March, 1912.] 



201 



Edible Products. 



Chemist and Druggist. In order to re- 

 fresh the memories of our readers, it 

 may be recalled that the initiative of 

 the present Conference, following upon 

 that of Shanghai, was taken by the 

 United States, who, on September I, 

 1909, addressed a circular letter to the 

 Powers proposing legislation. Since 

 then the proposed inquiry has gradually 

 broadened as the result, of opinions ex- 

 pressed by Great Britain and others, 

 and, as already indicated, will include 

 the discussion of international measures 

 against the manufacture of and traffic 

 in morphine, cocaine, and Indian hemp 

 drugs. The American Government's 

 circular suggested fourteen proposals for 

 discussion. Some Powers, while gener- 

 ally accepting the proposals, reserved 

 the expression of their individual views 

 for the Conference ; others, including 

 Prance, China, and Great Britain, made 

 specific reservations in advance. When 

 the Conference resumed its sittings on 

 Monday, the Programme Committee de- 



cided to draft eight resolutions dealing 

 only with opium and following generally 

 the basis laid down by the Shanghai 

 Commission. It was agreed to omit six 

 of the fourteen subjects suggested for 

 discussion in the American Programme. 

 These include (1) the reciprocal right to 

 search vessels; (2), the establishment 

 hereafter of an internal commission ; (3), 

 a self-denying agreement by countries 

 at present not producing opium ; (4), the 

 examination of existing treaty oblig- 

 ations and international agreements re- 

 garding the opium traffic. The latter 

 resolve is the outcome of the British 

 Government's objection to discuss the 

 arrangements already made for the 

 progressive extinction of the Indo- 

 Chinese opium trade. In deference to 

 the views of the Portuguese delegates, 

 and in the interest of the Colony of 

 Macao, it was decided to treat boiled 

 opium as distinct from raw opium. 

 French has been agreed upon as the 

 official language, but some delegates 

 have no knowledge of French. 



EDIBLE 



TROPICAL FRUITS IN THE 

 VISAYAS. 



By P. J. Wester, 

 Horticulturist. 



(From the Philippine Agricultural 

 Revieiv,Voh IV., No. 10, October, 1011.) 



During the spring campaign against 

 rinderpest, the Philippines Coast Guard 

 cutter Luzon was placed at the disposal 

 of the Bureau of Agriculture for a trip 

 to the southern islands, the vessel being 

 scheduled to touch at several points 

 which are difficult of access by the 

 regular steamer lines. Recognizing 

 the unusual opportunity to get a horti- 

 cultural " bird's-eye-view" of the island 

 to the south of Luzon, the Director of 

 the Bureau instructed the writer to 

 accompany him during the part of the 

 trip, for the purpose of collecting data 

 on the status of fruit growing at the 

 points visited and to obtain some in- 

 formation relative to the comparative 

 richness of the pomologieal flora in these 

 islands. The object in this was to 

 enable the bureau to determine where 

 horticultural exploration work may be 

 prosecuted most profitably in this part 

 of the Archipelago in the future, and to 

 plan for such other work as would tend 

 to encourage a more general cultivation 

 of better varieties of fruits than are 



26 



now grown. The party consisted of Dr. 

 G. B. Nesom, Diiector of Agriculture; 

 Messrs. O. W. Barrett, Chief of the 

 Division of Experiment Stations; M. M. 

 Saleeby, Fibre Expert; D. B. Mackie, 

 Agricultural Inspector; C. V. Piper, 

 Agrostologist of the Bureau of Plant 

 Industry, United States Department of 

 Agriculture ; Mrs. Piper, and the writer- 

 The Luzon left Manila, April 15, and 

 arrived at Cebu the 17th, 



Short trips were made, by land, from 

 Cebu to Dano, Carmen, Argao, and 

 Carcar, from which place the other 

 members of the party proceeded across 

 Cebu to Barili to meet Doctor Nesom on 

 the Luzon. Returning from Barili to 

 Cebu to coal, stops were made at Bosac 

 and Bais, Oriental Negros. 



The itinerary from Cebu to Taeloban, 

 Leyte, included stops at Dapitan, 

 Zamboanga ; Croquieta and Misamis, 

 Misamis; Camp Overton, Zamboanga, 

 from which place a visit was made over- 

 land to Iligan ; Cagayan, and Mambajao, 

 Misamis ; Butuan and Cabadbaran, 

 Agusam ; and Surigao, Surigao, at which 

 points stops were made of longer or 

 shorter duration. An interesting day 

 was spent in Taeloban and vicinity, 

 after which the steamer proceeded to 

 Catbalogan, Samar, and to Pulupandan, 

 Occidental Negros, where the Luzon 

 was dismissed- Three days were con' 



