;28 



NA rURE 



[August 3, 1905 



The seeding of pastures is a matter of primary import- 

 ance to owners of graEing land, and it is certain that many 

 farmers will obtain useful information from the experi- 

 ments conducted under the direction of Mr. A. N. 

 M 'Alpine, which are described in Bulletin No. 31 of the 

 West of Scotland Agricultural College. Fourteen different 

 mixtures were tried, three containing rye-grass in excess, 

 three without rye-grass, and four were special mixtures ; 

 of the latter Timothy and cock's-foot mixtures in suitable 

 quantity were especially efficacious in checking Yorkshire 

 fog and bent grass. With respect to rye-grass, it was 

 demonstrated that both the perennial and the Italian 

 varieties should be sparingly sown. 



The cultivation of oranges in Dominica is discussed by 

 Mr. H. Hcsketh Bell in No. 37 of the pamphlet series 

 issued by the Imperial Department of Agriculture for the 

 West Indies. Mr. Hesketh Bell has been growing oranges 

 for some years on two experimental stations, and has 

 shipped sample boxes at different times to England which 

 have realised remunerative prices at Covent Garden. 

 Experience has proved that budded oranges are much 

 superior to seedlings, and the varieties " Parson Brown " 

 and "Jaffa " are recommended as being hardy and prolific, 

 while the " Washington Navel " also appears to thrive 

 well. Emphasis is laid on the necessity for exercising 

 the greatest care in handling and packing the fruit, so 

 that Dominica brands may secure a good name on the 

 market. 



The banana industry was unknown to Costa Rica 

 twenty-five years ago, says a writer in the Journal of the 

 Society -of Arts (July 28), but it has reached such propor- 

 tions, especially within the last few years, that bananas 

 now form the main export of the country. At the close 

 of iqo4. about 50,000 acres were devoted to banana grow- 

 ing in Costa Rica. The trade was exclusively confined to 

 the United States until igo2, when the fruit was exported 

 to England, with gratifying results. France, Germany, 

 Italy, Spain, and other European countries do not as yet 

 consume the banana, but as soon as a substantial increase 

 in the acreage is reached, and with the present facilities 

 for transportation and the use of ships equipped with cold 

 storage, the market will be extended probably to those 

 countries. The amount exported from Port Limon during 

 the five years ended with June 30, 1904, was as follows, 

 'a bunches :— 1900, 2,804,103: 1901, 3,192,104; 1902, 

 4,427,024; 1903, 5,261,600; and 1904, 5,760,000. The 

 following figures show the probable cost and profit on a 

 tract of 100 acres planted in bananas. Original outlay : — 

 land (4;. per acre), 400/. ; reducing land and bringing it 

 to a banana-bearing condition (lol. per acre), 1000/. ; total, 

 1400/. Gross returns, 180 stems per acre per annum, 

 1 116;. Expenses :— cutting and hauling the fruit, and 

 keeping the plantation clean, 288;., manager (20/. per 

 month), 240/. : total, 528/. Net return on investment, 588/. 

 Under favourable conditions, a banana plant may give a 

 stem of fruit in nine months, but it generally takes from 

 fifteen to eighteen months for the average plantation to be 

 in full bearing. The life of a plantation varies according 

 to the fertility of its soil and topographical situation. 

 Some soils may need a rest in six or seven years, while 

 others may last practically for ever, as in cases where 

 periodically enriched by alluvial deposits. It is understood 

 that fine flour can be made from bananas, and that fibres 

 from the leaves and stalks could be extracted and success- 

 fully worked, but as yet nothing in this direction has been 

 done in Costa Rica. 



NO 186'S, VOL. 72] 



The Engineering and Mining Journal directs attention to 

 the increasing tendency to use copper as the collecting 

 agent instead of lead in smelting gold and silver ores. 

 .Sinclting on the copper basis is decidedly cheaper than on 

 the lead basis. 



We have received part i. of the annual report of the 

 director of the Philippine Weather Bureau for the year 

 1903, containing hourlv observations of atmospheric pheno- 

 mena at the Manila Central Observatory. The assistant 

 director contributes a useful climatological summary for 

 the year, together with monthly and daily amounts of 

 excessive rainfall that have occurred since 1865. Photo- 

 graphic illustrations are given of the havoc wrought by 

 one of the two destructive cyclones which traversed the 

 archipelago. Unfortunately, there was no good anemo- 

 meter at any of the towns that suffered most severely. 

 Manila itself escaped these violent storms. 



The Hamburg Meteorological Institute has issued vol. 

 xiii. of " Deutsche uberseeische meteorologische Beobacht- 

 ungen," 1905. As may be inferred from the title, the 

 work contains observations made at places abroad, under 

 German control. In the present case it refers entirely to 

 some twenty-two stations in German East Africa, and the 

 tables have been prepared and printed with the liberal 

 assistance of the Colonial Department of the German 

 Foreign Office. It contains more than 300 pages of 

 valuable observations, and is a very important contribu- 

 tion to the climatology of Africa, with explanatory details 

 relating to each of the stations. For some of them hourly 

 observations are given from self-recording instruments ; 

 at others eye observations have been made several times 

 daily. 



.\ TAPER entitled " Records of Differences of Temperature 

 between McGill College Observatory and the Top of 

 Mount Royal, Montreal," by Prof. C. McLeod, was read 

 at the meeting of the Royal Society on June 8. The chief 

 object of the paper was to show the advantage of Prof. 

 Callendar's electrical recorders, in connection with the use 

 of platinum thermometers, in obtaining trustworthy in- 

 dications of the variations of temperature at a distance in 

 a situation inaccessible for the greater part of the winter. 

 The horizontal distance between the stations was 3300 feet, 

 and the difference of altitude 620 feet. The first vear's 

 working (July, 1903, to May, 1904) showed that range 

 of variation was considerable, and often changed very 

 rapidly ; on some occasions the temperature at the higher 

 station was (1° F. or 7° F. above the lower, on others it 

 was 25° below. A comparison of the records showed that 

 any marked change of temperature at the lower station was 

 almost invariably preceded by a similar change at the 

 higher station at an interval of twelve to twenty-four hours. 

 It is claimed, we think with fairness, that this .system of 

 recording meteorological data appears to overcome the 

 difficulty and expense of maintaining a staff of observers 

 at an inaccessible station. 



At the last annual meeting of the Royal Meteorological 

 Society, the president, Captain D. Wilson Barker, gave 

 an interesting address, illustrated by a number of lantern 

 slides, on the connection of meteorology with other sciences. 

 He pointed out several of the most evident influences of 

 meteorology to the geological observer, such as rain, ice, 

 snow, &c., and the rock-splitting action of great changes 

 of temperature. As regards zoology, the influence of 

 meteorology on animal life is all-pervading. Among the 

 most common results are mentioned the winter sleep of 

 various animals, and the summer sleep of some fishes and 



