164 



[August, 1912. 



With respect to matters that are of 

 more isolated importance it was found 

 that the 



USEFULNESS OP LIME IN GROWING 

 MUSTARD 



is dependent on other factors s in addi- 

 tion to the nutritive value of that sub- 

 stance. Again, the observation was 

 made that the lime content of grain is 

 much smaller than that of straw, there 

 is more magnesia than lime in the former 

 while the opposite condition obtains in 

 regard to straw. Further, the compo- 

 sition of straw is more susceptible to 

 changes in the amounts of lime and 

 magnesia than is that of grain. 



When the manures applied were 

 rich in magnesia and poor in lime, the 

 lime content of the crop was lowered, 

 while there was an increase in its con- 

 tent of magnesia and phosphoric acid. 

 In determining the exact relation of lime 

 and magnesia in the soil, the varying 

 solubility and absorption of the manures 

 supplying them must be considered. 



A last matter of more general interest 

 is that, as with the higher plants, no 

 distinct proportion of lime to magnesia, 

 which was particularly favourable to 

 development in the case of bacteria, was 

 found. 



RUBBER IN BRAZIL. 



Extension of the Area under 

 Plantation Rubber. 

 The new railway which Brazil is con- 

 structing around the falls of the Madeira 

 and Mamoie Rivers will open up an 

 immense new field to the rubber collec- 

 tors, the Philippine Agricultural Revieto 

 tells us. This new road enters the 

 " buffer state " of Acre, which was for 

 some time a disputed territory between 

 Bolivia and Brazil. It will probably be 

 open for traffic by the middle of 1912, 

 and it is expected that it will not only 

 increase Brazil's output of wild rubber 

 by some 20 or 30 per cent., but will also 

 give the rubber district of Bolivia a new 

 direct outlet by rail instead of over the 

 extremely dangerous rapids of the afore° 

 said rivers as heretofore, This will, of 



course, be a strong factor in the gradual 

 if not rapid reduction of the price to the 

 problematical 



" ROCK BOTTOM RATE OF 2S. PER LB," 



Meanwhile the encouragement held out 

 by the Government for the planting of 

 rubber in the State of Para has already 

 resulted in the setting out of many 

 thousands of Para trees. During the 

 next four years it is estimated that some 

 six million trees will be in evidence in 

 modern plantations.— Tropical Lije. 



CACAO CULTIVATION, NO. XXVII. 



The Question of Tillage on Cacao 

 Estates. 



In the book on "Coconut Cultivation," 

 to be issued by our publishing depart- 

 ment, special attention has been devot- 

 ed to the necessity of cultivating the 

 land between the trees for the benefit 

 of the crop. Many of the older gener- 

 ation of coconut planters, partly per- 

 haps because they have planted their 

 trees close together, have been against 

 this tillage between the palms, claiming 

 that its adoption did more harm than 

 good ; modern ideas, however, point the 

 other way. 



If, however, the passing generation 

 was against cultivating the land, and 

 possibly 



DISTURBING THE ROOTS BETWEEN 

 coconut palms, the prejudice that has 

 always existed, and still exists, against 

 doing so between cacao trees is many 

 times stronger, In spite of this those 

 who have seen and studied the dis- 

 cussions published in the December (1911) 

 issue of the Proceedings of the Trinidad 

 Agricultural Society will realise how 

 important and useful a certain degree 

 of cultivation between cacao trees is, if 

 the trees are to keep their leaves and 

 pods during periods of drought. The 

 principles of dry farming, with which we 

 dealt last month, so far as the conserva- 

 tion of moisture in the soil is concerned, 

 need to be practised just as much on a 

 cacao estate when drought is about and 

 the trees are suffering from lack of 



