Vol. III. No. 67. 



THE AGRICULTUEAL NEWS. 



361 



British Cotton-growing Association Deputation. 



Messrs. E. Lomas Oliver and Richard Stancliffe, 

 forming a Deputation from the British Cotton-growing 

 Association, arrived at Barbados on October 24. 

 During thoir stay in Barbados they have visited 

 a number of estates on which cotton is being grown, 

 and on October 28 were present at a meeting of the 

 Barbados Agricultural S'^ciety. At this meeting 

 Mr. Oliver delivered an address, a summary of which 

 is jDublished on p. 359. 



(Jn November 1 the Deputation left Barbados, in 

 company with Sir Daniel Morris, on a tour of the 

 Northern Islands, visiting St. Lucia, Dominica, 

 Montserrat, Antigua, and St. Kitt's. Later, a visit will 

 be paid to St. Vincent (November 12), and if steamer 

 movements permit, jirobably Grenada and Tobago will 

 ixlso be visited. Messrs. Oliver and Stancliffe will leave 

 Trinidad for .Jamaica on November 22. 



Mr. Oliver is jjossessed of wide experience in 

 regard to cotton matters. He is a Director of the 

 Fine Spinners' Cotton Association, and from the first 

 has taken a deep interest in the West Indian cotton 

 industry. He is desirous of obtaining samples of 

 cotton (.5 H). to 50 lb. each) produced from the early 

 plantings this year, in order that he may have an 

 opportunity of expressing an opinion upon them for 

 the information of growers, and of pointing out their 

 merits or defects, as the case may be. 



Exports and Rainfall. 



During last year there was a considerable decline 

 in the export trade of Lagos — a decline which is due 

 entirely to unfavourable meteorological conditions. 

 In dealing with this matter in his Annual Report on 

 the colony for 190.S, the Governor states that variations 

 in exports are purely a matter of rainfall. This is 

 particularly the case with the products of the pahn oil 

 tree {Elueis i/ii^inceusls) which form over 50 per cent, 

 {in value) of the colony's exports. 



By means of figures dealing with the last fifteen 

 years, the unmistakable correlation between rainfall 

 and the exports of palm produce is demonstrated. Thus, 

 in 1901 the rainfall amounted to 112"59 inches (the 

 unprecedented fall of 31 inches being recorded for 

 September and October) : the effects of this are seen 

 in the record crop of 5,240,187 gallons of palm oil and 

 75,416 tons of palm kernels in the following year. On 

 the other hand, the exports in the following year were 

 •3,174,0(J0 gallons of oil and (33,508 tons of kernels: 

 this decline might have been predicted by an intelligent 

 observer from the fact that the rainfciU for the previous 

 year (1902) had been only 47'82 inches. The figures 

 .show that the exports of palm oil are even more 

 sensitive than those of kernels. 



Normally, the oil palm flowers every five or six 

 weeks and bears eight or nine mature bunches of fruit 

 in the year ; if, however, the rainfall is scanty, the tree 

 flowers only every ninth or tenth week, and the 

 number of fruit bunches is reduced to about five. 

 Insufficient rainfall also has the effect of reducing the 

 proportion of oil in the fruits. 



Lemon Grass Oil from Montserrat. 



The Bulletin of the Imperial Institule (Vol. II, 

 no. 3) contains a report on a sample of lemon grass oil 

 from Montserrat forwarded by the Hon. F. Watts. 

 An herbariuQi specimen forwarded subsequently was 

 identified by the Director of the Royal Gardens, Kew, 

 as AvdropKiijon mu-iius, L., var. fjenuinus, Hack., 

 which is commonly known as the true lemon grass. 



Results are given of analyses obtained with the 

 Alontserrat oil both at the Imperial Institute and at 

 the Government Laboratory for the Leeward Islands, 

 as well as corresponding figures for commercial lemon 

 grass oil distilled in India from Aiulrupofjon eitratas. 

 Lemon grass oil is now principally- employed as 

 a .source of citral, and the amount of this constituent 

 practically regulates the commercial value of the oil. 

 It is therefore interesting to learn that the Montserrat 

 oil contains as large a proportion of this valuable 

 constituent as the East Indian oil. The Montserrat 

 oil, however, differs from the latter in being incompletely 

 soluble in 70 per cent, alcohol. It was found that this 

 fact caused the dealers to whom specimens were sent 

 to quote a low price (4i(?. per oz.). It was considered, 

 however, that 5<J. to (it?, per oz. — the present j^rice 

 of good-quality East Indian oil — might be obtained, if 

 regular shipments were made in fair quantities. 



'These results indicate that Montserrat lemon 

 grass oil, in spite of its peculiar partial insolubility in 

 alcohol, would probably find a read}' sale at remuner- 

 ative prices in this countrj' and on the Continent.' 



Sunflowers as a Crop. 



The Agric altiiral ^Yorld of October 1 has an 

 interesting article on the culture, uses, and value of sun- 

 flowers as a crop. In Western Europe and America 

 the sunflower is chiefly grown for ornamental jjurposes 

 and has hardly, except in recent years, risen to the 

 dignity of a crop. In Rusr^ia, however, sunflower seeds 

 have come into general use as a staple article of human 

 food and for the production of oil which closely 

 resembles olive oil. The 'oil cake' left after the oil 

 has been extracted is rich in protein and oil and well 

 relished by stock, being equal, if not superior, to 

 linseed cake for feeding purposes. 



Sunflower seeds contain from four to five times 

 as much fat as corn and more protein than any of the 

 cereal grains, comparing well in proteid content with 

 peas and beans. Hitherto they have been used chiefly 

 as a poultry food. 



To obtain the largest crops fertile land rich in 

 humus is necessary. In producing the large amount of 

 protein contained in the seed, the crop exhausts the 

 soil of its nitrogen. The seed is planted in rows 3 to 3i 

 feet apart, and 3 to 4 inches apart in the rows. Later, 

 the plants should be thinned to 12 to 18 inches apart 

 in the row ; in other respects the crop should be 

 cultivated in the same manner as corn. 



The heads should bo harvested before the seeds 

 are fully rij)e, and then cured for a week or so before 

 shelling. As a rule, the seeds are shelled by hand, 

 but doubtless cheaper and more rapid methods could 

 be devised. 



