NOTES AND ABSTEACTS. 



183 



economic importance. Under the name of secretion are included gums, 

 resins, caoutchouc, fats, oils, tannins, and pigments. 



Amongst the more important of the plants described may be men- 

 tioned: Elaeis guineensis, the oil palm; Ficus Vogelii, which yields a 

 rather impure caoutchouc; Moringa oleifem, from which is obtained a 

 valuable machine oil especially useful for clocks and watches ; a number 

 of Acacia-species, important for the gum they furnish; Indigofera 

 tmctoria, the indigo-plant ; Arachis hypogaea, the ground-nut, or earth- 

 almond; Jatropha curcas — yields an oil known as oleum Ricini majoris; 

 Eicinus communis, the castor-oil plant; Sterculia tragacantha, which 

 secretes a gum; Butyrospermum Parlcii — a' valuable fat known as 

 sheabutter is obtained from this plant ; and Landolphia — species which 

 furnish a caoutchouc used in the manufacture of india-rubber balls. 



R. B. 



Tomatos, Growing- for the Canning" Factory. By James 

 Troop, 0. G. Woodbury, J. G. Boyle {U.S.A. Agr. Exp. Stn. 

 Purdue, Bull. 144, 1910). — Tomatos grown as a field crop by the 

 general farmer for canning purposes are an important item of agricul- 

 ture in Indiana (about 30,000 acres annually), but as at present con- 

 ducted the operation is by no means always successful. Inferior 

 plants are set, poor seed is used, little care is exercised in studying the 

 soil and cultural requirements of the plant, and last, but not least, 

 thorough and constant cultivation is not practised. If the farmers 

 would plant smaller areas and use more intensive methods of culture, 

 they would find it pay. — G. H. L. 



Torenia atropurpurea {Bot. Mag. t. 8388).— Malay Primula. 

 Family, Scrophulariaceae ; tribe, Gratioleae. Herb, perennial. Stems 

 slender, branched and prostrate. Leaves ovate, f-l-| inch long. 

 Flowers, solitary; corolla, dark purple with long spur, 1| inch long; 

 mouth, J inch across. — G. H, 



Trade Relations between Canada and the West Indies 



(West Indian Bull. vol. xi. No. 2, 1911). — The essence of the con- 

 clusions reached by the Commission is that it is essential for the 

 prosperity and even the solvency of the West Indian islands that the 

 Canadian market should be available for their produce, and for this 

 purpose sufficient and effective steamship communication must be 

 maintained. 



Imperial assistance to the Department of Agriculture cannot be 

 withdrawn without rendering fruitless the efforts that this Department 

 has made towards the introduction of other industries besides that of 

 sugar production. 



Much the same conclusions are reached by the Imperial Gom- 

 j missioners of Agriculture for the West Indies on the development of a 

 i West Indian fruit trade. 



The subject is threefold: — 



(1) The production of fruit. 



(2) The circumstances of the market in which the fruit is sold. 



i 



