Vol. III. No. .51. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



107 



AGRICULTURAL SHOWS. 



Montserrat. 



As brieHy stated in the last issue of the Agri- 

 lialtand X<um, the fourth show under the auspices of 

 the Imperial Department of Agriculture was held at 

 the ]\Iarket on February 2-5. The folhjwing Report 

 lias been forwarded by the Honorary Secretary : — 



The number of exhibits was o20 against 585 of 

 the previous year. The falling off is due to fancy work 

 being excluded owing tn want of funds. The exhibits, 

 however, though fewer, were of better quality than was the 

 case in the previous show. C'lass II, cacao, \\as well 

 represented, as also Class VI, prepared meals. There were 

 many exhibits of fine onions and cotton lint. Stock was 

 better represented than at the last show. The follo\\ ing were 

 exhibited by the Imiierial Department of Agriculture : -A crate 

 of Chinese banana (Creole fig) packed in Barbados for shipment 

 to London, which created much interest, the cost of 

 package, etc., being given ; two hutches with Belgian hares ; 

 named varieties of yams, eddoes and tannias ; bee-keepers' 

 supplies, honey in various packages. The tools loaned by 

 the Imjierial Department of Agriculture wei'e again shown 

 and their uses explained to visitors. A supply of bee 

 literature was distributed ; a woman was employed on tlie 

 .show griiunds to scrape gingei-, and youths wei'e putting 

 together the parts of beehives throughout the day. The prizes 

 were distributed by the Conmiissioner and Mrs. AVatkins. 

 Sir ]3aniel Morris, in presenting the 4Diplomas of meiit, 

 congratulated the inhabitants on the success of the 

 show, touched on the cotton and ojiion industries and 

 encouraged those present to devote tneir energies to the 

 cultivation of the soil. The Diplomas ware as follows : — 



Mrs. Watkins, collection of jams and jellies ; James 

 Williams, bay oil ; C. Watson, sample ami bale of cotton ; 

 A. Dyer, collection of cacao, honey and bananas ; 8t. Mary's 

 School, exhibit of produce from school garden ; C. S. Aleade, 

 horse : ami (Jeorge Boston, cow. 



St. Vincent. 



A very successful Agricultural Show was held at 

 jSt. Vincent on March 10, under the auspices of the imperial 

 Department of Agricultui'C, the arrangements made by the 

 local committee being satisfactorily carried out. 



Among a large variety of exhibits, which were, on the 

 whole, of excellent quality, the vegetables occupied a 

 prominent i)lace. In this class there were twenty kinds of 

 vegetables exhibited and twenty-four prizes were awarded. 

 A pupil of the Agricultural School, E. Haynes, was specially 

 <Mingratulated for his exhibit. 



Cotton was well represented at the show, the prizes 

 being obtained by Mr. ,1. W. O. Hazell. There was also 

 ji good show of live-stock (horses, cattle, goats, sheep, pigs, 

 rabbits and poultry). 



As at the shows held in the other islands during the 

 last few weeks, an attracti\e feature of the show was the 

 exhibition by children of the elementary schools of growing 

 plants in pots. A first class Di[)loma was awarded to the 

 Kingstown Wesleyan School, which secured four prizes. 



After the distribution of the prizes, his Honour E. J. 

 Cameron, in a short speech, congratulated the prize winners 

 and spoke of the benefits of such shows in promoting the 

 advancement of agriculture. 'J'he Imperial Commissioner of 

 Agriculture then distributed the Diplomas of Merit as 

 follows : — 



The Hon. t!. .1. Simmons, carriage and saddle pony ; the 

 Hon. and Itevd. i. H. Darrell, section of comb honey : J. G. W. 

 Hazell, Sea Island cotton ; R Haynes, tomatos and school 

 garden ; .1. dePassos, wax : W. C. Hutchinson, native sheep ; 

 W. .Jackson, native spices : P; E. Huggins, vanilla pods. 



Sir Daniel Morris heartily congratulated the connuittee 

 in charge of the arrangements upon the satisfactory result 

 of their labours, and stated that such shows could not 

 fail to prove of great educational value and to advance the 

 interests of all classes of the comnuinity. Neither of the 

 staple industries, sugar and arrowroot, at current prices 

 could be depended upon to maintain the population, and it 

 was therefore necessary for the people to turn their attention 

 to other industries, such as cacao, cotton, spices, etc. 'J'he 

 Imperial Department of Agriculture had for nearly six years 

 been actively engaged in aftnrding assistance in regard to 

 those industries, and he rejoiced that the efforts of the 

 Department were being so generally ap[ireciatcd. 



JAMAICA: REPORT OX THE DEPARTMEXT 

 OF PURLIC dARDEXS AXD PLANTATIOXS AXD 

 JiOARD OF AGRICULTURE, J!M.'-J. 



In the report of the Director of Public Gardens and 

 Plantations an account is given of the work that has been 

 carried on in the various gardens, as well as of the general 

 work of the Department, including the distribution of plants, 

 etc. 



The report of the Board of Agriculture deals with ( 1 ) 

 the work of the Board, (2) Agricultural experiment work, 

 and (.3) Agricultural educational work. 



'The Board directed the experiments in progress at the 

 Hope Experiment Station, and the local agricultural 

 exiteriments. It considered and advised on the educational 

 work in agriculture for students at the government labora- 

 toi'y, and for elementa)'y si-lnjol teachers, training college 

 stiulents, apprentices and industrial school boys at Hope 

 Gardens.' A^arious other matters were dealt with, such as 

 the sugar industry, prison farm, proposals for a stock farm. 



The agricultural experiment wijrk at Hope consisted in 

 experunents with new varieties of different crops, the budding 

 and grafting of plants for distributi^m, cross-fertilization of 

 pine-apple.s, sugar-cane experiments, tobacco growing, cotton 

 growing, etc. 



Local maiuirial exiieriments were carried out by the 

 Chemist with pine apples, sugar-cane, liananas and coft'ee on 

 estates in different parts of the island. Reference has already 

 been made to these in the A<jricuhui-nl Xmvs (Vol. II, p. 'i'i). 



The educational work of the Board is dealt with under 

 the following heads : — {o) Lecturer of the Imi)erial 

 Department of Agriculture, (A) Elementary schools, (c) 

 Training at Hope Experiment Station, {il) Travelling Instruc- 

 tors, (() Training of Agricultural Students at Hope. 



It is ap|)arent that a large amount of useful work is 

 being accomplished by the Board of Agriculture in its various 

 branches, which should have a considerable etl'ect upon the 

 agricultural industries of the colony. 



