380 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



NOVEMBEK 19, 1904. 



GLEANINGS. 



The Toronto Satimlcuj Night of October 22 contains an 

 illustrated sketch of a trip from Canada to the West Indie.s. 



Good illustrations are given of tyiiical West Indian scenery. 



The twenty-third annual sale of stock is to he held at 

 Valsayn, St. Joseph, Trinidad, on Wednesda)-, .January 11, 

 1905. 



At a meeting of the Trinidad Agricultural Society held 

 on Xovember 8, Professor Carnrody read a paper on the 

 ' Manuria! aspect of our increasing Exports of Cacao.' 



At the same meeting it was announced by the Colonial 

 Secretary that the increased reward for the destructiim of 

 the mungoose was having a wide-.sjiread effect in killing out 

 the pest. 



We have received a pamphlet (122 pp.) entitled: 

 ' Trinidad to Manitoba and Back,' compiled by Messrs. C. W. 

 Meaden and \V. C. .Tardine. Tlie notes on this trip are 

 reprinted from the Denierara Z>'"Vy Clo-onide. 



An attempt is being made by Messrs. Garnett it Co. in 

 British Guiana to develop an export trade in bananas. 

 A small shipment was made by the R.M. steamer which left 

 on October 20. 



According to Board of Trade statistics, during the three 

 months ended September 30 last .51,209 bales of cotton were 

 imported into the United Kingdom from British India, 871 

 bales from the British West Indies, and 870 bales from 

 Ih-itish West Africa. 



It is gratifying to observe, from statistics recently 

 published as to the exports from .Jamaica during the first 

 half of the year 1904-5, that nearly all the items .show a large 

 increase over the exports for the corresponding period last 

 year. 



According to the annual report of the Indu.strial Section 

 of the Indian Museum, Calcutta, the average percentage 

 composition of dried tubers of yams was : Fat, 1 '02 ; 

 albuminoids, 10-87; carbohydrate.s, 7701; fibre, 516; ash, 

 594 ; nitrogen, 1'73. 



During the fortnight ended t)ctober 20, 25 bales of 

 West Indian cotton were imiiorted into the United Kingdom. 

 Sales have been effected in Liverpool at the following prices : 

 West Indian, 4-87rf. to 7'7.; West Indian Sea Island, medium 

 fine, Vl\d.; fine, 1.3i(/.; extra fine, 15i'/. per %. {Went India 

 Committee Circular.) 



We note with regret the death of Mr. J. Ch. Sawyer, 

 the author of several works on es.sential oils. Mr. Sawyer 

 had from time to time contributed notes to the Agrlcidlural 

 A'rirs, and had recently published in the Chemist and 

 Driufffist a valuable paper on ' Citronella and Lemon grass.' 



The Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture has received 

 from Mr. .1. H. Hart, F.L.S., specimens of a stalk-eyed 

 crustacean which lives in the sand on the sea-shore and is 

 used by the peasants in Trinidad for food purposes. The 

 si>ecimens have been sent to the British Museum for 

 identificatifin. 



It is a remarkable fact that in a country producing so 

 many descriptions of vegetable fibres as are to be found in 

 Madagascar, machinery for treating fibres is unknown, all 

 jn-eparation being still done by hand. The value of the 

 raffia fibre exported during 1903 was £73,535. {Considar 

 Report.) 



Strenuous efforts are being made by the Dominica 

 Agricultural Society, with the sujiport of both the 

 (iovernnient and the Iniiierial I)ei>artment of Agriculture, to 

 see Dominica fairly represented at the lioyal Horticultural 

 Society's Colonial Fruit Exhibition to be held in London on 

 December 13 and 14. (Dominica fluardiax.) 



The (lovei'iiment of the Federated Malay States has 

 decided to establish an agricultural dei)artment in iJalaj-, 

 and has api)ointed Mr. J. B. Carruthers, the Government 

 Mycologist and Assistant Director of the Royal Botanic 

 Ciardens of Ceylon, to be Director of Agriculture and 

 Government l'.otanist. {Xature, October 13, 1904.) 



St. Christopher Advertiser of November 8 contains an 

 account of the cultivation of cotton at Anguilla. One of the 

 large land-owners, Mr. Carter Rey, has about 60 acres 

 planted and has been supplied 1)}' the British Cotton-growing 

 Association with two gins and a baling press. While the 

 machinery is in his possession he will gin and bale cotton at 

 a specified rate. 



The following paragraph has been added to the Rules 

 for Elementary Schools at Barbados : ' Twelve cents will be 

 paid for a |>ass in Object-lessons and Nature Teaching in 

 the Primary Department, provided a sufficient quantity of 

 practical work either in school gardens, or in pots or boxes, 

 has been prepared bj- the children and is presented for 

 inspection.' 



It is announced in The Times that the Secretary of State 

 for India has aiipointed an expert comnnttee to assist in and 

 supervise the preparation of an abridged and revised edition 

 of the Dictionary of Uconomic Products of India, by 

 Sir George Watt, the editor of the original work, which was 

 issued in seven octavo volumes, with index, between 1889 

 and 1893. The new edition will be compressed into two 

 volumes. {Nnttire, October 20, 1904.) 



Mr. G. S. West, M.A., F.L.S., has published in the 

 Journal of /lotmii/ a paper on ' West Indian Fresh-water 

 Algae.' The author states that the algae forming the subject 

 of this paper were collected by Mr. A. Howard during 1901-2 

 in the islamls of Barbados, Dominica, and Trinidad. Most of 

 the algae recorded are additional to those already known 

 from the West Indies. 



