September, 1912.] 



221 



undertaken in Java, and consequently no details or figures were available 

 for discussion. The expert from the Philippines is recorded to have 

 stated that there was to a certain extent antagonism between a copra and 

 a coir industry, since for the former ripe nuts only could be used, while 

 for the latter the nuts must be unripe. While the statement is no doubt 

 broadly correct, one would scarcely venture to assert that it is observed 

 in practice ; in Ceylon, the manufacture of copra cannot be said to " ex- 

 clude " the manufacture of coir. 



Cotton. 



The last day of the Congress was devoted to a discussion of the ques- 

 tion whether an extension of the existing cotton cultivation of the Dutch 

 East Indies would pay. Up to the present, cotton has been grown only as 

 a native product in Palembang in Sumatra and Demak in North East 

 Java. The Government have appointed a special cotton expert to carry 

 out experiments and instruct the native cultivator, and are endeavouring 

 in this way, and by the distribution of seed, to improve the cultivation. 

 Very little European capital is available for this product. 



THE DIRECTOR OF ROTH AMS TED. 



The resignation of Dr. Hall is announced, and his successor is Dr. E. J. 

 Russell who has been associated with Rothamsted for some time, and 

 carried out investigations into soil fertility resulting in discoveries which 

 the Gardeners' Chronicle thinks are destined to become classic. Fertility 

 is now admitted to be dependent on complex biological factors, the 

 action of which is only now beginning to be comprehended. 



THE SAGO PALM. 



The neighbouring colony of British North Borneo exports some 

 pl20,000 worth of Sago annually. 



The Agusan Valley of Mindanao could undoubtedly export several 

 times this amount from the vast swamps filled with the same species 

 of sago palm which extend across the Sulu Archipelago into Borneo, 

 and eastward to New Guinea. There is no doubt that some day these 

 swamps will be the scene of great activity in the way of starch, sugar, 

 and alcohol manufacture. 



Sago flour, when properly prepared, is an excellent food and by 

 fermenting alcohol can, of course, be made. Fortunately, the sago 

 palm produces itself from suckers as soon as the old plant is felled ; 

 but unfortunately perhaps for the palm-sugar maker, it is a palm which 

 dies at the time of flowering, like the cabo negro and buri. 



Properly managed, a sago swamp would be continuously productive 

 without replanting or cultivation of any kind ; that is, the growing 

 palms should be allowed to stand at proper distances and all unnecessary 

 suckers and useless intermediate trunks should be removed, allowing 

 one or two suckers to grow from the base of each trunk as soon as it is 

 ready for cutting. In fact, the sago may some day rival the nipa as 

 a profitable palm crop, though it will never compare with the coconut, 

 — Philippine Agricultural Ilevieio, 



