660 



TEE AOBICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



lated by Humbolt that the productiveness 

 of the banana as compared with wheat is 

 as 133 to 1, and as against potatoes 44 to 1. 

 The varieties of the banana cultivated in 

 the tropics are as numerous as the varieties 

 of apples in temperate regions, and the 

 best authorities now agree that no specific 

 difference exists between it and the plan- 

 tain. The fruit is extensively used as 

 food ; and in many of the Pacific islands 

 it is the staple on which the natives de- 

 pend. In its mature condition it contains 



much starch, which on ripening changes 

 into sugar, and as a ripe fruit it has a 

 sweet but somewhat flavourless taste. 

 From the unripe fruit dried in the sun, a 

 useful and nutritious flour is prepared. 

 The following represents the percentage 

 composition of the pulp of the ripe fruit : 

 nitrogenous matter, 4-820 ; sugar, pectin, 

 etc , 19-G57 ; fatty matter, 0*632 ; cellu- 

 lose, 0-200 ; saline matter, 0-791 ; water, 

 73-900. 



Co-vperaiionm 



CREAMERIES IN IRELAND. 



' HE following is extracted from the 

 i Farm column in the Manchester 

 Examiner " : — 



The progress of agricultural organisa- 

 tion in Ireland is surprising. At the end 

 of last year there were no fewer than 477 

 societies, with a membership of 46,000, or 

 nearly 100 per society. These included 

 236 cieameries, with 26,000 members, 

 representing in this one branch alone a 

 paid-up share capital of £74,000, build- 

 ings and plant worth £129,000, and butter 

 sales of more than £700,000. There are 

 also 106 agricultural societies which did a 

 business in the year of £74 000, 21 poultry 

 societies which traded to the extent of 

 nearly £9,500, 76 agricultural banks, to 

 the membsrs of which over £7,000 was 

 lent, and 38 other societies with a trade of 

 £221,000. The income of the Irish Agri- 

 cultural Organisation Society for the year 

 ending December appears to be about 

 £4,440, of which £1,930 was absorbed in 

 salaries, £1,500 in subsistence allowance 

 to officers travelling, and the balance to 

 rent, printing, posiage, and incidentals. 

 Dealing flrst with the dairy societies, it 

 m:iy be mentioned that in 1899 29| 

 million gallons of milk were supplied, one 

 cieamery — that of Lombardstown, in 

 Cork- dealing with 656,000 gallons. A 

 number of others came close upon it, and 

 the butter produced was just below 12 

 million pounde, the average produce per 

 gallon of milk b3ing 6 62 oz. ; so that one 

 pound of butter was product d per 2-4 

 gallone of milk. The average price paid 



per gallon was 3-9d., and the average 

 price for butter 10-9d., the cost of produc- 

 ing each pound of butter working out at 

 1- 47d. And here a remark may be made 

 showing the dift'erence in the cost of pro- 

 duction in the different creameries. In 

 one creamery the cost per lb. was 3-37d. 

 — no doubt owing to the small quantity 

 of butter pioduced during only a portion 

 of the year. The lowest cost was in one 

 of the largest creameries, where over half 

 a million gallons of milk was handled. 

 Here the cost was 0-73 )., or less than |d. 

 a pound. Curiously, however, the cream- 

 ery dealiug with the largest quantity of 

 milk manufactured at a higher rate — 

 l-12d. per pound. We now come to the 

 last year, for the report includes practi- 

 cally two years. In 1900 171 creameries 

 handled 35^ million gallons of milk and 

 produced 13^ million pounds of butter, 

 one gallon produciug on the average 

 6-u9 oz. ; in other words, 1 lb. of butter 

 was produced from 2-42 gallons of milk. 

 The average price paid for the milk was 

 3-84d. per gallon, and for the butter 

 10-84d. per pound. The highest charge 

 for producing a pound of butter upon the 

 average (although figures are not provided 

 in all cases) was 2-83d. to the pound, 

 while the lowest was 0-61d. Again, the 

 quantity of milk handled does not appear 

 to govern the cost of production, for the 

 cheapest work was done with 120,000 

 gallons, whereas much larger quantities 

 of milk were handled by creameries where 

 the cost was much higher, so that there ia 



