424 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



December 31, 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. 



All applications for copies of the 'Agri- 

 cultural News' should be addressed to the 

 Agents, and not to the Department. 



Li lad Agents: Mes.srs. ISoweii & .Soils, Bridge- 

 town, Barbados. LovOnn Agents: Messrs. Dulaii & 

 Co., 37, Soho Square, W., and The West India Com- 

 mittee, 1.5, Seething Lane, E.C. A complete list of 

 Agent.s will be found at foot of page 431 of this issue. 



The Afj fir itlf and Xeics : Price L/. per nundjer, 

 post free l.l'/. Annual subscription payable to Agents, 

 2^^ 2.?. P(Jst free, 3.s\ 3r/. 



Agricultural lleirii 



Vol. III. SATURDAY, DECEMBER .'51, 1904. No. 71. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Contents of Present Issue. 



The present state of the cotton market is briefly 

 reviewed in the editorial to the present issue. The 

 position of Sea Island cotton has been but sliglitlv, if 

 at all, affected by the considerable decline that has 

 recently been brought about in the price of Upland 

 cotton by the great increase in production. 



The position of West Indiari sugar in the New 

 York, Halifax, and London markets is ch.'arly stated in 

 the memorandum jjublished on p. 419. 



On p. 420 will be found a note on the shipment 

 of bananas from Barbadof5, and also an interesting 

 extract from the Annual Report of the Director of 

 Public Gardens in Jamaica on the hybridization of 

 pine-apples. 



E.'itracts from fortnightly reports on the condition 

 of the cotton cultivations in the various islands are to 

 be found on p. 421. A further note in reference to 

 this industry deals with experiments that .-u'e being 

 conducted in Cuba. 



Oflficial correspondence in regard to Cassava 

 Poisoning is published on p. 423. 



The insect notes in this issue refer to cotton pests 

 at Barbados and a butterfly borer that has been doing 

 considerable damage to canes in British (luiana. 



An interesting description of the Lotus Lily is 

 given on j). 427. On the same page will be found 

 a report on a Jamaica sample of banana meal. 



West Indian Agricultural Conference. 



We publish on p. 422 a revised list of the 

 Representatives who are likely to attend the Agri- 

 cultural Conference that is to be held at Trinidad 

 during the next fortnight. 



Several additional Representatives have been 

 appointed since the publication of the provisional list 

 piiblished in the last issue of the Agrle alt u red A^eivs. 

 We regret thnt a number of gentlemen, who it was 

 hoped would be present, have found it impossible to 

 attend. 



Ground Nuts as a Green Manure. 



In a recent lecture before the Kanily Planters 

 Association, Mr. Herbert Wright. Controller of the 

 Experiment Station at Gangaroowa, Ceylon, dealt with 

 the subject of green manures for tea, cacao, rubber, 

 and cocoa-nuts. Special reference was nuxde to the 

 use of ground nuts for this purpose. 



The varieties recommended by Mr. Wrio-ht 



known as the Tanjore and the Pondicherry — produce 

 minimum crops of nuts and a maximum of leafy 

 growth. The actual amount of woody tissue is very 

 small and practically confined to the roots. Within 

 five months 4,340 it), of fresh, green material can 

 be obtained, without allowing for the large* ranount of 

 leaf fiilling to the ground. This plant lias been culti- 

 vated as a green manure and for crop purposes on 

 young clearings of rubber and cocoa-nuts, the green 

 materi.-J being buried as soon as the nuts have been 

 ])icked. There seems to be eveiy jjossibility of being 

 able to u.se this crop in this way.' thereby clearing the 

 cost of upkeep of new clearing.-- in certain districts. 



Cotton Experts in Jamaica. 



A very successful conference, arranged by the 

 Board of Agriculture to meet the Cotton Experts, 

 Messrs. Oliver and Stancliffe, took place at Kingston,' 

 Jamaica, on November 29. The Chairman of the Board 

 (the Hon. H. Clarence Bourne) presided, his Excellency 

 the Governor being also present. 



In the course of his address ^Ir. Oliver referred to 

 the cultivation of Egyptian cotton. There wa.s, he 

 said, an unlimited demand for this class of cotton,' but 

 whether it would pay them to grow it he did not know. 

 They would not receive for Egyptian cotton more than 

 half what they would receive for good cotton grown 

 from such seed as the Imperial Department of Agri- 

 culture secured from Mr. E. L Rivers' estate last 

 year. An important point he desired to bring home to 

 them was that if they grew Egyptian cotton they 

 should confine it to a certain area, as it was most 

 essential that different kinds of c<jtton should be kept 

 ab.Solutely distinct. Mr. Oliver dealt also with the 

 subjects of picking, ginning, and baling. 



It may be mentioned that j\lr. Oliver has expressed 

 himself as being very plea.sed with some of the cotton 

 cultivations he has seen in Jamaica. He visited one 

 estate where .50 acres of cotton were being grown and 

 said he had .seen no better cultivation since he had left 

 Barbados. 



