Vol. III. No. 70. 



THE AGKICULTURAL NEWS. 



411 



JAMAICA.- AAWUAL REPORT ON THE 

 PUBLIC GARDENS AND PLANTATIONS, 190S-4. 

 By W. Fawcett, B.Sc, F.L.S., Director. 



This report is a record of the useful work done during tlie 

 year in the various public gardens in Jamaica. It contains 

 many interesting notes on experiments of various kinds, 

 some of which it is proposed to publish in the Agricultural 

 N'eii's. 



Much damage was done to the gardens by the hurricane 

 and this has entailed considerable extra work on the staS'. 

 Besides the damage done to the fine shade trees at Hope, 

 the large and varied collection of orchids was sent flying in 

 all directions. The nursery stock also suffered considerably 

 and much time and care will have to be expended to work up 

 the collection again. 



The record of plant distribution is as follows : economic 

 plants sold, 33,171 (cacao, 20,646); ornamental plants sold, 

 14,312; miscellaneous free grants (including cane tops and 

 cuttings), 6"2,817. 



The educational w-ork at the Hope Experiment Station 

 was continued ; this included lessons to (1) Industrial School 

 boj'S and apprentices, (2) students at Training Colleges, 

 (3) Laboratory pupils, and (4) elementary school teachers. 



The work of the Travelling Instructors is also reported 

 upon. 



MELO-COTON. 



Seeds of a Mexican vegetable known as ' Melo-coton ' 

 Lave been received from Mr. J. H. Hart, E.L.S., Superinten- 

 dent of the Trinidad Botanical Department. The following 

 note regarding this vegetable appeared in the Trinidad 

 Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information (Vol. V, p. 573) : — 



' Under the above name we have received a kind of 

 sijuash, pumpkin, or marrow which is reported by Mr. E. J. 

 Campbell, of the British Honduras Botanic Station, as 

 •coming from Mexico. This is a trailing cucurbit whicli 

 gives long, smooth, green fruits, a foot in length and 4 to 5 

 inches in diameter. It is very prolific and makes an 

 excellent substitute for the well-known vegetable marrow, 

 whicli it much resembles when prepared for the table in its 

 immature state. When ripe the fruit turns a dark, reddish 

 brown. It is considered an acquisition to our list of table 

 vegetables, ilr. Campbell describes the fruit as a "' rare 

 Mexican melon of handsome appearance and good flavour," 

 AnA says "it is is eaten stewed with sugar and fresh." ' 



With regard to the last point, we are inclined to agree 

 with Mr. Hart, who states in his last Annual Report : ' We 

 Lave now seen and tasted the ripened fruit, which it was 

 asserted could be used as a melon. It has a decided sweet 

 melon taste, but it is not sufKciently enticing, in our opinion, 

 to find favour as a desert fruit. As a vegetable, however, it 

 is very useful and yields abundant crops.' 



We learn from Mr. Hart that the plant bearing these 

 fruits is reported by the Director of the Royal Botanic 

 Gardens, Kew, as being Sicana odorifera, Naud. 



LECTURES ON TROPICAL HYGIENE. 



The following is a report by Mr. Austin H. Kirby, 

 B. A., Agricultural and Science Ma.ster at Antigua, o'u 

 a series of lectures on Tropical Hygiene recently 

 delivered by him to teachers in elementary schools in 

 Antigua. Such lectures as these should have a useful 

 effect in spreading a knowledge of the causes of 

 tropical diseases and their prevention : — ■ 



I have to report tliat lectures were given on Tropical 

 Hygiene on the first Saturday in the months of ilarch, April, 

 May, June, Seiitember, and October in the science lecture-rooni 

 at the Grammar School. Those which would otherwise have 

 been given in July and August were omitted, in the one case 

 on account of the Elementary School holidays, and in the other, 

 because of non-attendance of the teachers owing to unfavour- 

 able weather. The omission of these lectures, however, 

 did not cause any curtailment of the course, but merely 

 postponed its termination. 



Invitations to the lectures were issued through Mr. J. E. 

 James, the Education Officer, to twenty-one teachers, and the 

 average attendance during the whole course was ten. The 

 small response was chiefly due to the difticulty which the 

 teachers in the outlying districts have in getting means of 

 transport to St. John's, and suggests that some aid of the 

 nature of a grant toward this would be beneficial in the 

 future. 



The subject of the course was Tropical Hygiene, having 

 especial regard to the following diseases : IMalaria, Filariasis, 

 Yellow Fever, Ankylostomiasis, Typhoid Fever, Cholera, and 

 Dysentery. Preparatory to the more specialized work, 

 a description was given of the circulatory and alimentary 

 systems of the body. The lecture? were chiefly illustrated by 

 means of diagrams, either printed or specially prepared, and 

 their sulyect-matter included information as to (a) the 

 geographical distribution of the disease, (b) the life-history 

 of the germ or parasite, if any, producing it, (c) the harmful 

 eflects on the body, and (d) the preventive measures to be 

 taken, with the reasons for them. Very special attention 

 was drawn to part (d) of the subject, and there is no doubt 

 that interest in it was increased and the knowledge of it 

 rendered easier of acquisition in view of the information 

 gained in jiarts (b) and (c). 



An intelligent interest was evinced by those who 

 appeared regularly, and they are now in a position to impart 

 very useful knowledge to the pupils under their charge. The 

 greatest advances in hygienic reform can undoubtedly be 

 made by the education of the rising generation in that 

 direction. This points to the advisability of affording its 

 teachers, as being those through whom it can be reached 

 most successfully, better facilities for attending centres where 

 they may gain the knowledge necessary to help such a plan 

 to its fruition. 



' Sun Pictures of the Antilles.' A feature of 



this book, which is to be published under the auspices of the 

 West India Committee at the close of the year with the 

 object of popularizing the West Indies, will be statistical 

 information in a brief and popular form regarding the AVest 

 Indies, which it is hoped will prove interesting to tourists 

 and useful for purposes of reference generally. As has been 

 mentioned in the Agricultural News (Vol. Ill, p. 304), this 

 book consists of a series of photographs taken by the 

 Secretary of the West India Committee, Full particulars 

 can be obtained from Messrs. H. <fe W. Grant, 18-19, 

 Whitefriars Street, E.C. 



