THE A(Ji;iLlLTLUAL NEWS. 



April 25, 1902. 



EDITORIAL NOTICES. 



Letters .auil m:itt<;r for |)iihli<-ut)<>n. ;us well ;ls :ill spuciiiieiis 

 fio- immiiig, sliiiukl Ije addressed to the Imi'ERIAi, C'ipmmisskiner 

 OK Ai;RlcULTiTRE, Head Otiice : Barbados. It is iiaitieidaily 

 desiied that no letters be addn^ssed tci any iiieinber of the stafi' 

 l)y iiaiiie. Sucli a course will, eiit^iil delay" in dealing with 

 them. 



Connuunications should always be written on one side only 

 of the Jjajier. It sliould be understood tliat nn contributions 

 or sjieeiniens will, in any case, be retuined. 



All a])|)!ications for ci)))ieK of the "Agricultural >\uws " 

 .shciuld be addressed to the Liical Agents and not to the 

 Head Ofhce. Where no .\gents e.xist suliseri]itions at tlie 

 rate of 4 4 Jier annum, ]iayable beforehand, will be received 

 at the Head Office. 



t'lirrespundents sending newsi)aj)ers should be careful to 

 mark the ])aragraphs they wish to bring under notice. 



^gricitltunil lottos. 



Vol. I. FltlDAV, .M'KIE 2."., I'.JU2. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Colonial Exliibition at the Royal Exchange. 



Tile K.xhiliitidU id' Cohuiial |iro(liicts upcncd .-it the 

 K'lval Exchange in Londdu liy the Lord Mavm- on 

 March 10, appear.s to have hccn an uiii|iiahfic(l success. 

 I'he West Indies were nut lari;el_\ iv|ii-cseiite(|, hul the 

 liii]]erial ])e])artnu'nt, of Agi'iciiltuie iorwarded sjieci- 

 niens of sugar-cane, yams, sweefr potatos. iiigeon peas 

 .■mil other jnoducts which attracted attention. Tlie 

 following is an extract from the leaHet circulated in 

 I lie West [iidiaii Section, in charge of Jiessrs. .lames 

 I'hilip \' (;,,:- 



'The main |ini(lucts of the jiritish West Ihilies ale siigar- 

 cane, cacao, coilbe, log-wuDii, nutmegs, limes, arrowroot, 

 rum, bananas, oranges, pine-apples, eocoa-nuts. sweet potatos, 

 \ams, inaniot, etc. In some of the islands cattle ami horses 

 are |)i'otital>ly rcareil. .\splialte is obtained finm tlie faniims 

 pitch lake in Triniilad, anil gold, diamonds ami \aliiablc 

 limber from liritish (Jniana. The climate of tiie West Indies 

 is the most l)erfect in ihe world, ami the islands arc well 

 wiii-tli a visit, ('S|)ecially as a lia]ipy way of escaiiing the 

 I'jiglisli winter. Tliore are .several good lines of steamers, 

 the lioyal .Mail Steiini Packet (!<nn]iaiiy, leaving Sontlianqitoii 

 every alternate Wednesday. .Messrs. l-^hler Demjistcr ha\c 

 several fast steamer.s, to ili'veloji the Fruit trade hetwei-ii 

 .lamaica and this country, and .Messrs. Scrntton. Sons ,^- Co. 

 .■nicl W.Smith .t Co. lia\calso cargo steamers trading with 

 I lie \Vcsl Indies.' 



Toronto Exhibition, 1902. 



The desiiahility of encouraging clu.ser liaih- rela- 

 tion-- between the West hidies and the Dominion ,,t' 

 < 'aiiada is lecognized on lioth sirles. An excellent 

 <'p|ioifuiiity for hringing the produce of these (^)lonies 

 under the notice of mn' fellow sulijecls in Canad.i is 

 •otfered liy the ( Jreat Fair lobe ojiened in the City id 



Toronto oil Aug-ii.st 20 ne.xt. Toronto itself is a city 

 of 22o,000 inhal)itants and is the centre of a larjrn 

 manufacturing distiict which contains a number of 

 towns with populations of from five to twenty thou.s<tn<l. 

 The Imperial 1 )e{jiiitinent of Agriculture ha.s 

 already been in official coninumication with tht^ .several 

 ( iovernnients of the West Indies and furnished |)articti- 

 lars of the ])ro])ose<] Exhibition. Me.ssr.s. Pickford and 

 Filack are jiiejiaied to carry, fieight free, to Toronto all 

 West Indian produce packed and delivered alongside 

 their steamers, and the}' further undertake to nnjKick 

 such ))i'oduce and arrange it in an attractive manner at 

 the Exhibition. It is important that all exhibits b« 

 ready to l)e shipped from British Guiana, Tobago and 

 (irenada by S.S. 'Dahomey' on July 5, and from all 

 other ("ojoiiies (exce))t Jamaica) b\' the 'Oc^nno' from 

 2'A to :}() .Inly next. An attractive booklet containing 

 inforniatioii respecting the West Indies and their 

 products will be prejiared l)y this Dejiartinent for distii- 

 Inition al liie Exhibition. 



A new African Coflfee. 



The { 'otl'ee kiiown as the Highlani! Coffee of 

 Sierra Leone was introduced to the West Indies about 

 six years ago through the instrumentality id the Hoyal 

 (Jardens. Kew (Kni- HvUctni ISiXi. ]). IS!): with plate.) 

 It is ijuite distinct from either Arabian or Liberiaii 

 t'otti^e and is admirably siiiteil for cultivation from sea- 

 level up to an elexatioii of about SOO feet. Tho 

 botanical name (('(ijfhi sfi'iKipli i/lln ) that is 'narrow- 

 leaved coffee" is a good name, as- by this chaiacter and 

 its .small, dark-|iiirple berries, it is readily distinguished 

 from all other c-oHee. 'Steliophylla' coffee ha.s no- 

 where been more successful than under Mr. Hart's 

 care at the Royal Botanic (Jardens at Trinidad. It ha.s 

 gi'own there into tall hand.sonie bushes ten to twelvi^ 

 feet high, loaded with benies. It is singular th.it it 

 has shown a marked tendency to be cro.ss-feitilized by 

 Liberian coffee, so that in the second or third gi-neni- 

 tion its original characters have almo.st I'titii'ely disaji- 

 peared. If this coffee is desired to be kejit di.stinot. it 

 must therefore be cultixateil .-iwax" from other coffee 

 jilants. 



— — ^^ ♦ >■ — 



Value in London Market. 



,\s is well known the price of (."oH'ee, just now, i.s- 

 \er\ low. In some cases it hardly ])ays the co.st of 

 cull i\al ion. On the other hand thi>re is a continntM:! 

 demand for good coffee and il may be antic.ij)ate(l that 

 in the ordinary course of ehb and How' of prices a tinio 

 will arrixe when coffee will again be as remunerative a.s 

 cacao .ind other crops. .\ sample of 'Stcnojihylhi.' 

 coffee, grown and cured al the Trinidad Botanic 

 (iardens, was lately forwarded by this De])artment to 

 Mes.sis. Wilson, Smithett \- Co., •">!), Mincing Lane, 

 London, E. C, and they report as follows: — 



"The coffee roasts evenly and the infusion is goiKl, belter 

 Indeed than could be expected from the appearance of the 

 raw bean. This variety of coffee is not known on the 

 London muket, but might readily become a marketable 



