A FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW 



OF THE 



IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR THE WEST INDIES. 



Vol. III. No. 52. 



BARBADOS, APRIL 9, 190i. 



Pkice Id. 



CONTENTS. 



Agriculture, .Scientific 



Barbados Fruit Trade 

 British (Juiaiia, Trade 

 and Ai^riculture 



Page. 

 ... 118 

 ... 11:5 



... 121 



Page. 



Cacao, Fungoid diseases 



in Surin.Tin IIH 



Cassava Starcli 118 



Ceylon, Agricultural 



Progress in 120 



Costa Kica, Vegetables of 121 



Cotton : — 



Notes 117 



St. Vincent 117 



Seed, Disinfecting ... 117 

 Seed Selection 117 



Dejiartment News 123 



Department Publications 127 



Educational : — 



Barbados 110 



Eggs, Condensed llu 



Fruit growing in Mexico IKi 



Gleanings 124 



Horse breeding in Jamaica 120 



Insect Notes : — 



Banana weevil 122 



Cockroaches 122 



Scale insects in Cv[irus 122 

 Ticks on fi.wls ..". ... 122 



of 



,115, 



Insect Notes : — 



T.setse fly and sleeping 



sickness 



Maltese Donkeys 



Market Reports 



Meat, Preservation of ... 

 Paris (ireen. Supply of ... 

 Pine-apples in the Malay 



States 



Plants, Protection 



native 

 Potatos, English, 



Rabbit lireeding 



Scalds and Burns, 



Remedies for 



Science Notes : — 



P]-opagation of Plants 



by leaves 



Weather Plant 



Yeast 



Sugar Industry : — 

 Experiments at Barba- 

 dos 



Experiments in India 

 West India Committee 



Circular 



West Indian Products ... 

 West Indies and Natural 

 History 



122 

 119 

 12G 

 114 

 120 



116 



121 



120 

 118 



117 



12.3 

 123 

 123 



115 

 115 



120 

 125 



110 



Barbados Fruit Trade. 



X the Aijrlriiltural A^eivs for January 30, 

 the ste])s recently taken to encourage 

 a Fruit Industry at Trinidad ^vere dis- 

 cussed. In the present article it is proposed to afford 

 information in regard to the fruit trade that is being 

 gradually b\iilt up at Barbados in shipping bananas 



and mangos to the United Kingdom. The first 

 shipments were made about a year ago. Since then, 

 bananas have been regularly shipped by every Royal Mail 

 Steamer, and the results in most instances have been 

 very satisfactory. In some cases, the shippers have 

 obtained on an average 3s. and 4s. per bunch after 

 payment of all expenses. This is at the rate of 

 £"20 to £2.5 per acre. 



The bananas grown at Barbados are similar to 

 those produced in the Canary Islands. They are 

 "l^nown as the Chinese or dwarf bananas : also as 

 Governor and Cavendish bananas. The plants pro- 

 ducing them are short in stature with stout stems and 

 thus are capable of withstanding fairly strong winds. 

 They produce large bunches with sometimes 200 to 

 2.50 ' fingers ' or single fruits in each bunch. The 

 flavour is much liked in the English market. They 

 are preferred to the Martinique or Gros Michel bananas 

 exported from Jamaica. In May 1902, Messrs. Pink 

 & Sons reported the Barbados banana was ' superior to 

 that from the Canary Islands and Madeira.' In July 

 1902, Messrs. Geo. Muuro & Co., of Covent Garden, 

 stated : ' the Barbados bananas suit the London trade 

 better than the coarser ones from Jamaica .... they 

 stand the voyage well . . . are firmer and have appar- 

 ently been grown in a drier climate than the Canary 

 fruit.' 



The Barbados bananas are always packed in 

 crates. They are first wrapped in a sheet of cotton 

 wool, then in paper, and last of all in dry banana trash, 

 so that they are firmly held in the crates. By these 



