September, 1910.] 



201 



Oils and Fats. 



Substance. 



Cinnamic aldehyde 

 (1) B.D.H. . . 



„ (2) 



Eugenol (.1) B.D.H. 



(2) P, 



(3) S. 



Pinene S. 



Phellandrene. S. 



R. I. 



1-6168 (25°) 

 1-6137(25°) 



1-5370(25°) 

 1-5400 

 1-5439 

 1-4655 (21*) 

 1-486 (19°) 



Sp. G. 

 15" 



1-063 

 1-057 



1-069 

 1-070 

 1-072 

 0-858 

 0-8558 



Remarks. 



Entirely absorbed by neu- 

 tral sulphite process. 



98% absorbed by neutral 

 sulphite process. Brown 

 with Pe Ck 



FIBRES. 



SISAL AND SOIL, &c. 



(From the Journal of the Board of 

 Agriculture, British Guiana, III. 



January 3rd, 1910.) 

 We would draw attention to a note in 

 the Agricultural Journal of India for 

 October, 1909, regarding the cultivation 

 of fibre plants, and especially to the re- 

 marks concerning the soil most suitable 

 for Agave, which confirm in a striking 

 manner the experience of, and the 

 advice given by, the Department of 

 Science and Agriculture in this Colony. 

 It used to be thought that Agave would 

 grow and thrive on any soil and under 

 any conditions of climate. In fact, it 

 was said that the worse the soil, the 

 better the sisal, and enterprises have 

 been started on the theory that Agave 

 rigida var. sisalana would thrive on 

 ground which was too poor to support 

 any other kind of cultivation. Ex- 

 perience, however, has conclusively prov- 

 ed that the Agaves require good land 

 for rapid growth, and that for the latter 

 a fairly heavy rainfall is required. 

 Sisal hemp yields the largest and 

 quickest returns under careful cultiva- 

 tion on good land on a moist soil. 



Cultivation op Rubber Estates in 



the North- West District. 

 A report recently forwarded by the 

 Instructor in charge of the Experimental 

 Rubber Station in the North- Western 

 District emphasises that the work of 

 cutlassing down weeds and young under- 

 growth has been entirely suspended or 

 has been most unsatisfactorily carried 

 out on some of the rubber estates in 

 that district. Some of the fields have 

 been neglected for a considerable time, 

 and the rubber may almost be said to be 

 26 



in " bush." It is hoped that the prac- 

 tice of allowing weeds to grow and cut- 

 lassing them down every three or four 

 months as advocated in this Journal 

 from time to time has not been construed 

 to mean that rubber should be grown in 

 bush. All undergrowth in rubber culti- 

 vations should always be vigorously 

 kept down, and all grass should be cut- 

 lassed every three or four months. The 

 best results cannot be expected if the 

 trees are allowed to become covered 

 with vines or smothered with bush, and 

 once these are allowed to overrun 

 a plantation, diseases, both insect and 

 fungus, are most likely to become pre- 

 valent. It is of the utmost importance 

 that cutlassing of weeds and grass 

 should be done at intervals of not more 

 than six months apart, and that bush 

 should be kept down ahvays. No bush 

 should be allowed to reach more than 

 three to four feet in height at any time 

 otherwise the growth of the rubber is 

 likely to be retarded and the time before 

 tapping can be commenced prolonged. 

 The aim of eve-y rubber estate must be 

 to bring a fair area of evenly grown 

 healthy trees to a stage when tapping 

 must be commenced in the shortest pos- 

 sible time and in the most economical 

 manner- Economy must never be the 

 excuse for neglect, or otherwise it may 

 soon be found by the cultivator that 

 neglect is only false economy, as in- 

 creased work has to be done at a later 

 date and the returns will be poor. The 

 work on a rubber estate must be as 

 regular as for any other cultivation, 

 and it is to be regretted that estates 

 which were looking so flourishing this 

 time last year should of late havo been 

 somewhat neglected. It is pleasing to 

 note, however, that a few cultivators 



