Vol. I. No. 4. 



THK AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



51 



knows exactly what she has to do, ami her goings to and fro, 

 her down-s(|Uattings and her iiit-risings will, of her own 

 volition, be as regular as the rising and setting of things 

 terrestrial all her master or her niistre.ss has to do is to wait 

 ufion her and treat her as a vaUiaUle member of th? family 

 Let her feed while you milk her ; even from this habit you 

 will gain increused milk through the anticii>ntion which the 

 .animal enjoys of the condiined delights of a nice little nibble 

 and the attentions of the milkmaid. 



EXPERIMENT PLOTS. 



In addition to till' H )tanic Stations and other Agricul- 

 t iral Institutions in the Windward and Lei'ward Islands an 1 

 Tobaga, an 1 th.' Sugar ExpjriniL'nt Statious at British 

 Guiana, Ku-badas, Antigua an. I S;. Ki'ts Xt'vis, sjiet/ial 

 efforts were started l)y th..' Imjierial Department of Agricul- 

 ture in 1900-1901 to imiirovo the cultivation of cacao, limes, 

 pine-apples, and other crop.s in Oolonie.s suited for them. 

 The existing institutions, abave referred to, had already 

 acted as centres for the pro])agation and distribution of 

 economic plant.s, an I as training schools for the [iractical 

 teaching of tropical agriculture. It was, however, recognized, 

 that a more direct intiuence was required to be brought to 

 bear on the large body of |>ea.sant cultivators in these islands, 

 who from their isolated position arc often out of touch with 

 the work c.uried on at Botanic Centres. This was sought by 

 the api>ointment of travelling Agricultural Instructors and by 

 affording practical object lessons by means of sub-stations or 

 experimental i)lots estubli.shed in the country districts of 

 Grenada, St. Lucia and Dominica. The main features of 

 these plots are as follows : — A small area of cacao, of 

 altout one acre in extent, is selected on a jiortion of 

 a large estate, in a cons[)icuous situation, and boulcring on a 

 public road. With the consent of the proi)rietor it is i)laced 

 at the disposal of the Deiiartinent of Agriculture for ex[ieri- 

 iiient purposes for a certain term, usually three years. 

 Preference is given to districts where the trees are old and 

 unhealthy, and where the soil is typical of the poorer lands 

 in such localities. The selected i)lot is taken in hand with 

 the view of illustrating the best and most economical 

 methods of reclaiming and improving it. If necessary, the 

 land is forked and drained and the trees pruned and 

 manui-ed. These oi)erations usually occupj- some time and 

 are carried on under the personal supervision of the Agricul- 

 tural Instructor who furnishes montldy reparts of the work 

 done. The cost of tillage and all manurial and other 

 treatment is borne from the Agricultural grant-in-aid, and 

 careful records are kept of expenditure and results obtained. 

 Each plot is con.si)icuously labelled and is usually divided 

 into four sections for manurial experiments. Each section 

 has also a label stating the kind of maiuue used, the ipiantity 

 per tree and the date of application. So far, the residts 

 attained are satisfactory and encouraging. On some of the 

 cacao exi)eriment , plots, the trees, even after one year's 

 treatment have yielded excellent results as compared with 

 other portions of the same fields. It is hoped that simple 

 oljject le.ssons of this character will prove of value in imiiress- 

 ing cacao proprietors, large and .small, that even old and 

 apparently \alueless trees may be reclaimed and Ijrought 

 into bearing, with proper care and attention, and at a cost 

 that will leive a fair margin of ]irofit. It is gratifying to 

 learn that peasant |)ro|)rietor.s, for whose benefit these 

 e-X}perinients are cliieHy carried on take a deep interest in 

 the.se plots, and in many cases have adojited similar opera- 

 tions on their own lands. The Imperial Commissioner of 



Agriculture and the Travelling Superintendent regularly 

 visit and inspect the.se plots. 



