Vol. III. No. 66. 



THE AGRICULTUEAL NEWS. 



34^ 



HAWAII: ANNUAL REl'ORT ON THE AURl- 

 ■CULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION FOR lOOS. 

 By Jared G. Smith, Special iVgent-in-charge. 



Besides the United States Treasury appropriation of 

 =?1 2,000, •'jeOO were derived from the sale of products. 



Among the experiments carried on at this station during 

 the year may be mentioned those with corn, potatos, tannias, 

 tomatos, forage plants, tobacco, vanilla, sisal hemp, castor 

 beans, pine-apples, cofi'ee, and cotton. 



A number of new varieties of seed-corn were planted, 

 ■and experiments were conducted in methods of jilanting, 

 manuring, e!c. 



It is considered that the outlook for vanilla cultivation 

 is very bright, the plants not appearing to be afl'ected by any 

 of the serious diseases which affect this crop in other 

 countries. An experiment was made in curing and fermenting 

 the pods, which was entirely satisfactor}'. 



The castor oil jilant is recommended as a suitable plant 

 for cultivation by small landholders; there is a ready market 

 for the beans in Honolulu. 



Pine-apples are grown very satisfactorily in Hawaii, and 

 there is a considerable trade in fresh pines with the Pacific 

 ■coast which is regarded as capable of extension. 



It is evident that a great obstacle in the way of agri- 

 •cultural operations is the injury to crops by insect pests. 

 The entomological work of the station has consequently 

 been of great service to planters. 



TORTO RICO: ANNUAL REPORT ON THE 

 AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION FOR 

 1903. By F. D. Gardner, Special Agent-in-charge. 



In addition to the United States Congress appropriation 

 •of .$1.0,000, the insular legislature passed a special vote of 

 .'$2,700 for special services. A considerable portion of the 

 latter sum was spent on repairs to buildings, fencing, 

 drainage, etc. 



Considerable attention was ])aid to experiments with 

 leguminous plants for the purpose of .securing a plant suitable 

 for enriching the soil and improving its physical condition, 

 and at the same time preventing the severe wa.shing, which 

 takes place on the steei) slopes. \\"\i\\ alfalfa a good stand 

 was secured and the plants at first made good growth, but 

 afterwards ceased growing and barely managed to survive. 

 Xo tubercles were formed on the roots. Neither cow peas, 

 soja beans, nor beggar weed gave satisfactory results : the 

 velvet bean did best of all, and of all the leguminous plants 

 tried, this appears to lie the most promising. 



A large collection of \-egetables from northern-grown 

 seed was planted. !Most of these gave rather poor results. 

 The tomatos, egg-plants, and potatos were all afl'ected in 

 a similar way by a bacterial or fungoid disease. 



Tobacco investigations of a comprehensive character 

 Lave been carried out, and the services of an expert obtained. 



A large collection of economic plants has been assembled 

 .at the station. In addition to fruit plants, this includes 

 ■a number of filjre and ruljber plants. ^Mr. Gardner 



acknowledges tlie assistance he has received in this connexion 

 from the Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture and the 

 Superintendent of the Trini<lad Botanic Gardens. 



The report also contains notes by the Entomologist on 

 a large nuvnljer of insect jiests, while a report by ilr. F. S. 

 Earle gives interesting information on the horticultural 

 po.ssibilities of the island and on plant diseases. 



It is apparent from this re[iort that much work of an 

 extremely useful nature is being carried on in Porto llico, 

 which should considerably increase our knowledge of 

 tropical agriculture. 



CASSAVA INDUSTRY IN JAMAICA. 



In the BulU'tin <>f tlic A</rlcaltaivl Di'paiiinent, 

 Jamaica, for September, Mr. H. H. Cousins deals fully 

 with the ' Agricultural basis of the Cassava Industry.' 

 The following sunnnary is of interest : — 



Cassava should cost — for cultivation only — £3 13.«. to 

 £o 2s. per acie, according to the locality and circumstances. 

 Ilent, interest, and management are excluded from this 

 estimate. 



The lower price represents the estimated cost under the 

 most favourable conditions of broad-scale implemental 

 culture; the higher, that of hand labour in rocky land by 

 small cultivators — cassava farming in short. 



An average of £i per acre represents the estimated cost 

 under favourable conditions of estate cultivation. 



Yii'ld per Acre. — The data from Longville showed that 

 yields of 6 to 8 tons of tubers were there obtained under 

 somewhat unfavouraVile conditions. 



;Mr. Shore gives 8 tons as an average return from Little 

 lUver lands, and states that he knows lands that give more. 



On the other hand, Mr. Calder .sounds a note of warning, 

 that he found when growing cassava in St. Elizabeth that 

 it took eighteen months to produce 5 tons per acre. 

 Only experience and local experience can settle this crucial 

 point of the agricultural yield of cassava. 



If we can maintain an 8-ton standard, cassava would be 

 a very profitable croji; if, on the other hand, the yield should 

 only be I tons per acre, the results would not be remai'kable. 



Pco/iV.— This depends upon the yield and again upon the 

 price obtainable for the product. I have estimated that an 

 8-ton crop of cassava giving .5 tons dry meal for shipment to 

 England to glucose makers would yield a profit of £700 to 

 £900 upon a scale of 100 acres. Selling tubers to a starch 

 factory at £2 per ton would mean a profit of £8 to £10 per 

 acre on the same basis. 



DEPARTMENT NEWS. 

 The Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture for the 

 West Indies left England for Barbados in the R.M.S. 

 ' Trent' on Wednesday, October 12. 



The Secretary of State ' for the Colonies has 

 appointed Mr. C. H. Knowles, B.Sc, Resident Master 

 of the Agricultural School at St. Vincent, to the post 

 of Agricultural Superintendent at Fiji. Mr. Knowles 

 will probably leave St. Vincent for Halifax on October 

 29. 



It is proposed that the next West Indian 

 Agricultural Conference will be held at Port-of-Spain, 

 Trinidad, early in January 1905. 



