88 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



March 12, 1904. 



EDITORIAL NOTICES. 



Letters and matter for publication, as well 

 as all specimens for naming, should be addressed 

 to the Commissioner, Imperial Department of 

 Agriculture, Barbados. 



Communications are invited, written on one 

 side of the paper only. It should be understood 

 that no contributions or specimens can, in any 

 case, be returned. 



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 79 of this volume. 



The 'Agricultural News': Price Id. per 

 number, post free I'^d. Annual subscription 

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



^igriciiltiiral Deiufi 



Vol. III. SATURDAY, MAliL'H 12, 1901. No. .jO. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Title Page and Index. 



It is expected tli;it the title page and iude.x of 

 Volume II of the Agricultural News will be issued as 

 a supplement to the jjresent issue. 



It will be seen that this index is much fuller than 

 that to the first volume, and we have no doubt that 

 readers will derive considerable advantage from this 

 improvement. 



Quotations for Cotton. 



Recently in the Agricultural Newx (Vol. Ill, ]>. 

 00) attention was drawn to the fact that the quotations 

 given in the public telegrams for cotton in the English 

 market had reference only to Uplantl cotton whereas 

 the kind now generally cultivated in the West Indies 

 is Sea Island cotton. 



The Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture sug- 

 gested to the Telegraph Company that it would be of 

 greater interest to these colonies, if (juotations for Sea 

 Island cotton were substituted for those for Upland 

 cotton. The General Superintendent of the West 

 India and Panama Telegraph Company forwarded the 

 following message, dated March .5 last : — 



' Referring to your letter of .January 1 .5 last, I beg to 

 inform you that from to-day we shall cease to quote the 

 prices of Upland cotton, substituting therefor quotations for 

 Sea Island cotton as suggested by you.' 



It will be understood that in future the prices 

 appearing in the public telegrams relating to cotton 

 will have reference to Sea Island cotton, the sort now 

 generally being grown in these colonics. 



Cotton Cultivation. 



We would draw special attenticjn to the issue 

 to-day of the llV.v^ Indian Bulletin (Vol. IV, No. 4), 

 containing a full report of the recent visit of the 

 Imperial Commissioner of Agricidture and Mr. J. R. 

 Bovell to the Sea Island cotton districts of the United 

 States of America. This report (containing 88 pages) 

 deals fidly and practically with the details of cotton 

 cultivation in the United States and the West Inilies 

 and is indispensable to all growers of Sea Island cotton 

 in this part of the world. 



The report is obtainable from the London and 

 local Agents of the Department: price dd.: free by 

 post, 8f/. 



—^^m- ♦ -^ 



Cocoa-nut Disease in British Honduras. 



A committee of the British Honduras Society of 

 Agriculture and Commerce was recently ajjpointed to 

 investigate and report on the diseases of cocoa-nut 

 trees. A preliminary report is published in the 

 current issue of the Society's Journal. 



Until recently, it was believed that a weevil was 

 the Sole cause of the destruction of the cocoa-nut pdms, 

 but the investigations of the committee seem to show 

 that these insects do not attack healthy trees but only 

 those that have been previously weakened b}' some 

 other disease. 



The committee recommends (1) that the planta- 

 tions should be kept free from dead trees and branches 

 and from all decaying organic matter, as these 

 encourage injurious insects; (2) that all dead and 

 dying trees should be cut down and burned or buried; 

 (3) that cocoa-nut trees should never be planted nearer 

 than 2.5 feet. 



The Trade of French Guiana. 



According to the Consular Report on the 

 Trade of French Guiana for 1902, the imports from 

 the British West Indies are increasing, especially from 

 Barbados : this is on account of the continual stream of 

 immigration from that island in search of employment. 



The principal export from the colony is gold : the 

 value of this being £.599,637 out of a total of .£01.'^, 7.5.5 

 for the year. The balance represents the value of 

 exports of phosphate rock, essence of rosewood, balata, 

 hides and cacao. 



The value of the phosphate rock exported durino- 

 the year was £6,768 : it is obtained from the Grand 

 Connetable Island, and the greater part went to the 

 United States. 



It is stated that the small amount of cacao 

 exported (10, .587 lb.) would not be worth i-eferring to, 

 were it not for the fact that the soil of the colony is 

 well suited to the cultivation of this product. 



Essence of rosewood is produced from Licarijij 

 gulanensi.s. Formerl}' the wood was shipped to 

 France, but two factories have recently been erected to 

 extract the essence. The wood is sold in the local 

 market at £3 4s. per ton. The average product of 

 1 ton of wood is 221 ft. of essence, the price in France 

 of the latter being 10s. per ft. 



