On the whole, 76 Java 234 is, of all the varieties tested, the one most to be recommended. In three analyses of this cane the percentage of saccharose ranged between 11.75 and 15, the purity between 83.33 and 89.82, and the industrial value from 9.79 to 13.47.

515 – The Extraction and Use of Kukui Oil, WILCOX, E. V. and THOMPSON, ALICE R.: Hawaii Agricultural Experiment Station, Honolulu, Press Bulletin No. 39, pp. 8. Feb. ruary 8, 1913.

Kukui (Aleurites triloba or A. moluccana), is generally distributed throughout Polynesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Society Islar ds, India, Java, Australia, Ceylon, Bengal, Assam, China, Tahiti and Hawaii. introduced into the West Indies, Brazil, Florida and elsewhere. In Hawaii kukui is common on all the islands, being the domirant native tree of the lower mountain zone. The oil expressed from the kernel of the nut is a drying oil and dries more quickly than any other known oil. It is suitable for use in the manufacture of soft-soap, oil-varnishes, paints, linoleum, etc., for burring, and as as a wood-preservative; it is used medicinally as a plaster and as an article of diet.

At one time the exportation of kukui oil from Hawaii amounted to as much as 8 000 to 10 000 gals. per year; the greatest production occurred from 1840 to 1850; at that date the oil was valued at 50 cents per gallon.

The total area of kukui in Hawaii is estimated at from 10 000 to 40 000 acres; 15 000 acres may probably be assumed as a safe estimate. At the rate of 80 trees per acre and 200 lbs. of nuts per tree, there would be a yield of 8 tons of nuts per acre. A conservative estimate would be 5 tons of nuts. If we assume that not more than 10 000 acres of the area of kukui are readily accessible, the yield would be 50 000 tons, which would produce 2 375 000 gallons of oil.

According to laboratory experiments of the writer it would require 210 tons of nuts to produce 10 000 gals. of oil weighing 7.36 lbs. per gallon.

The kukui is practically free from serious insect pests or fungous diseases, and bears an annual crop of nuts without fail. From the writer's experiments it appears easy for a man, woman or child to pick up 500 lbs. of nuts per day. At 30 cents per 100 lbs., the labourer would receive $ 1.50 for a day's work. The kernel equals 30 per cent. of the weight of the nut; the average oil content is 65 per cent. of the kernel, or about 19.5 per cent. of the nut. In the Sunda Isles, where kukui oil is an important article of export, experiments have shown that 90 per cent. of the oil, equalling 17.5 per cent. of the weight of commercial methods through the use of presses. 17.5 lbs. of oil would be obtained, or a value of Only an extremely small percentage of the even after lying two years on the ground. water and may thus be easily separated from the sound ones.

the nuts, is obtained by From 100 lbs. of nuts $1.75 at 10 cents per lb. nuts spoil or turn rancid The spoiled nuts float in

OIL CROPS.

Kukui oil may be obtained by grinding the kernels and applying pressure with or withont previous roasting of the nuts.

Chemistry of kukui oil.

The press-cake is unusually rich in nitrogen (46 to 48 per cent. of protein), phosphoric acid (about 4 per cent. P2Os) and potash (1.5 to 2 per cent. K2 O). It therefore has a high value as a fertilizer, but it cannot be used as fodder as it has a poisonons effect upon stock.

516 – Canarium polyphyllum: a New Oil Fruit from German New Guinea. KRAUSE, M.: in Der Tropenpflanzer, Year 17, No. 3, pp. 147-150. Berlin, March 1913. Canarium polyphyllum (Burseraceae) is frequent all over New Guinea. In the islands of the Malay archipelago there are several species of Canarium from which is obtained the oil known in trade as « Kanariaöl », « Javamandelöl», «Huile de Canaria », « Java almond oil, and Jungle badam» (Hindostan).

