

 seem to give large farrows, and should, I think, be kept to 

 themselves, and not used for crossing. 



The Berkshii'e is better known, and will grow almost as 

 large as a feeder wants ; they do well and give good results, 

 and are excellent for crossing and improving our common 

 pig. As these two breeds were started young no result came 

 during the year, but at the present moment some very nice 

 little ones have appeared. The Tamworths did well during 

 the early part of the year with their first farrows, but the 

 second lot developed white scour to which they succumbed. 

 The older ones were disposed of and replaced by an entirely 

 new lot. These are just having their first farrows which are 

 decidedly good, and prove the wisdom of parting with those 

 which unfortunately developed that ailment so fatal to young 

 animals of all kinds. 



CASTOR OIL SEED TRADE. 



In a recent issue of the A(ji 

 (Vol. V, p. 235), information was published relative to 

 the castor oil seed trade in the United Kingdom. The 

 following letter, addressed by the Bureau of Plant 

 Industry, U. S. Department of Agriculture, to the 

 American Consul at Grand Turk, deals with the 

 production of this product in the United States :— 



AVe have your letter of March 16 addressed to the 

 Assistant Secretary of Agriculture, enclosing samples of castor 

 oil beans and asking for information in regard of the same. 

 The best kinds of castor oil beans come from Italy, Calcutta, 

 and Madras. The plant is cultivated in the United States from 

 Kansas to the Gulf of Mexico. In 189-5, Kansas produced 

 361,000 bushels of seeds from about 24,000 acres, the seeds 

 weighing 46 lb. to the bushel. In Iowa the yield is 15 to 2.5 

 bushels per acre, whereas in the Southern States 3.5 to 40 

 bushels might be raised. The yield per acre is about the 

 same as that of wheat, varying, like it, with the fertility of 

 the soil. The seed sells at SI -25 per bushel. 



COMPOSITION OF COCOA-NUT WATER. 



In consequence of a suggestion that sugar might 

 be extracted from the ' water ' of the cocoa-nut on 

 a commercial scale, a sample of this liquid, which is at 

 present a waste product in the manufacture of copra, 

 was sent from Ceylon for e.xamination at the Imperial 

 Institute. The report of the Director is published in 

 the Tropical Agricultarist for June. 



While it will be seen that it is not likely that the 

 manufacture of sugar from this product would be 

 po-ssible on a commercial scale, it may be of interest to 

 publish the following extracts from this report to 

 indicate the composition of cocoa-nut ' water ' : — 



CHEMICAL COMPOSITION. 



Saccharine constituents : 



Mannitol 



Cane sugar 



Glucose 

 Acid constituents : 



Volatile acid (as acetic) 



Non-volatile acid (as tartaric) 



Ash 



Water 96-00 „ „ 



The present sample of ' water ' from Ceylon cocoa-nuts 

 appears to be abnormal in containing mannitol in place of 

 almost the whole of the glucose and cane sugar usually 

 present. It would be interesting to know whether this 

 constantly occurs in nuts grown in Ceylon, or whether it is 

 characteristic of a peculiar variety of nut. 



It is clear from the foregoing results that it would be 

 impossible to manufacture sugar from cocoa nut ' water ' as 

 represented by this sample, since it contains only O'l per 

 cent, of cane sugar. Further, it is highly improbable that 

 this could be done at a profit, even when the ' water ' contains 

 the whole of its saccharine constituents in the form of cane 

 sugar. Cocoa-nut 'water' contains, at the most, only about 

 one-fifth the amount of sugar present in the juice of the 

 sugar-cane, and as the cost of extraction would be much 

 greater in the former case, there seems little likelihood that 

 the ' water ' could be successfully utilized as a raw material 

 for sugar manufacture, even though it is at present a waste 

 product in Ceylon. 



