Miscellaneous. 



156 



[February, 1910. 



and the demonstration of Mr. Hadi's 

 methods on sugar manufacture are being 

 continued, not only in the United 

 Provinces but also in the Punjab, where, 

 we notice, it is proposed to start an 

 enquiry as to the possibility of the in- 

 troduction of more efficient cane crush- 

 ing mills. In the Bombay Presidency 

 the cultivation of sugarcane is being 

 considered from almost every point of 

 view and satisfactory progress is being 

 made. In the Madras Presidency, 

 Mauritius sugarcane, introduced by the 

 Government Botanist, has almost ousted 

 the local canes in the Godavari delta, 

 and attention is now being mainly 

 devoted to the testing of new varieties 

 as well as to the introduction of the 

 Mauritius variety of cane into other 

 promising districts. In Bengal, the 

 Central Provinces and Eastern Bengal 

 and Assam the importance of the culti- 

 vation of good sugarcane is being borne 

 prominently in mind. It would, there- 

 fore, seem that this important question 

 has now been taken in haud in real 

 earnest ; and, although the day may be 

 distant when India will be able to 

 produce sufficient sugar to meet her own 

 wants, much less become an exporting 

 country, the steps now being taken by 

 the various Directors-General of Agri- 

 culture to popularise sugarcane crops 

 amongst the agriculturists are fairly 

 certain to produce excellent results. 



We do not propose to follow the Board 

 through the large programme that 

 engaged their attention. It will suffice 

 to say that almost every crop grown in 

 India came up in review before them. 

 But the appendix dealing with the 

 extension of the cultivation of fibre 

 plants in India seems to deserve special 

 mention. Here we are told that jute 

 has replaced rice to a certain extent and, 

 at first sight, this might be supposed to 

 account in some measure for the ruling 

 high price of that staple product. But 

 the writers of the appendix hasten to 

 add that the displacement of rice is more 

 than compensated by the increase in the 

 buying capacity of the country on the 

 return of the more profitable jute crop. 

 This fibre is now being cultivated more 

 or less extensively in Assam, Behar, 

 Madras, the Central Provinces and 

 Burma. As to Burma, it is believed that 

 the development of jute cultivation on a 

 commercial scale will depend on the 

 erection of a jute mill in Rangoon or 

 other convenient centre; but the cost 

 of labour in Burma, as compared with 

 India, may, it is thought, form a serious 

 commercial disadvantage. 



Attention is drawn to the fact that 

 Bombay hemp (Hibiscus cannabinus) 



would probably prove a profitable crop 

 in many parts of India, where the 

 climate is moist but not sufficiently so 

 for jute. This fibre requires much less 

 moisture than jute, and in this fact lies 

 the importance of the plant. It is 

 already cultivated in reveral provinces, 

 but there would appear to be ample 

 room for expansion at paying rates. 



Another useful fibre is sunn hemp 

 (Crotalaria juncea). This fibre does not 

 compete with jute, as does that of 

 Hibiscus cannabinus, but in market 

 value it is superior to both. It is best 

 grown in districts of moderate rainfall 

 and, therefore, does not compete with 

 rice. This crop is grown extensively in 

 most parts of India and also in Burma, 

 but not so much for its fibre as for its 

 value as a green manure. In the Central 

 Provinces the cultivation of this crop is 

 said to be so profitable that it has been 

 largely substituted for wheat, and the 

 area sown with it has nearly doubled 

 within the past few years. The culti- 

 vators say that the crop is a hardy one 

 and that it improves the condition of 

 the land. What is required to largely 

 iucrease the cultivation of this crop in 

 India is a cheap machine for extracting 

 the fibre, as in many places retting is too 

 costly. 



The coconut fibre industry is practi- 

 cally confined to the southern portions 

 of Bombay and Madras, where the culti- 

 vation of this palm is popular as it 

 supplies food as well as fibre. In Bengal 

 there are no large plantations. In parts 

 of Eastern Bengal and Assam the 

 coconut palm grows to perfection, and 

 the Board consider that there seems to 

 be no reason why this industry might 

 not be introduced with profit into that 

 Province. 



There are, say the Board, possibilities 

 of a useful industry in plantain fibre. 

 Plantains grow practically all over India, 

 and, besides, there are 124,000 acres under 

 plantains in Burma alone, but nothing is 

 done with the fibre although it can be 

 extracted with a simple hand machine. 



Tne appendix deals in detail with the 

 other commercial fibres met with in 

 India, but the prospects of those with 

 which we have already dealt seem to be 

 best worth immediate consideration. 



THE ECONOMIC VALUE OP A 

 SCHOOL OF TROPICAL MEDICINE. 



(From the Tropical Life, Vol. V,, No. 10, 

 October, 1909.) 



Malaria is the most important of the 

 tropical diseases, both directly, as it 

 causes serious loss of labour, and in- 



