Vol. in. No. 60. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



2.5.3. 



ONION CULTIVATION. 



nRITISlI IIOXDURAS : REPORT OX THE 

 nOTAXIC STATIOX, HJ03. By E. -J. F. Campbell, 

 :Supei'intendent. 

 K This reijort gives an account of the work carried on at 



the Botanic Stations and Nurseries under the supervision of 

 "the Superintendent. 



The Belize Station is maintained as an ornamental 

 garden, the soil beinj; unsuited for economic plants. The 

 nursery attached to this station is described as imi)ortant, 

 being utilized by persons from all parts of the colony. 



At Stann Creek a variety of crops are being ex[ieri- 

 niented with, including cacao, vanilla, nutmeg, Liberian 

 coffee, etc. A number of small experiment plots were also 

 planted at Corosal. 



The Superintendent has given practical instruction in 



»agri:-ultural matters in a number of cases where Lis services 

 • were re(iuested by small planters and others. 



The [larasol ant is described as being the worst pest of 

 the British Honduras agriculturist. Carbon bisulphide is 

 described as being effective, but its price is very high. 



An ai)pendix to the report deals with experiments in 



(cotton growing carried out at the stations and in conjunction 

 ■with planters. The cultivation is still in the experimental 

 stage, but there is reason to believe that cotton will be 

 jilanted extensively during the coming season. 

 TRIXIDAD: REPORT OX THE BOTAXICAL 

 DEPART J/ EXT, 1903-4. By .J. H. Hart, F.L.S., Super- 

 intendent. 

 This rei)ort, which forms No. 17 of the series of Annual 

 Reports, describes the wurk of the department for the 

 last financial yew. 



The number of piuxhasers of plants at the nursery was 

 601, an increase of "201 over the previous j-ear's record. 



Two Agricultural Instructors were supplied, whose 

 duties included visits to every district of the island for the 

 purpose of affoi<ling agricultural instruction in the schools 

 and giving public instruction on agricultural topics at 

 meetings, etc. Lectures were also given by the Superinten- 

 dent at seven centres. 



There is a large stock of plants in the nurseries ; the 

 large demand for economic and ornamental plants has been 

 fully met. 



Mr. Hart makes interesting observations upon the 

 seedling cane ex[)eriments, which have been continued with 

 ^satisfactory results. 



Interesting notes are also given on a large variety of 

 economic plants grown in the gardens, which include rubber, 

 timljer, and fruit trees. 



Experiments have been carried out with cotton, and 

 seed, obtained through the Imperial Department of -Vgri- 

 culture, was distributed to the amount of 1,201 lb. ; cotton has 

 been ginned at the St. Clair Station by means of two hand- 

 4^ius provided by the (Government, 



Jamaica. 



The following note, reprinted from the Journal 

 <{t tlie Jamaica AgriciUtural Society for June, records 

 the experiences of a grower of onions in Jamaica : — 



In December 1897, I got i lb. of Bermuda onion 

 seed from Messrs. Peter Henderson, New York : I sowed 

 these in drills in nursery beds which had been thoroughly 

 forked and raked ipiite smooth. When they grew to about 

 the thickness of a i)encil, I set them out to grow in deep 

 loam soil which had also been thoroughly forked and raked 

 quite fine. The beds were 4 feet wide and the onions 

 planted in rows, 2 feet wide by 8 inches in the step. I kept 

 them hand-weeded and moulded high all the time, and 

 irrigated once a week until the onions began to dry. After 

 that I did not irrigate or mould again. I left them in the 

 ground until the stalk dried down to the bulb, then lifted 

 them and gave them three days' sun. They were then ready 

 for market. I got i')x. [icr 100 ft. for them, selling them in 

 Kingston and S[)anish Town. They were very much praised 

 by the buyers. About one third of the crop weighed i ft. 

 each, and they were very tlelicate in flavour. One quarter 

 of an acre netted me £13 10s. These were grown at Turner's 

 pen, near Siianish Town. 



In 1899 I grew a small quantity at Colbeck for my 

 home use. I cultivated these in the same way, but 

 without irrigation, and not on such good soil, and these 

 turned out fairly well, but did not come up to the standard 

 of the irrigated ones. 



West Indian Onion Trade. 



At a meeting of the Antigua Agricultural and 

 Commercial Society held on July 1, the Hon. F. WattiS 

 read the following extracts from a letter from 

 Mr. S. Webb, of the firm of Wieting k, Richter, of 

 Geoi'getown, Demerara, relating to the onion trade : — 



Latterly consignments of onions have been coming to 

 this market from your island to parties here who do not 

 know much about the trade, nor have they much hold on the 

 buyers. 



It has occurred to me that the following hints may be 

 useful to growers and jiaekers. 



From ]\Iarcli to .lune we generally get Teneriffe 

 onions. The complaint against these onions is that their 

 flavour is too mild and they are put up in strings, Avitli far 

 too much of the stalk on each string, which weighs as onions. 



From .June to Sei)tember-()ctober, ^Madeira onions come 

 in, put up in Iiunches, with far less of the stalk plaited in. 

 They are full flavoured. From October to March we have to 

 depend on Lisbon for our supplies. New Lisbon onions very 

 seldom reach here in good order, and could Antigua or 

 Barliados compete in these months, no doubt the trade could 

 be deflected from Lisbon to our soils in the West Indies. But 

 your onions at present are not treated in a way to suit this 

 trade. The onions are, mind you, fairly good onions, but 

 the roots should not be cut very close to the onion, nor should 

 the stem be close cut- the stems .should be at least 6 inches 

 long, to allow for drying. The stalks should be allowed to 

 dry gradually ; if cut close ui> to the onions, they (the onions) 

 get hard and lumpy in their centres, which causes them to 

 burst and spoil quickly. 



If your packers could bunch their onions and not ship 

 them loose, their commercial value would be much enhanced. 



