248 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



July 30, 1904. 



EDITORIAL NOTICES. 



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 as all specimens for naming, should be addressed 

 to the Commissioner, Imperial Department of 

 Agriculture, Barbados. 



All applications for copies of the 'Agricul- 

 tural News' should be addressed to the Agents, 

 and not to the Department. A complete list of 

 the London and Local agents will be found at 

 foot of page 223 of this volume. 



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 number, post free ll^d. Annual subscription 

 payable to Agents 2s. 2d. Post free, 3s. 3d. 



glDnculturiil Ueiuji 



Vol. IIL SATURDAY, -JULY SO, V.^n. X. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. y^.'?^'/uM_voi. v, no. 2). 



Botanic Station Reports. 



The first of the annual reports on tlie West 

 Indian Botanic Stations, Agricultural Schools-', etc., for 

 the year ended ^Man'h 'A\, 1!)04, viz, that for Dominica, 

 has been published and is being distributed by this 

 mail. 



It is e-xpected that the reports for St, Lucia and 

 Montserrat, which are now in the jirinters' hands, will 

 be ready for distribution by ne.xt mail. 



The rej)ort foi' St. ^'incent is also in the jiress, 

 and will shoitly be published. 



The Onion Industry. 



In this issue of the A<ir(<altand Ncn-'f we 

 publish several short articles on the onion industry in 

 the West Indies. 



A very brief account of a bacterial disease, which 

 caused considerable damage to onions in Barbados last 

 season, is given on p. 24.5. A full account of this 

 disease, methods of prevention, etc., has been prepared 

 and will appear in the ne.xt issue of the lIV.x/ Ivdian 



Contents of Present Issue. 



A brief summary of Sir Daniel Jlorris' lecture to 

 the members of the West India Committee on the 

 ' Agricultural Industries of the West Indies ' will be 

 found on ]i. 241. 



Under the heading ' Sugar Industry ' are notes on 

 manurial e.xperiments, on the cane-farming industry in 

 Nevis, and a statement of the condition of the industry 

 in the neighbouring island of Porto Rico during 1908. 

 Special reference is made to the first year's operations 

 at the Guanica central flictory. 



Our 'Cotton Notes' contain a report on .samples 

 of cotton from St. Lucia and an announcement, relative 

 to the shipment of cotton from these islan<ls, made in 

 the llV.s^ India Committee Circular. 



Mr. Barclay's rabbit notes are continued on ]). 246. 

 The subject of this instalment is the proper housing of 

 rabbits. 



In a former issue of the A(jricidta rat Xcicx we 

 stated we should publish extracts from one of the 

 ledgers kept by boys attending the Agricultural Schools. 

 These extracts will be found on p. 247. 



The short account of a successful school garden in 

 St. Lucia, given on ]). 2.51, is likely to be of interest. 

 On the same page we publish a note relating to an 

 agricultural apprenticeship scheme which is to be put 

 into operation in British Guiana. 



Short reviews on the recently issued annu.il 

 reports of the Botanic Stations at British Honduras 

 and Trinidad will be found on p. 2-53. On the same 

 page are interesting notes on onion cultivation and the 

 prospects of a West Indian trade. 



Further notes on onion cultivation will be found 

 on p. 2.53 : these include details as to yield, etc., of an 

 e.xperiment carried on in Jamaica, and an interesting 

 letter from British Guiana giving certa,iii hints that 

 should be valuable to growers and shippers who are 

 desirous of supplying British CJuiana. 



West Indian Fruit in London. 



We learn from the Wc-f Imlia Committee 

 Cirridar that a large silver medal was awarded to the 

 exhibit of West Indian fruit at the Horticultural 

 Exhibition held at the Bi)tanical Gardens from June ft 

 to 11. The arrangements of this exhibit were carried 

 out by the West India Comn)ittee. 



A large exhibit was sent by the Royal Mail Steam 

 Packet Company and comprised bananas, grape fruit, 

 limes, mangos, oranges, pine-apples, and sapodillas. 

 There were also exhibits of Antigua pine-apples, 

 Jamaica bananas and grape fruit, as well as a fine show 

 of fresh limes and lime products lent by Messrs. 

 L. Rose & Co., Ltd. 



In this connexion mention might also be made of 

 two crates of pine-apples from Dominica, which were 

 taken to England by the Imperial Commissioner of 

 Agriculture. These pines were grown at the Botanic 

 Station, Dominica, from suckers imported from Jamaica. 

 As will be seen from the following report, from Messrs. 

 George Monro, Ltd., of Covent Garden Market, t'lese 

 pine-apples arrived in excellent condition and fetched 

 good jtrices. 



The brokers' report was as follows : — 



' Your pines came to hand and are better in 

 ipialit}' and condition than any we have as yet received 

 from the West Indian Colonies. I enclose our sale and 

 think if they would be careful to send only selected 

 fruits, carefully packed to protect crowns as well as 

 fruits, and sent in ronl chamber, not frozen, there 

 might be a trade to be done.' 



From the account sales we learn that the sixteen 

 pines fetched .£3 is. 'id., an average of 'is. each. 



