76 



THE AGUICl'LTURAL NEWS. 



JcxB -21, 1902. 



AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES. 



Dominica. 



Mr. A. I\. Ag.ir, tlu' Hon. Scci'etary, has tontii- 

 biited the foUdwirig account of the sjiecial lueeting of 

 the .S(X-icty called in connexion with the visit of the 

 Hon. Francis Watts, the Covemment Chemist, to the 

 Presidency: — 



A .s{iecial general meeting of tlii.s Society was liekl at 

 the Court House, Ito.sean, at 8.30 (Lin. on Saturday, May L'4, 

 to lieuv an Address by the Hon. Francis Watts. 



'('lie President, his Honour the Adniinistratoi', |iie>ided, 

 ami a fair nunihcr of nienibeis attended. 



Mr. W'.itts first si)oke on the snbject of Citrate of Lime, 

 a praetieal demonstration of the making of whieh he had 

 gi\eii in the morning at the Bath Estate. 



After having gone very thoroughly into this, Mr. \\\itts 

 ga\f the meeting a resume of the results of a series of 

 analyses he had made of the soils of the i.sland, particularly 

 from a (ihysical point of view, and produced a series of 

 photographs of the soils as analysed. In every case the 

 soils, although taken from widely .separated district.*, were 

 found to lie eminently suited, [ihysicall}', for the cultivation 

 of all tidpical product.s, while very few were deficient, cheiui- 

 •rally, in anything necessary to plant life, and then oul}' in a 

 .slight degree. From what the lecturer .said, it ap|ieared 

 that the soils of Dominica are ]iractically uniforndy fertile. 



At the conclusion of the Address a few (|uestions were 

 asked by the members, ;ind the meeting rose at about 

 10.:!U |..'ni. 



St. Lucia. 



At the Maj' monthly meeting of the Soufriere 

 Agricultural Urancli, when about thirty (ilanters were 

 present, the Agricultural In.structor read a short jiaper 

 on Cacao pruning, followed by an adjournment to a 

 neighbouring cacao plantation, where a practical demonstra- 

 tion ill jiruning was given. An interesting discussion 

 followed. .Mr. A. F. Palmer, the Magistrate of the district, 

 oci-upifd the chair. 



(»ii May 4 at ClioisenI a Public Meeting whs lielil with 

 a \'w\s to intei'csting small proprietois iu the work being- 

 dour by the Agricultural Society and the Imperial Depart- 

 ment of Agricultiu-e. 'I'hc meeting was largely attended, 

 about 2.")0 persons being present. The Agricultural 

 Instructor occupied the chair. All sjieeches were in ' [latois' 

 and the audience was very sympathetic. It may safely be 

 assuuu'd that in couse(|uence of this meeting, the meinbershi|i 

 «)f the Choi.seid Branch of the Agricultural Society will be 

 largeU increased, and that the peasantry will take more 

 interest in the various schemes now on fool to benefit them. 



A small libr.iry of suitable agricultural literature is 

 l«'ing attached to each of flic local branches of the 

 Agricultnnd Society. 



Insects with wings. It is not generally kiK.wu 

 that insects that have once grown their wings never (levclo|i 

 any further. An insect that is found to have perfect wings 

 never grows any more and will not develop into a larger 

 insect or undergo any change. Not all insects have wing.s, 

 hut when they do, they are at the last [leriod of their lives. 

 This peri(Hl may be very short as in many flies, moths, 

 Inillerflie.s, etc., or may la.st a long time as in many beetles, 

 bee.s, wa.sp.s, etc., but, inevitably, sooner or later the lib- of 

 tlie insect in the winged stage clo.ses without further 

 de\rl(ipuicut. 



DEPARTMENT NEWS. 



The Commissioner of Agriculture for th.- West 

 Indies left Harb.idos by the mail of the 9th instant for 

 the Xortheiii Island.s. I)r. >[orris iiroposed to spent! 

 the greater portion of the available time in Antigua 

 where several important matters demand his presence, 

 visiting St. Kitts if opportunity .serves, and to return 

 to the Head Office by the mail reaching Barbados on 

 Saturday, June 21. The Commissioner was accompanied 

 by Uv. B. Mason, one of the clerks of tin> Department. 



Mr. I»avi<l Tannock, Officer-in-charge of the 

 Agricultural School, Dominica, has been granted three 

 months \acation l</ave and twenty-five days leave of 

 .absence from Jid\- -S. 



The Report on the Experiment Stations at Mont- 

 serrat, fiir lUOO to U)01 has recently been issued. It 

 briefly summarizes the work done since the starting of 

 the stations in 1!»00. The progress made is, onthe 

 whole, very favourable, in s])ite of an e.Kceptional 

 dnuight which .seriously interfered with the success of 

 much of the experiment work. 



Number Hi of the Pamphlet Series entith-d //,',-/v 

 on Oiiiori ciiltinitioii has been puldished. It contain-- 

 the substance of an address de!i\ered by his Honour 

 the Conunissioner of Jfontserrat to small owners in 

 that island. Tin- results of the early experiments of 

 the Im])erial J>epartment of Agriculture are described, 

 and simple and practical hints given on tiie cultivation, 

 and har\esting of the crop. Any grower who is 

 desirous of exporting onions should pay special atten- 

 tion to the section on ' packing and shipping.' Tiie 

 pamphlet may be obtaiiu'd from all tln' local agents 

 of the Department. Price 2<L 



Sprouting English Potatos harmful. 



' Cases of actual [loisoiung by potiitos are by no means 

 unknown. So far as can be learned the abnormal symptoms 

 in such cases were cau.sed by the |)ie.sence of solaiun in the 

 jiotatos. Several years ago ;557 soldiers in a btittalion of the 

 Austrian army showed s)'mi)ton)s of .solanin poisoning. The 

 potatos used for food were examined. Those which were 

 fresh contained a small amoiuit of solainu, while those which 

 hud sprouted contained nnich more, still larger amounts 

 i)eing founil in the sprouts than in the tubers themselves. 

 Till' [lotatos uudoul)tedly caused the poisoidng in this case. 

 Potatos a year old which have lain in a cellar and shrivelled, 

 and small ]iiitato< which have sprouted without being planted 

 are considered especially dangerous, and should not be 

 ealeu. Tf [)erf'ectly fre.sh potatos contain any solaidn, the 

 itmount is .so small that it does not <-ause harm.' f Ve'ir licok, 

 v. S, D.'part. of Agri(adturc, for llMlli. p. :M,"i). 



Sweet Potatos in Tobago. Among the numerous 



kinils of .-wri_t pi'latiis cultivated in Tobago, those known 

 locally as ' .\ntigua,' aiuP Cuttir' are the best. In addition to 

 the food value of the root, the vines form an excellent fodder 

 for cattle and stock. 



