412 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



December 29, 1906. 



GLEANINGS. 



The twenty-fifth annual sale of Government Farm Stock 

 will be held at Valsayn, St. .Joseph, Trinidad, on Wednesday. 

 January 23, 1907. 



The treasury returns of Dominica show that .598 cwt. 

 of citrate of lime, valued at £1,2.55, had been e.xported from 

 that island up to November 30 last. 



In Malta there were 688 acres of land under cotton in 

 the year 1905-6, as against 587 acres in 1904-5. The produce 

 in lint last year was estimated at 162,418 Itj. (Annual HfJ^ort.) 



Mr. A. C. Seward, F.R.S., has been appointed Professor 

 of Botany in the University of Cambridge in succession to 

 the late Professor Marshall Ward. 



Professor E. W. Boyce, F.R.S., of the Liverpool School 

 of Pathology, was among the recipients of the honour 

 of knighthood on the occasion of His Majesty's sixty-fifth 

 Birthday. 



Those portions of the Pamphlet No. 38, issued by the 

 Imperial Department of Agriculture, entitled Cultivation and 

 Curin;/ of Tobacco, which dealt with the growing of tobacco 

 under shade, have been reprinted as Pamphlet No. 19 of the 

 Department of Agriculture for British East Africa. 



According to the Consular Report on the foreign trade 

 of France for 1905, there was an increase of £672,000 in the 

 value of the imports of coffee as compared with the previous 

 year. There was a slight increase in the value of cacao and 

 French colonial sugar, also in tobacco (raw and manufactured). 



His Majesty's Consul at Chicago (^Ir. A. Finn) reports 

 that there has been an alarming increase in the district 

 affected by the cotton boll weevil, and that it is stated to 

 have penetrated about 50 miles into the cotton district of the 

 Indian territory. {Board of Trade Journal.) 



The quantity of oranges, lemons, and mandarins 

 produced in Malta during the year 1905-6 was about 184,050 

 dozen, showing an advance of 2,704 dozen on the previous 

 year's crop. The Washington Navel variety is being 

 cultivated at the public gardens at Sant' Antonio. {Annual 

 Colonial Report.) 



A report on the ' Present Position and Prospects of the 

 Agricultural Resources of the Island of St. Helena,' which 

 ■was written by Mr. Morris (now Sir D. Morris, K.C.M.C., 

 Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture for the West Indies) 

 in January 1884, has, in consequence of many requests for 

 copies, been re-issued as Colonial RejMrts — iliscellaneous, 

 No. 38. 



The e.\'|jorts from Barbados to Briti.sh North America 

 have shown a steady increase during the last few years ; the 

 values are as follows: 1902, £122,273; 1903, £13.5,456; 

 1904, £249,000 ; 190-5, £276,095. The value of the imports 

 into Barbados from British North America was £83,581, as 

 against £7.">,749 in 1904. {Annual Colonial Report.) 



In reference to the two fine Indian goats of the Zaraibi 

 breed, of whose importation from the Punjab by the Imperial 

 Department of Agriculture mention has already been made 

 in the Agricultural News (Vol. V, p. 184), it may be of 

 interest to state that one of them stands 36-^ inches at the 

 shoulder and weighs about 163 lb. 



Arrangements have been made for five Cantor Lectures 

 to be given at the Society of Arts on ' Artificial Fertilizers,' 

 by Mr. A. U. Hall, M..\., Director of the Lawes Agricultural 

 Trust at Rothamsted. The lectures deal with the Nutrition 

 of the Plant, the Fi.xation of Nitrogen, Nitrogenous and 

 Phosphatic Fertilizers. 



The Trinidad Mirror, for November 10, reports on the 

 annual schools' show at Tobago. Exhibits from the Botanic 

 Station, schools' vegetables, needlework, etc., were on show 

 and there was a peasant proprietors' section. The exhibits 

 in the last-named section were rather disappointing, nor did 

 those in the schools' section come up to those of 1905. 



In the report of the Secretary, Minister of Agriculture 

 in Natal, for the year ended June 30 last, it is stated that 

 cotton ' is again being ex])erimentally grown in Natal, with 

 what appears to be satisfactory results. Cotton of a good 

 fibre, and realizing a fair price, has been sent home in small 

 quantities as samples ; but it still remains to be seen whether 

 the adverse conditions of insect pests, climate, and labour 

 will permit of it developing into a staple industry.' 



According to the Demerara Argosy, of December 1, 

 Dr. Bovallius, the Manager of the Essequebo Exploration 

 Company, has returned to the colony after an absence of 

 .some months in England. The increased capital needed has 

 been readily forthcoming, and in addition to the exploitation 

 of wild rubber and balata within their concession, the 

 company has determined on the planting of rubber trees on 

 a large scale. 



It is stated in the Annual Colonial Report on Barbados, 

 that the average rainfall for the island in 1905, from 197 

 stations, was 54-59 inches, as compared with 59-38 inches 

 from 199 stations in the previous year. Owing to the 

 decrease in the rainfall during the past two year.s, there has 

 been a great diminution in the amount of water stored in 

 the coral rock which covers the greater part of Barbados. 

 The plane of saturation has been lowered, and the flow of 

 the springs reduced. 



A de.spatch has been received, through the Foreign 

 Office, containing a note from the Egyptian Irrigation 

 Department with regard to the Nile flood, from which 

 it appears that the supply of water has been satisfactory, and 

 that a cotton crop larger than any recorded is anticipated. 

 The flood has been satisfactory for the irrigation of the basin 

 lands in Upper Egypt, and, at the same time, the levels in 

 Lower Egypt have been suitable for passing away the flood 

 without endangering the Nile banks. {Board of Trade 

 Journal.) 



