December, 1911.] 



507 



Plant Sanitation. 



Fortunately, at this juncture, in March, 

 1865, another strong; man, Sir Hercules 

 Robinson became Governor, a loosening 

 of the purse strings immediately follow- 

 ed, and, though the revenue continued to 

 increase (it topped the million pounds in 

 1869-70), expenditure kept pace with it. 

 indeed in 1869 (the year of Mr. Gibson's 

 retirement) the outgoings actually ex- 

 ceeded the incomings by nearly £50,000. 

 Unexpended balances of annual votes 

 for works were first re-voted in the 

 Legislative Council in 1864 ; and after 

 the question of military contribution 

 had been settled, the Secretary of State 

 granted permission in 1866 for the appro- 

 priation of surplus revenue on reproduc- 

 tive works without previous reference 

 Home. A forward policy followed in all 

 branches, and agriculture was happily 

 fated to share in the golden shower, but 

 an account of Sir H. Robinson's action 

 in regard to irrigation marks a new era 

 of developement, which will require a 

 chapter to itself. 



(To be continued,) 



SOYA BEAN TRADE. 



The Acting Commercial Attache at 

 the British Legation at Pekin reports as 

 follows to the Foreign Office :— The 

 extraordinary development of the ex- 

 port of the soya bean to Europe, which 

 began in the autumn of 1908, received 

 a decided check in 1910, the total ship- 

 ments of beans decreasing by no less 

 than 209,000 tons and bean cake 162,000 



tons. This falling off was due to various 

 causes— a short crop in 1909, high prices 

 in Manchuria and the Yangtze Valley, a 

 strong demand for bean cake for manur- 

 ing purposes in South China, and the 

 difficulties experienced by exporters in 

 Manchuria in obtaining deliveries un- 

 der their contracts. It should be noted 

 that the customs returns from which 

 the above figures are taken are for the 

 calendar year, whereas the Manchurian 

 bean season is reckoned from October to 

 October. 



The total export to Europe from 

 Manchurian ports and Vladivostock 

 during the season 1909-10 was actually 

 greater than that of the previous season, 

 Daluy and Vladivostock alone export- 

 ing 528,000 tons of beans as against 

 410,000 tons during the season 1908-09. 

 His Majesty's Consul at Harbin reports 

 that the 1910 crop was an excellent one, 

 probably 20 to 30 per cent, larger than 

 in 1909, and that the beans were a better 

 quality giving, according to experiments 

 made, a larger quantity of oil, 



The bulk of the export of the soya 

 bean from China still finds its way to 

 the United Kingdom, but the recent 

 decision of the Japanese customs 

 authorities to refund the import duty 

 on beans in the shape of a drawback on 

 bean cake and bean oil exported, and 

 the removal of the import duty on 

 bean in Germany will probably result 

 in largely increased shipments to those 

 countries. 



PLANT SANITATION. 



INSECTICIDES AND FUNGICIDES. 



Insecticides for Biting Insects. 



From a Bulletin entitled "Insects 

 injurious to Citrus fruits and methods 

 for combating them," published by the 

 Porto Rico Agricultural Experiment 

 Station, we extract the following which 

 will be useful locally :— 



Paris Green. 

 Paris green cannot be used as effect- 

 ively here as in the United States, on 

 account of the heavy tropical showers 

 which occur nearly every day during the 

 rainy season. In some of the drier parts 

 of the island this insecticide with air- 

 slaked lime can be used with good 

 results as a dust spray. 



Arsenate of Lead. 

 Arsenate of lead has been introduced, 

 and at the present time it is taking the 

 place of Paris green ; it is not readily 



washed off by the rains, and it can also 

 be used without any danger of burning 

 the foliage. The formula is as follows :— 



Arsenate of soda (50 per cent, 

 strength) ounces 4 



Acetate of lead ... „ 11 



Dissolve the arsenate of soda in 2 

 quarts of water and the acetate of lead 

 in 4 quarts of water, using wooden 

 vessels. Pour the solutions together 

 and add 10 to 50 gallons of water. The 

 white precipitate formed is arsenate 

 of lead, which remains in very fine 

 particles and is held in suspension much 

 longer than Paris green. It can also be 

 used with Bordeaux mixture or with 

 kerosene emulsion. 



Arsenite of Lime. 

 Formula for preparing white arsenite 

 of lime is as follows : — 



White arsenic ... ... pound 1 



Crystal sal soda ... ,, 4 

 Water gallon 1 



