S4 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



June 7, 1902. 



EDITORIAL NOTICES. 



Letters and matter for publication, as well as all specimens 

 for naminj; sliimkl be addresseil to the Imtkriai, Commissionkii 

 OF .\<iRl(;iLTURE, Head Oftice : Harbatlos. It is jiartieiilarly 

 desired that no letters be iuldressed to any member of the st.ili' 

 by r.anie. Such a course will entail delay in deabng witli 

 them. 



Conniiunications should alwajs be written on one side only 

 of the paper. It should lie understood tliat no contributions 

 or sjjecimens will, in any case, be returned. 



All applications for cojiies of the 'Agricultural News' 

 should be addressed to tlie Local Agents and not to tlie 

 Head Office. Where no Agents exist subscrii)tions at the 

 rate of '.is. '.id per annum, [)ayable beforehand, will Ite received 

 at the Head Ortice. 



Correspondents sending newsjiapers sliould be careful to 

 mark tlie paragrai)lis tliey wish to bring under notice. 



gi0i'icul{unil llrlufj. 



Vol. I. 



SATURDAY, .JUNE 7, 1902. No. 4. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Scientific Commission for St. Vincent. 



Till' tolluwiug tulitgi-ain \s;im rcccivL'il li'uin the 

 Colonial Office on May :50. The Untlcr- Secretary oi' 

 State for the Colonies to the Imj)erial Comuiissioiicr ni 

 Agriculture tor the Went Indies : — 



' Scientific C'onnni.ssion consi.stiiig of Doctors Fleet aiul 

 Anderson aiipointed by the Hoyal Society to investigate 

 volcanic disturbances leave for St. Vincent by to-inorrou's 

 mail (Mrty '-^■) Should be glad if you could meet them 

 at J'arbados.' 



Jamaica and Barbados Mahogany. 



Jt has l)een shown by Mr. Hart at 'I'riiiiiLnl that 

 tlie mahogany trees so eoninionly gi-own at .Jamaica, 

 Barbarlos and elsewhere in the WCst liulies are some- 

 what (lifleient from the mah<igany trees of British 

 Hoiuluias. 'J'hc latter are .■^aid to be strongt'r-growing, 

 while thi! leaves are larger ■■uid ol' a ddferciit shajie. 

 The Honduras maliogaiiy is also sai<l lu yield timber 

 lighter in colour ami more easily woikod than the 

 onlinniT West Indian mahogany. 



New Milk Standard. 



It may be useful to place on reconl in these pag(>s 

 the new milk .standard a<l<jptcd by the; linglish Board 

 of Agricultui'e. This came into force in So])teudi(i' 

 1901. It i((|iiires that when a samph- of milk {not 

 being sold as skinmird or separated, or ecin<lens('d 

 milk) contains less than •') percent, of milk-fat or )i'o 



))er cent, of milk-solids, other than niilk-fiit, it will be 

 ])resinned, for the purposes of the Sale of Focxl and 

 Drugs Act, 189.5 to 1899, until the contrary is proved, 

 that the milk is not genuine. When a sample of 

 skinmied or separated milk (not being condensed milk) 

 contains less than 9 ])er cent, of milk s.jlids, it will be 

 icgarded as not genuine. 



Budding Oranges. 



The practice of budding oranges is becoming a ]iart 

 of the regular routine- at all the Bot;inic establish- 

 ments in the West Indies. In the interesting Bullitiii 

 of the Botanic Gardens at Triiii'lad, January 1902, 

 Mr. Hart writes : — 



Some atlvance has been made in the jiropagation of the 

 imjiorted kinds of oranges during the [iresent ye;ir, and a 

 fairly good stock of strong l)uddiKl plants is now on liand. 

 This it is trusted will do away with the complaint, so 

 tiequently heard, of oranges proving sour when raised from 

 seed, a ease of which occurred during the present week. The 

 stock used is that of the Seville orange which does not suffer 

 in our climate from stem-rot or ^laldi gonuna, as do the be.st 

 of our St. Michael's and Tangerine kinds. The ' Washing- 

 ton Navel' is among the varieties successfully budded. I 

 learn that in some instances the ])upils wlio attended the 

 recent Agricultural Lectures are meeeting with fair success in 

 budding and grafting. 



Grafting Coffee, Cacao and Nutmeg. 



.Mr. Hart states that he has gi-afted (by appi-o.ich) 

 .•I pi<ilitic form ni' sf>'ii(ij)/ii/llii coffee on stock of the 

 lihffi.dit. coffee. The union was effected with but 

 little trouble an<l the ])lants are growing freely. In 

 addition he has successfuU}* grafted (also by approach) 

 the ordinary cacao on stocks of the stronger-growing 

 'tigei'' or wild cacao of the mainland, I'lifohroiwi 

 liiriiUir. As already mentioned the female form of the 

 nutmeg tree is being regularly grafted on to male 

 stocks at Jamaica. About seventy plants wei'e estab- 

 lished by 51r. Fawcett in 1901. " 



Lagos Silk Rubber. 



The tree yielding this I'ubber is being gradually 

 established in the West Indies. The name K'nLruc 

 has now been replaced l)y Fo/utu mhi. derived from the 

 Wist African name of the tree. It is noticed that the 

 \oung plants, if left to themselves, are liable to form a 

 hushv habit and thus rendered less valuable for rubber- 

 \ ielding iiualities. 'i"o coirect this it is recomnu'iided 

 that tlie trees be jiiuurd by gradually taking off all 

 the lower branches and that one central, clean stem bo 

 encouraged. (Si^e also \\ :Vd) Even when the trees are 

 tolerably large this is still required to be ilone if they 

 are to be tested, as they should be, for yield of rubbei-. 

 The Central Anu'rican rubber tret; (Ca-tfllloa) and the 

 Lag<is silk rubber Irvr ( Foul tntiin ) evidently are the 

 most ])romising rubbei' trees for eultixatioii in the 

 West Indies. 