GREN.VD.V. 



At Grena<la, the importance of experiment jdots as a 

 means of benefiting the Agricultural classes was, at once, 

 recognized by his Excellency Sir Alfred Moloney, K.C.M.G., 

 the Governor-in-Chief of the Windward Islands. In an 

 address to the members of the Grenada Agricultural Society 

 in 1S99 he warmly supiported the .scheme : 



' tt was [proposed,' he said, 'to estal)lish model patch 

 gardens or experiment plots as object les.sons in the ditt'erent 



|iarislies and districts In order to be in a position 



to carry such a project into effect the Imperial Department of 

 Agrioultine would be ready to tjike charge of, say, an acre of 

 cacao in eacli parish placed for the purpose at its disposal by 

 the proprietors. Also that expert advice and control would be 

 devoted to each plot so as to ensure maxinunu crops. It wa» 

 mniecessary to enlarge on the benefits to every section of the 

 agricultural counnindty that must accrue from the establish- 

 ment of such model gardens or experiment plots, if estal)lished 

 in suitaljle situations and ea.sy of access to the agricultural 

 populatii u.' 



In the early [lart of 1900 seven plots of cacao, varying 

 in size from 1 acre to l^' acres were .selected bj" the Travel- 

 ling Superintendent and the Curator of the Botanic Station. 

 The Grenada plots are situated at Vendome, (Jouyave and 

 Cliantimelle estates on the leeward side, and at the 

 Xianganfoix, Cokunbier, Belle Vue and Windsor Forest 

 estates, on the eastern side of the i.sland. The siiil in nearly 

 every case is a red clay, deficient in phosphates, potash ami 

 available lime. The plots are each divided into four .sections, 

 ami the maiuu'ial treatment con.sists chiefly of experiments 

 with pen manure ani basic .slag followed by applications of 

 either nitrate of .soda, suli)hat2 of an\monia, or sulfiliate of 

 pota.sh with the view cif ascertaining the relatixe \alue of 

 these manures. 



ST. LUCI.V. 



In this Colony five cacao ex[perinieut |ilots were selected 

 during 1900 190i, at La Perle, An,se-la-l!ayc, Boseau, 

 Cul-de sac and Bcausejoui estates. Manurial and other 

 cidtnral ojierations are conducted on the same lines as at 

 Grenada. In addition to the cacao plots an area of 5 acre.s 

 at Riviere Do.ee estate <n the southwest side of the island 

 has been laid out and planted with cotton, limes, pine- 

 api>les and other cro]ps. Owing to the absence of trees, this 

 part of St. Lucia suffers at times from both wind and 

 drouglit, and is therefore unsuitable for the cultivation of 

 cacao or any product recpuring a sheltered and damp situa- 

 tion. The efforts of the Dejiartment at the Biviere Doree 

 plot are undertaken with the view of encouraging land owners 

 in this locality to take u|i the cultivation of nioi'c hardy 

 crops and to utilize laud which is now of little or no value. 



OOMIMCA. 



At Douunica, as early as 1899, the ((uestion of estal>lish- 

 ing exiieriment plots had received attention. In June of 

 that year the Travelling Su[>erintendent and the Curator of 

 the Botanic Station made a tour of the southern end of the 

 island for the purjwse of selecting these areas. Considerable 

 difiiculty was exiierienced in olitaining land in suitable 

 situation.s, and for this reason operations were not commenced 

 until 1901. During that year eight cacao plots were .selected 

 in the out-)iarishes of the island and manurial experiments 

 connnenced on similar lines to those at Grenada and St. 

 Lucia. The plots chosen are sitttated at Geneva, Point 

 .Mulatre and Car.se of Gowrie estates on the windward side, at 

 Clarke Hall, .Moor Park, I'icard and lUeidieim estates on the 

 leeward side, and at Riversdale estate near the new Imperial 

 road leading to the interior of the island. In view of the 



