Vol. in. No. 47. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



43 



THE! BOTANIC STATION AT ST. VINCENT. 



We take the following extracts from an account 

 of the Botanic Station at St. Vincent by the Foreman, 

 Mr. J. B. Dopwell :— 



In one of the licli, well-slieltered valleys of St. Vincent, 

 at an elevation of 203 feet above the sea-level, and about 

 .', mile north of Kingstown, will be found the Botanic Station. 

 Here was formerly situated the old garden said to have been 

 the first institution of its kind in the West Indies. The 

 following historical e.ytract is taken from the Rev. Lansdown 

 Guilding's account of the Botanic Gardens, St. Vincent, 

 (176.5-182.5):— 



This garden seems to uwe its origin to certain advertise- 

 ments in the TnaitKirfioiis of fhc Sociiiii of Artu for 17C2 and 

 the four following years, otiering rewards to any one who should 

 cultivate a spot in tlie West Indies in which j)lants, useful in 

 medicine and prutitable as articles of conniierce, miglit be 

 propagated, and where nurseries oi the valuable productions of 

 Asia and other distant parts might be formed for the benefit of 

 His Majesty's colonies. 



General Melville, who was then Chief Governor of the 

 Windward Islands, with a laudable and patriotic zeal resolved 

 to couunence the task, and in 1765 gave and cleared at his own 

 expense 20 acres of land in the most favcjurable situation he 

 could tind 



So great was the interest taken in this garden, which 

 promised to be a source of much profit to the colonies and of 

 commerce to the mother country, that His Majesty was pleased 

 in 1700 to send a ship to the South Seas to procure for it the 

 bread-fruit {Art<ii-<irpi(s /iii/.wi) and every other valuable tree 

 that could be f)btained. The lamentable termination of this 

 tirst voyage is known to every one. Not discoui-aged by the fate 

 of the first, the King determined to tit out a second ship of 

 disct)very, and shortly afterwards Captain Bligh set sail in 

 the ' Providence '. . . In December 1792, Captain Bligh 

 touched at St. Helena on his return, and in January 1793, 

 attended by Captain Portlock of the ' Assistant ' brig, landed 

 the best portion of his valuable cargo, about 530 plants, on the 

 shores of St. Vincent 



The extent of the garden, which is of irregular figure, does 

 not exceed 39A acres. In May 1823, most of the valuable plants 

 at the St. Vincent Botanic Station were removed to the Trinidad 

 Gardens, after which time some of the best trees were either 

 stolen or disappeaied tlxrough neglect, as no responsible person 

 excei)t a labouring man was placed in cliarge of the grounds. 



After many years of neglect and decline, the Botanic 

 Station was re-established in May 1890 owing to the efforts 

 of Sir Walter Hely-Hutchinson, G.C.M.G., then Governor and 

 Commander-in-chief of the Windward Islands, now Governor 

 of Cape Colony. At this time Mr. Henry Powell, who has 

 recently left St. Vincent to take up an appointment at Mom- 

 bassa. East Africa, assumed the duties of the curatorship. 

 Then there were merely a few plants dotted here and there, 

 notably cinnamon, clove, nutmegs and bread-fruit, and though 

 .some of these ha\e been destroyed by hurricanes, others are 

 well preserved. 



Entering the Station by the southern entrance, one 

 comes to the circular drive. At the base of the central 

 Avenue, just above the circular ilrive, stand two fine 

 specimens of the toddy palm {Cari/ota urens). At this point 

 three walks meet, viz., the central avenue, the lovers' walk 

 and the walk leading to the western entrance. These walks 

 meet again at the rose garden and are again continued up to 

 the nurseries and on to Government House. 



The ground between the central avenue and the walk 

 on the left is chiefly under^ nutmeg cultivation. On the 

 other side are jilanted various rubber plants, coffee and 

 timber trees. Along both sides of the central avenue are 

 Jilanted Cari/ota palms at intervals of about 60 feet, with 

 a variety of other palms between. Then comes a plantation 

 of grafted mangos. This order of j)lanting continues for 

 about 120 yards and then terminates in a rose garden. 



About 30 yards from the rose garden is the Curator's 

 office, to the east of which lies the nursery where plants are 

 propagated for distribution to planters. 



THE MANUFACTURE OF PERFUMES. 



The following account of the manufacture of 

 perfumes and Mower essences in Grasse is taken from 

 the Journal of tli.e Society nf Aii>i o{ November 20, 

 1903:— 



The city of Grasse, the most important industrial place 

 of the Riviera, is widely known on account of its perfume 

 manufacture. At present thirty-five establishments making 

 essences of flowers are in operation there. The average 

 consumption of roses for that purpose is about 2,650,000 lb., 

 and that of orange flowers about 660,000 lb. per annum. 

 The annual sale of these essences amounts to about £200,000. 

 A'allauris has nine such factories. The most important 

 product of this industry is oil of neroli, made from the 

 flowers of the bitter orange A kilogramme (2'2 lb.) of 

 this oil is worth £12. From the peel of the bitter orange, 

 oil of orange is made. The peel of the sweet orange is 

 seldom used for making oil. The manufacture of essence of 

 roses is also very extensive. The so-called oil of roses is 

 manufactured from Andnqxigoti Sckoeiianthus. The flowers 

 of the large-floweretl jasmine yield the oil of jasmine. 

 One acre planted with jasmine is said to yield a yearly 

 product worth £250, but requires a good deal of work. 

 A pound of essence of violets is worth from 9*. to 

 10«'. Oil of geranium is produced from the flowers of 

 Pelargonium capltntum. The flowers of the tuberose, of the 

 jonquil, and of a species of narcissus are manufactured into 

 essences ; also the leaves of the citronella plant, the root of 

 the Iris florentina (violet root), the patchouli flowers, 

 sandalwood, etc. Fortunately for many places in the 

 Riviera, the consumption of these essences has not decreased 

 in late rears. 



DEPARTMENT NEWS. 



The Fish-curing Facti>ry, which is being established 

 at Barbados under the auspices of the Imperial 

 Department of Agriculture, was opened on Saturday-, 

 January 23, for inspection by a number of leading 

 merchants and others. The visitors were received by 

 Sir Daniel Morris, who addressed a few remarks giving 

 an account of the successive steps which had led to 

 the establishment of the factory. A considerable quan- 

 tity of cured fish had already been successfully exported 

 to British Guiana and Tiinidad, and forty barrels of 

 flying-fish, albacore, dolphin and sprats either pickled, 

 salted or dried, were now available for disposal at 

 reasonable prices. He mentioned that Barbados 

 imported every year salted and pickled fish to the value 

 of £47,000, and ventured to think that a portion of 

 this sum, at any rate, might be saved, and the island 

 greatly benefited. 



