180 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



Francis E Lloyd, Eeq., recently resigned from 

 the Alabama Polytechnic Institute to take the 

 position of Mac Donald Professor of Botany, 

 MeGill University, Montreal, Canada, will read 

 a paper upon "Some Effects of Acclimatization 

 Upon Gu*yule " 



Dr. L E Weber, of Boston, will read a paper 

 on s >me irupi rtant subjects in connection with 

 rubber chemistry. 



As invitations have only recent'y been issued, 

 it is impossible to 6ay the exact number of 

 papers that will be read and tbeirsubjects, butin 

 our next issue we he pe to be able to give a full list. 



It is expected that about 3u0 delegates from 

 different countries will visit New Yoik to take 

 part in the Exhibition and Conference. 



Dr. D G Boeor, Secretary of the Hungarian 

 Association of Chemical Industry, will beinNew 

 York, and has indicated his intention of taking 

 part in the Conference. 



Dr. Huber, of Para, the great rubber expert 

 of Brazil, has intimated his intention of being 

 present on behalf of the Government and will 

 attend the Conference, —India, Rubber World, 

 July 1. 



A NEW RICE-REAPING MACHINE. 



It is reported that a new rice- reaping machine 

 has given highly satisfactory results in Italy and 

 was awarded a pn'ze of 5,U00 lire in the interna- 

 tional competition for rice-reaping machines 

 promoted by the Farmers' Association of Ver- 

 ctlli. It consists essentially of a reaping mech- 

 anism driven by a small gasoline engine and 

 mounted on a large woodtn wheel and on a 

 hollow cast iron skid. This skid is placed as far 

 below the centre of gravity of the machine as 

 possible, aud also is made ingeniously to serve as 

 a reservoir for water for cooling the motor, and 

 further, by the fact that it is partly filled with 

 water, to add an important gravity action. The 

 lower surface of the skid is placed two or three 

 inches above the lower rim of the wheel. In this 

 wise, any tendenoy of the wheel to sink in soft 

 earth is chicked. One of the most important 

 functions of the skid is due to the fact that it is 

 partly filled with water. When a hillock, hum- 

 mock, or furrow is to be crossed and the forward 

 part of the skid rises, the water runs toward the 

 back of the skid. By the same token the water 

 runs forward when the forward part of the skid 

 is depressed after a hillock is passed and adds a 

 useful downward impetus t > the machine. The 

 reaper has amply demonstrated, it is stated, its 

 ability to reap over 7£ acres of rice in ten hours. 

 —Indian Trade Journal, July 25. 



AGRICULTURE IN CHINA. 



MODEL FARMS AND OTHER 

 EXPERIMENTS. 



Now that tbe Chinese g>ant is fairly awake, 

 and shaking off his lethargy of ages past, the 

 w^rld may look forward to some rare develop- 

 ments within the vast domain of tbe new Re- 

 public, under the administration of Ynan-Shi- 

 Kai. The Peking Dniti, News regrets to learn of 

 proposals by tbe Board or Agriculture to turn 

 the "Temple of Heaven" into a model farm, 

 the "Temple of Agriculture" into an experi- 

 mental forestry station, and the "Temple of 

 Earth " into a horse breeding establishment. 

 This feeling, however, is not shared by themaj- 

 oriry pf people, who are anxious that China 

 should shake off the antiquated methods that 

 have maiked her slow progress in the past con- 

 cerning agricultural developments. Any idea 

 of improved methods will be welcomed by the 

 thousands who are steeped in poverty for want 

 of means by which to make even a scant living. 

 The absence of scientific cultivation, and the im- 

 poverishment of the soil, has been largely due 

 to the tact that l he original forests have been 

 destroyed. The South i.hina Pott calls attention 

 to the pitifully small fields of China, which 

 barely fee I her m llions, but at an expense— in 

 labour and disease — that no other country pays. 

 Experimental stations would work wonders iu 

 that country, as it would not be long until the 

 great expanses cf land which now lie fallow, 

 would be turned into waving fields of grain, aud 

 gardens of as fine vegetables as can be produced 

 anywhere in the world. It is estimated by a 

 British agriculturist, who recently made scien- 

 tific investigations of the soil in China, that 

 it contains all the properties for the propa- 

 gation of not only wheat, but almost every 

 cereal in the world, and the climate is said to 

 be ideal for agiicultural development. 



Already a number of agriculturists are in 

 China, making experiments in plan ing, with a 

 view of establishing a number of large grain 

 farms, and working with them, are the Gov- 

 ernment Agents, who in many cases are Bri- 

 tishers, Araericans and Australians. The new 

 Republic has recently made over 100 European 

 appointments in the different departments, and 

 it is understood Dr. Suu-Yat-Sen's policy to 

 "learu all that the white man knows and more" 

 will be carried out with elaborate details. The 

 great curse of China's development has been 

 that when droughts and disease visited the 



