•2\-2 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



July 30, 190i. 



bados ami Antigua, owing to the occurrence of <lisease 

 in the Bourbon cane, seedling and other canes were 

 almost exclusively cultivated. The yield ol' seedling 

 canes in many cases exceeded that of the Bourbon. 



Sir Daniel then briefly sketched the history of the 

 resuscitated cotton industry from the start that wa.s 

 made in 1900 up to the present time, when sufficient seed 

 had been distributed to plant 8,000 acres. The result 

 had been to show that the West Indies could produce 

 as good cotton as the United States. The encourage- 

 ment of this industry had received special attention 

 from the Imperial Department of Agriculture. Theie 

 were, he said, fifteen cotton ginneries already estab- 

 lished, turning out cotton of high quality. He believed 

 that by establishing a market for a special class of 

 cotton, the Sea Island, the West Indies need have 

 little fear from the competition of other countries, as 

 they could not grow Sea Island cotton and would have 

 to confine themselves to the ordinary class of short- 

 staple cotton. 



With regard to subsidiary industries, cacao, rice, 

 fruit, and limes were, next to sugar, among the most 

 important industries. Experiments in the field treat- 

 ment of cacao and limes were being carried on at 

 Grenada aud Dominica. The very extensive fruit indus- 

 try of Jamaica, which was now worth nearly £1,000,000 

 per annum, had received a considei-able impetus by the 

 establishment of the Direct Line of steamers between 

 that island and the United Kingdom. A .serious 

 attempt was now being made to export bananas and 

 •other fruit from Tiinidad. A very interesting banana 

 industry had lately been taken ujj in Barbados, where 

 n banana exactly similar to the Canary banana was 

 being cultivated, and a keen demand at good prices had 

 arisen for it. Great care was being exercised in the 

 2)aeking of these bananas and the}' arrived in excellent 

 ■condition. 



The export of oranges had been carricl on in 

 Jamaica on a considerable scale for some time, and now 

 that greater care was being taken in selecting and 

 marketing the fiuit, there was no reason why the trade 

 should not be very considerably increased in value. 

 Pine-apples were being produced on a fairly large 

 scale at Antigua. This pine was of good quality and 

 approached in flavour the much esteemed Ripley. For 

 export purposes, possibly the Smooth Cayenne was the 

 best pine of all; this variety was being largely 

 cultivated in Jamaica, and recently good fruit had 

 been grown at Dominica and St. Vincent. 



Recent exjierimcnts had shown that English 



potatos coidd be gnnvn at a profit in the West Indies 

 even to meet local requirements. Arrangements had 

 now been made to obtain seed ]}otatos of the ' Bliss 

 Triumph' variety for planting at the beginning of 

 September. The potatos would then have time to 

 grow before the setting in of the diy .'eason, and they 

 would be the first to come into the market in New 

 York an<l London. 



An onion industry hwd been cariied on for some 

 time in Antigua to supply the New York market. In 

 Antigua onions were grown entirely on the cane banks 

 and received no special attention after they were once 

 ])lanted out. Therefore, whatever money was made 

 from them was pure profit. As the West Indian 

 onions would be placed on the New York market at 

 least a month before those grown at Bermuda, there 

 was an o|)p(irtunity for a comparatively large trade. 



In conclusion. Sir Daniel Morris .said that it was 

 impossible that this work should suddenl}- come to an 

 end. The way to ensure its continuance would be for 

 each colony to supplement the Imperial Grant. It 

 would still be desirable that the administration should 

 be entrusted to the Imperial Commissioner of Agri- 

 culture: unless they had a central authority it would be 

 imf)ossible to secure united action, without which they 

 would fail to attain that degree of effort which was 

 necessary for their highest prosperity. 



SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



Manurial Experiments with the Sugar-cane. 



It will be remembered that the manurial experi- 

 ments conducted by Mr. Watts in the Leeward Islands 

 tend to show that when pen manure is used piiosphale 

 and potash are not remunerative either when applied 

 to plants or ratoon canes, nitrogenous manures being 

 by themselves profitable. See Beport on Experiment!* 

 with Su(fa)'-cunes in the Lecuxird Islands, Part II, 

 (Manurial Experiments) pp. 8, 52, 102, 10.3,100, and 

 107; also Pamphlet No. 80, Manurial Experiments 

 'witli Sii(/ar-e(tnes in tlie Leeiraril Islands, pp. .5.5-02. 



These conclusions are stipported by the following 

 remarks taken from a paper on ' The Sugar Industry 

 in Java' by H. C. Prinsen Geerligs (Intcrnnfionid 

 Sn<ia_r Journal, June 1904, p. 283): — 



The sugar-cane manure exclusively used in Ja^■a is 

 a nitrogenous fertilizer ; potash antl phosphoric acid, whieji 

 are missed in no fertilizing mixture, find no application here, 

 as numerous experiments made at the experiment stations in 

 .Java liave shown they do not improve the ipiantity or quality 

 of the cane manured with them. It nni.st be ob.served tliat 

 I am now speaking of Java only, and of cane planted on land 

 which lieais two rice crops on irrigated land between two 

 cane crops. 



