Vol. III. No. 56. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



187 



EDUCATIONAL 



St. Vincent Agricultural School. 



Several pui>ils of the Agiicultuial School, St. Vincent, 

 will complete their cour.ses, and be leaving in June and 

 September. They will be nineteen years of age and have been 

 in the school for four years. They have received a thorough 

 training in all the operations connected with the cultivation 

 and care of plants, and in the theoretical iiart of the .subject. 

 The Agricultural Superintendent of St. Vincent will be glad 

 to hear from anyone desiring further information as to the 

 character and capabilities of tliese boys. 



I 



Agricultural Scholarships at Jamaica. 



The lA'udvr of May l.j states: — 



The Board of Agriculture has decided to offer three 

 scholarships of the value of £?>h each, tenable at the Govern- 

 ment Laboratory, Hope, next year. The examination will be 

 held on January 1.5 next, and it is to be hoped that a large 

 number of competitor.s will come forward in connexion with 

 this excellent move. 



Tools for School Gardens. 



A luunber of tools suitable for school gardens 

 have been specially imported into Barbados by Messrs. 

 C. F. Harrison & Co., at the request of the Imperial 

 Com missioner of Agriculture, and are now on sale at 

 reduced prices as follows: — 



Forks at 'is. GJ. each ; trowels (7 inches) at Is. 3d. ; 

 weeding forks at Is.; spades at 3s. Gd.; rakes with from six 

 to twenty teeth, from Gd. to Is. 8d.; and hoes at 1.;. 



Laying out School Gardens. 



A circular has recently been issued in Grenada in 

 which the Acting Agricultural Instructor makes useful 

 suggestions for the laying out and general working of 

 school gardens. We take the following extracts : — 



The garden may be laid out in the following manner : — 



((() A narrow bed against the fence all round the 

 inside of the garden : in this might be planted a hedge, for 

 which purpose hibiscus, crotons, etc., are to be recommended. 

 Ornamental climbers might also be trained on the fence. 



(h) A number of small beds to be utilized for 

 competition among the pujiils in growing garden vegetables, 

 «tc. 



(c) Large square beds f<:)r specimen plants of all sorts, 

 to be used for purposes of instruction. 



ARBOR DAY AT JAMAICA. 



The Director of Public Gardens, Jamaica, has 

 issued a notice that allotments of seedlings of the 

 following trees in bamboo pots would be made to any 

 church, school, or private individual, prepared to plant 

 them out on Victoria or Empire Day (May 24); — 



Bread-nut, Canani/a odorata, the Carapa tree of Guiana 

 {Carapa f/uianensis), Cassia Fistula, Cassia sia/iica, Dillenia 

 indica, Dolichandrone, Eacah/ptus, the Silky Oak of Austra- 

 lia {Grevillta rohttsta), .lava Almond, Juniper cedar. Kola- 

 nut, Liginun vitae, Mahoe, JIahogany, Moriwjn, Palms, 

 Sandbox, Spathodea, AVild Tamarind, etc. 



DEPARTMENT NEWS. 



As already announced, the Imperial Commissioner 

 of Agriculture for the West Indies embarks to-day in 

 R.M.S. ' Atrato ' for the United Kingdom. 



The Hon. Francis Watts, B.Sc, F.I.C., F.C.S., 

 Government Analytical and Agricultural Chemist and 

 Superintendent of Agriculture for the Leeward Islands, 

 arrived at Barbados in the S.S. ' Orinoco ' on Saturday, 

 May 28, to confer with the Imperial Commissioner of 

 Agriculture on matters relating to the work of the 

 Department in the Leeward Islands. Mr. Watts 

 returned by S.S. ' Ocamo' on Tuesday, May 31. 



Mr. W. R. Buttenshaw, M.A., B.Sc, Scientific 

 Assistant on the staff of the Imperial Department of 

 Agriculture, will leave Barbados on Monda}', June 18, 

 on an official visit to the Northern Islands. Mr. Butten- 

 shaw will visit St. Lucia, Dominica, Montserrat, 

 Antigua and St. Kitt's, and is expected to return to 

 Barbados by S.S. ' Dahome ' on June 24. 



AVOCADO PEAR. 



In the last issue of the Agricultural jVewa 

 (p. 1C7) we gave an extract from Farmers' Bulletin 

 No. 169 containing information as to the composition 

 of the red sorrel and the Surinain cherrj-. From the 

 same source we take the following account of the 

 avocado pear: — • 



The alligator pear, also known as aguacate, avocado, 

 midshipman's butter, etc., is the fruit of Persea gratissima, 

 a tree native to tropical America, but now widely grown 

 throughout tropical countries. The principal commercial 

 supply in the markets of the United States comes from 

 Jamaica, though there is a considerable and increasing 

 production of this fruit in southern Florida, both on the 

 mainland and on the keys. Small iiuantities are also grown 

 in the wilder regions of southern California. The West 

 Lidian type, which is the only one found in the markets of 

 eastern United State.s, yields a fruit of about the size of the 

 largest pears. The varieties differ considerably- in form, and 

 range from deej) purple to light green in colour. Generally 

 speaking, they are not unlike a medium-sized egg-plant fruit 

 in form and ajipearance. The portion eaten is a pulp which 

 surrounds a single large seed. In texture the pulp is soft 

 and somewhat like butter, and is i)erliaps most commonly 

 used for salad making. 



The ^Mexican type of alligator pear, which is now being 

 tested in California and Florida, is a smaller tree and yields 

 a much smaller fruit. It Ls, however, rei'orted to endure 

 several degrees of frost, whereas the West Indian type is 

 injured by a temperature of .32' F. 



According to Woods and Merril, who recently studied 

 their chemical composition at the Maine Station, the average 

 weight of the avocados analysed was about | tt). each. The 

 edible portion or pulp constituted, on an average, 71 per 

 cent., the seed 20 per cent., and the .skin 9 per cent, of the 

 entire fruit. 



The chemical composition was as follows: — 



Water Sl'O per cent. 



Protein I'O ,, „ 



Fat 10-2 „ ,. 



Carbohydrates 6'8 „ „ 



Ash 0-9 „ „ 



