The Philippine Agricultural Review Part 9

After repeated attempts the shield-budding experiments at the Lamao experiment station with the camia (Averrhoa Bilimbi) and the santol (Sandoric.u.m koetj.a.pe) have been successful, and it has also been found that the barobo (Diplodiscus paniculatus), a nut tree indigenous to the Philippines (Dillenia indica), and the sea grape (Coccoloba uvifera), may be propagated by means of shield budding. Detailed information relative to the budding of these plants will be published on the completion of the experiments.

Improvement of Tropical Fruits in the Philippines.

The average fruit is so poor that most foreigners never give any attention to the santol, and the fruit is a drug even in the native markets and enormous quant.i.ties annually rot on the ground. Few are aware that there are mutations among the santol trees the fruit of which in point of flavor vies with the best fruits in the Tropics, and that in this respect it is superior even to its celebrated relative, the lanzon (Lansium domestic.u.m), the greatest defects being the large seeds and the adherence of the flesh to the seeds. If the seed in these superior santols were abortive in the same proportion as those in the mangosteen, the now despised santol, with its translucent pulp, separable from the pericarp as that of the mangosteen, subacid, juicy and of a vinous, excellent flavor, would rapidly become one of the most popular fruits in the Tropics. Its thick, tough "rind"

should make the santol at least equal to the mangosteen as a shipper.

What is probably the first horticultural, as.e.xually propagated variety of the santol is now being established at the Lamao experiment station from buds obtained by Mr. F. Galang, a.s.sistant agricultural inspector, from a tree in Pampanga, the fruit of which is so highly prized locally that the fruit never retails below the relatively high price of 2 centavos apiece even when other santols are so plentiful as to be literally unsalable.

Mr. B. Malvar, a.s.sistant agricultural inspector, has obtained in Batangas budwood of a sweet-fruited camia which is also being propagated. This is the first mutation of this kind coming to the attention of the writer.

The collection of Philippine citrus fruits of economic value or of botanical interest has been in progress since in 1911, but no systematized selection work in the mandarin district has been attempted until December, 1914, when Mr. B. Malvar was detailed to visit the citrus region in Batangas. Mr. Malvar returned with sample fruits of some twenty odd trees, a number of which were found to be of very good quality. These are being propagated for future distribution. Mr. Malvar also found another "Tizon" (Citrus n.o.bilis var. papillaris) of excellent flavor and quality which has been added to the citrus collection at Lamao.

Petioled Vs. Nonpetioled Budwood.

The last three years' experiments in shield budding tropical fruits which have been conducted by the writer at the Lamao experiment station indicate that for practical purposes in propagation work the tropical fruits may be divided into two groups: (1) Those species the budwood of which may be cut at the time of budding and the petioles cut off close to the bud--for instance, the citrus fruits, avocado, guava, and carambola; and (2) those species in which decay enters the bud from the adhering remnant of the petiole so frequently as to make impracticable budding from newly cut budwood from twigs with the leaves still adhering, such as the mango, hevi, and cacao. It has been found, however, that this trouble may be easily overcome by the simple method of cutting off the leaf blade about three weeks in advance of when the budding is to be done so as to induce the formation of a leaf scar. Then when the petioles have dropped and a well-healed scar has formed, the budwood may be cut and the buds inserted and tied as in ordinary shield budding.

In the case of some species, whether or not the bud is of the same age as the stock at the point of insertion is of little or no practical importance, but in other species this condition is one of the requirements for success. Therefore, two chances of failure are insured against in experimental work with species that hitherto have not been budded--(a) by defoliating the budwood previously to the budding operation, and using what may be termed nonpetioled or scarred budwood; and (b) by inserting the buds at a point in the stock which approximately is of the same age and appearance as the budwood.

NOTES BY CLEVE. W. HINES, M. S., Station Superintendent.

A New Sugar Industry.

The beginning of a tropical industry in what would be considered a semitropical climate was noted in 1914, when the Southwestern Sugar Company of Arizona milled their first crop of sugar cane and made it into sugar. The factory had been used previously for the manufacture of beet sugar only. It is a singular coincidence to find a region where both cane and beets will thrive well and where sugar is made from both sources in the same factory, and the sugar world is looking forward with great interest to the results of this new venture.

The World's Sugar Supply.

The world's production of sugar amounts to nearly seventeen million tons, practically one half of which is derived from the beet root, the greater percentage of which is produced in Europe. Now that the ravages of war have devastated many of the better beet-sugar regions of Europe a greater demand will be made on the more fortunate sugar countries as soon as the present supply of storage sugar is exhausted and trade resumes its normal condition.

Progress in Sugar Manufacture.

The past few years have shown great progress in the method of sugar making. It used to be thought that a high grade of sugar could be made only by the use of the bone-black or animal-char process.

The beet-sugar producers were the first to diverge from this method and succeeded in making a perfectly satisfactory sugar in their factories in one continuous process by the aid of the carbonitation system.

Louisiana had been making a fairly good sugar known as yellow clarified for a number of years, but the great step in improvements along these lines was brought about by the acid-thin-juice process of Java. This was a combination of the carbonitation and sulphitation processes which gave a satisfactory sugar, though unfortunately the yield of resulting mola.s.ses was also quite high.

The latest improvement in this work was the introduction of the "Battille Process" which has certain similarities to the Steffens process of beet-sugar manufacture. This method has given an excellent grade of sugar and the maximum rendement since practically all of the sugar is extracted in crystalized form.

PUBLICATIONS OF THE BUREAU OF AGRICULTURE.

Subscription rates for The Philippine Agricultural Review are as follows: In the Philippine Islands and the United States P2 ($1 United States currency) per year; in foreign countries in the Postal Union P4 ($2 United States currency) per year. A limited number of the following-named bulletins are available for free distribution. All communications should be addressed to the Director of Agriculture, Manila, P. I.

BULLETINS.

No. 7. The Garden. (Spanish.) (62 pp., 9 ill.)

No. 12. Abaca (Manila Hemp). (Revised.) (English and Spanish.) (40 pp., 11 ill.)

No. 13. The Cultivation of Maguey in the Philippine Islands. (Spanish.) (26 pp., 9 ill.)

No. 14. The Cultivation of Sesamum in the Philippine Islands. (Spanish.) (8 pp.)

No. 16. Cultivation of Tobacco in the Philippines (Spanish, English, Ilocano, and Ibanag.) (24 pp., 6 ill.)

No. 17. Coconut Culture. (Spanish.) (20 pp., 4 ill.)

No. 18. The Mango. (English.) (60 pp., 9 ill.) (Out of print.)

No. 19. Tests of the Efficiency of Antirinderpest Serum. (English.) (110 pp., 187 Charts and Diagrams.)

No. 20. Notes on the Muscular Changes Brought about by Intermuscular Injection of Calves with the Virus of Contagious Pleuropneumonia (English.) (18 pp., 4 ill.)

No. 21. A Study of the Normal Blood of Carabao. (English) (12 pp.)

No. 24. The Role of Stomoxys calcitrans in the Transmission of Trypanosoma evansi. (English.) (51 pp., 5. ill.)

No. 25. The Philippine Coconut Industry. (English.) (67 pp., 21 ill.)

No. 26. The Kapok Industry. (English.) (41 pp., 11 ill.)

No. 27. Citriculture in the Philippines. (English.) (60 pp., 43 ill.)

No. 28. The Mechanical Transmission of Surra by Taba.n.u.s striatus. (11 pp.)