In size and shape the fruit of C. polyphyllum resembles a walnut. The writer extracted, by means of ether, the fat from fruits received from German New Guinea, and obtained the following results:

Feeding experiments have shown that neither the kernels nor the press-cake of C. polyphyllum contain injurious substances; and the fruit is eaten by the natives of New Guinea. The press-cake is rich in proteins and is thus a concentrated food. The fat has no unpleasant flavour and can be used for the preparation of margarine and the like.

517 - Cuttings or Stumps for planting Hevea (1). — WEBER, A. J. C. Plançons contre Stumps. Bulletin de l'Association des Planteurs de Caoutchouc, Vol. V, No. 3, pp. 49-50. Antwerp, March 1913.

The writer discusses the advantages and disadvantages of the two methods of making Hevea plantations: by cuttings or by stumps. The first is the more costly, but M. Weber thinks it has so many advantages, that he prefers it to the stump method. He recommends the germinated seeds being planted in a nursery about 2 ft. by 2 ft. apart.

518 - Iquitos, and the Tributary Region. The Rubber District of the Amazon. Peru To-Day, Vol. IV, No. 10, pp. 537-546. Lima, January 1913.

The article under review is an abstract of a report of Mr. Stuart J. Fuller, American Consul at Iquitos, who has made a joint investigation of the Putumayo region with Mr. G. B Mitchell, the British Consul, and Mr. Carlos Rey de Castro, the Peruvian Consul at Manaos, Brazil.

Iquitos is the capital and principal town of the Department of Loreto, which includes most of Trans-Andean Peru and has an estimated total area of 288 500 square miles. The climate is warm and moist, the average temperature being from 80 to 880 F. Rains are frequent and abundant, aggregating 60 to 75 in. in a year. A vast region of tropical forests, traversed by the Caqueta (Yapura), Putumayo (Ica), Napo, Maranon, Tigre, Pastasa, Morona, Santiago, Javary, Ucayali, and Kuallaga river systems, all affluents of the Upper Amazon, is commercially tributary to Iquitos. As may be seen from the following table, almost the only product of the district is rubber; all supplies are imported.

Rubber: Fine

Exports from Iquitos in 1911.

RUBBER, GUM AND RESIN PLANTS

I 481 037 lbs.

Entrefine

Scrappy
Slab

Peruvian ball

I 472 892

Weak fine and tails

748 590

Hides

Vegetable ivory (« tagua »)

43 623 991,165

117 dozen

286 lbs.

The export of rubber for the first six months of 1912 reached a total of 2975 355 lbs., and that of vegetable ivory for the same period 1 430 460 lbs.

(1) See No. 1630, B. Dec. 1912.

(Ed.).

There are a large number of Phytelephas macrocarpa palms growing wild in the forests of the territory tributary to Iquitos. The trade in the nuts of this palm (vegetable ivory, also known as «tagua », « marfil végétal and corozo nut ») is developing. Trade in cinchona, salsaparilla and other drugs has entirely ceased. Valuable woods are to be found in the forests, but there is no trade in them owing to failure in transportation facilities. Experiments are being tried on a small scale in the cultivation of cotton, coffee and cacao, but these are as yet of no commercial importance.

The rubber produced in the district of Iquitos is classified as « jebe » and « caucho ». « Jebe » is divided into lowland fine (smoked), entre fine (smoked), scrappy (not smoked), and highland -weak fine (smoked), and weak scrappy (not smoked). « Jebe » is obtained from Hevea braziliensis, trees which grow close enough together to enable the worker to handle a group of one hundred trees, called an «estrada» (walk) a day, visiting and tapping them. One man can manage two «estradas» on alternate days. The quality of the jebe varies according to soil and method of preparation. If grown on land high enough not to be flooded, it is weak, though it may be fine i. e., it has a fine texture but breaks at a lower strain than that grown on periodically submerged land, which is known as fine without the qualification of weak. Entre-fine is lowland rubber, but not so well prepared as the fine. Sernamby or scrappy is from milk which has coagulated without being smoked, and is more brittle.

