442 



[December, 1912. 



(sulphate of lime) gives good results, as also on chocolate soils ; larger 

 amounts, however, should be used, from 10 cwt. to 2 tons, as its effects are 

 not so pronounced as those of the burnt lime. In all soils short of humus 

 gypsum is safer to use than burnt lime, not having the caustic properties 

 and consequently not destroying the vegetable matter to the same extent. 



CEARA RUBBER. 



The Financial Times of November 1, 1912, reports that at the second 

 ordinary general meeting of the shareholders of the Manihot Rubber 

 Plantations, Ltd. (East Africa), held on 31st October last, the Chairman 

 of the Company reoiarked that last year they had produced 20,653 lbs. 

 of rubber in a period of thirteen months, and this year they had produced 

 27,775 lbs. in the ten months under review. Last year they obtained for 

 their rubber, in round figures, 3s. 7d. per lb., this year 4*. 2d. per lb. The 

 yield for 382 acres planted and producing came outat72"7 lbs. of dry rubber 

 per acre. 



The same paper publishes the remarks made by Mr. Moreau, Chair- 

 man of the Brieh Rubber Estate, Ltd., from which we learn that the 

 profit and loss account discloses a profit of £9,500 14s. 7d. on a produc- 

 tion of 68,000 lbs. of rubber as against a profit for the previous year of 

 £2,886 17s. 4d. on a production 33,9l3 lbs. of rubber, which works out 

 roughly to having more than trebled the profit on doubling the out-turn. 

 The net price realised was lid. per lb. more than for the previous year, 

 whilst the cost per lb. was much less on the increased production. This 

 cost is now down to 2s. 2"34d. per lb. all in, and should become less as 

 production increases. This 2s. 2*34d. per lb. cost includes depreciation and 

 the whole Of the London charges and Directors' remuneration, in addi- 

 tion to the estate cost, freight, insurance, brokerage etc. 



A NEW ARTIFICIAL MANURE. 



Bl-PHOSPHATB. 



We draw the attention of our readers to the following account which 

 appears in the Queensland Agricultural Journal for October, 1912. The 

 Acting British Consul at Christiania (Norway) stated in May last that the 

 local newspapers published an account of a new kind of artificial manure 

 which had been produced under the name of " bi-phosphate," said to be a 

 by-product in the manufacture of nitrate of lime. On the 6th July the 

 " Agricultural News," Barbados, referred to this manure, a notice of 

 which appeared in that journal for 11th May, and quoted the " Board of 

 Trade Journal " for 2nd May, 1912, in which further information is given 

 concerning the manure : — 



A sample of this has been forwarded to England by the British Acting 

 Consul at Christiania, and it is stated that the product contains 26 per cent, 

 of phosphoric acid and 23'8 per cent, of nitrate of lime. Of the phosphoric 

 acid, 92 per cent, is in the citrate-soluble form, which means that this pro- 

 portion will dissolve in a standard solution of ammonium citrate. 



The further statement is made that the manure will be placed on the 

 market, in future, with considerably higher percentages of both phosp- 

 horic acid and nitrogen. 



It is expected that the price of the new manure will be low; its chief 

 use will be in the replacement of superphosphate and basic slag. 1c is 

 manufactured at the Notoddin Nitrate Works, Norway, 