« Caucho >> comes from Ficus elastica, which grows scattered and solitary in the forest, usually on the higher land and at some distance from the rivers. The tree is not tapped but is cut down, and the sap runs out to form a pool in a hollow in the ground or in a bowl or basin. Little caucho is left on the rivers to the northward of Iquitos. Ball, or «sernamby de caucho », is caucho that has been coagulated without any treatment, and then cut into strips and the strips wound into balls. Slab is caucho coagulated without smoking by a special process which involves mixing it with a kind of green liana, soap or other diluents.

From the Javary River district comes fine, weak fine, weak scrappy and ball rubber. The caucho is fairly well worked out there; the same applies in the Napo and Tigre, which were once great sources for ball, though a good deal of caucho is still available in the Ecuadorian reaches of the Napo. The rubber from the Putumayo district is called Putumayo tails ». It is prepared in a different way from that on the other rivers. Not much rubber comes in directly from the Marañon, but what is found there includes all the grades of caucho and the weak varieties of jebe.

The export duty on rubber is fixed at 8 per cent. ad valorem calculated on the selling price at Liverpool.

It is generally felt that the quality of Peruvian rubber is so good that it can hold its own against the production of other regions, parti

cularly cultivated rubber. The methods of extraction are fairly good, but there is room for improvement in the elimination of impurities.

All the Amazon rubber must be washed before it is used in the processes of manufacture, Peruvian fine losing 12 to 20 per cent. and scrappy 25 to 50 per cent. on account of their moisture content.

519

Tobacco in Great Britain and Ireland. ELLIS, R. British-grown Tobacco. The Journal of the Board of Agriculture, Vol. XIX, No. II, pp. 904-908. London, February 1913.

Tobacco growing in Ireland may be said to have passed its experimental stage; the commercial possibilities of the crop are proved, and though Irish tobacco is subject to the same excise duties as imported tobacco, the present growers are in receipt of a subsidy for a determinate period. The official returns show that 61 881 lbs. were produced in 1911, and the price obtained on the market was from 4d to 7d per lb.

In England, Scotland, and Wales, home-grown tobacco is subject to the same excise duty, but the Finance Act of 1910 provided for a rebate of one-third of the duty of 38 6d, i. e. Is 2d, per lb. upon 100 acres in England and Wales, and 50 acres in Scotland to be grown during the years 1911-12-13. In 1911 approximately 1000 lbs. of tobacco were grown and cured in Scotland, and 300 or 400 lbs. in different parts of England. During 1912 about 40 acres were under tobacco in Great Britain; taking an average yield of cured tobacco at 1 100 lbs. per acre, the estimated weight of the crop may be taken at 44 000 lbs.

This being the first English crop of any commercial importance, considerable interest is being evinced as to results; so far the crop appears to have come through well, and the quality shown in the final process of grading and rehandling preparatory to packing, seems to be of a satisfactory order. The tobacco is still in the growers' hands, and so far but little has been sold excepting the Welsh crop, which has been disposed of at a satisfactory figure.

520

The Data obtained in 1911 respecting the Use of the Products of Crosses of Heavy-Leaved Species of Tobacco Resistant to Thielavia basicola. – ARIELLI-DONNARUMMA. Ministero delle Finanze, Direzione Generale delle Privative, Bollettino tecnico della Coltivazione dei tabacchi pubblicato per cura del R. Istituto Sperimentale in Scafati (Salerno), Year XI, No. 6, p. 286 + 1 table. Scafati, 1912. This is a general review of the industrial results obtained by culti vating coarse-leaved hybrid tobaccos resistant to Thielavia basicola. Some of these crosses unite agricultural and industrial advantages, which make them preferable to the Kentucky variety. The "Agenzia dei Tabacchi" is going to institute the cultivation, on a large industrial scale, of Italia X Kentucky and Salento X Kentucky.

VARIOUS

CROPS