Vol. I. No. 3. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



77 



TBIXIDAD. AXXUAL REPORT OX THE ROYAL 

 nOTAXIC (lARDEXS I'Ml.iV.y .). H. Hart, F.L.S., 

 Supeiintemk'nt. 



The larger iiortioii of this report is devnteil to notes on 

 tlie interesting exjierinients with ecoiioniic phints, cdnducted 

 in continnation of the work of former jears Of the 

 rubber [ilants under trial, Central Ameriean, Para, and 

 Lagos silk ruliber continue to thrive, t'eara rubber altlniugh 

 making little progress at the Station is reported to be doing 

 Avell in other parts of tlie Colony. Exiierinients are in hand 

 to determine the best age for t^ipiiing l?alata trees. The 

 present importance of the citmiihor industry has not been 

 <jverlooked, and some sjiecimens of camphor j)repared at the 

 Station, i)robably the first on record of West Indian manu- 

 facture, were exhibited at tlie Agricultural Conference, of 

 .lanuary last. 



Fruit and cotfee cultivation have, as usual, claimed a 

 considerable share of Mr. Hart's attention. Some of the 

 results of the experiments with coffee have already been 

 noted in this .Journal (pp. 6 and .54). The more important 

 experiments with fruit trees will be dealt with separately 

 later. 



During the year considerable )(i'ogress has lieen made 

 with the St. Clair Fxiierinient Station, taken over in 1898 

 for experiments with economic plants, and nursery work. 

 Over :i.'5,000 plants were sold, and 97,000, including cane 

 cuttings, distributed free, making a grand total for the year 

 of 120,000. In addition a very large (juantity of seed was 

 distributed. The nursery stock at present is about 3.5,000 

 jilants. Agricultural education has not been neglected and 

 it is jileasing to note that jirovision is made on the estimates 

 for 1902-3 for two Agricultural Listructors in Trinidad. 



From the meterological returns it appears that the 

 mean temperature for the year was 786°, and the total 

 rainfall 5816, more than ten inches below the mean of the 

 last fourteen years. 



CEYLOX. AXXUAL REPORT OX THE ROYAL 

 BOTAXIC (JARDEXS, I'XJl. By .J. C. Willis, M.A., 

 F. L.S., Director. 



Thi.s report gives an account of the very valuable work 

 being carried on in these gardens. Li addition to the largo 

 amount of economic work, due attention is being paid to 

 «.ceurate scientific research. The Director rightly says, 

 ' Successful practical ajjplications of science nnist be based 

 upon thorough scientific investigations ; such work is 

 laborious and needs long [leriods of time, and it is of the 

 greatest importance that the scientific officers should have 

 the greater jiortion of their time at their disposal for such 

 work.' A new Scientific Journal, The Annah of the Roi/al 

 Botanic fr'anlens, Pera'lenii/a, has beoi started and two 

 numbers have been issued during the year. There is a supple- 

 ment to the Anna/s devoted to a vesumi of the chief facts of 



import-ance about all the known economic products of the 

 island. Provision is made at Peradeniya for the laboratory 

 investigations of the .scientific staff' and of foreign visitors 

 desirous of working at trojiical Iwtanj'. Several distinguished 

 butanists conducted investigations at the laboratory during 

 1901. As a necessary outcome of the ex|)eriment work, 

 clone on a small scale at the Gardens, steps are being 

 taken to e.stablish an exjieriment station wheie large 

 scale trials of economic plants can l)e made as well as 

 experiments on cliffcrciit modes of cultivation, the ti'ea.tnicnt 

 of disease, the pre[)aration of [n-oducts for market and their 

 actual sale upon the open market. The cultivation of rubber 

 seems to be a success in Ceylon. Tlie production of citron- 

 ella oil is hardly sati, factory on account of adulteration and 

 over-}>roduction, the price realized being far below that 

 oljtained in .Java where adulteration is not practised. The 

 work of the Mycologist and Entomologist lias been much 

 ai)preciated. Much of their time has been taken up in visiting 

 estates and giving advice to planters, personally and by letter. 

 Steps are tiiken to fumigate all Wardiau cases which arrive 

 at the Gardens and a fumigatoriuni is being established at 

 Colombo, the port of entry. Yalualile experiments have been 

 made in grafting coffee, cacao, nutmegs and mangos, 

 while attenii)ts have l)een made to grow cacao from cutting.s. 

 The residts of some of the.se experiments will be given in 

 the Agricultural Xeujs in the form of short notes. Swedes 

 have been successfully grown at the Hakgala garden (about 

 6,000 feet elevation). The cost of the Ceylon Botanic Depart- 

 ment is £4,800 a year, so that the Colony is to be 

 congratulated on the result of this expenditure. 



CEYLOX. AXXUAL REPORT OF THE OOVERX- 

 MEXr MYCOLOUIST, I'Ml. Circular Xo. /, 

 Vui. II i)f tlif Royal Botanic GarJcnx, Ajjril 190.^. 



It is reported that the canker and pod diseases of caciio 

 are on the decrease on account of the measures a<lopted by 

 the planters to check these pests. The difficulty of dealing 

 with diseased sjtecimens, when these are quite inadeipiate in 

 amount, and are unaccompanied by any information as to soil, 

 situation and previous history of the plant is referred to. 

 ' The task of making recommendations for treatment is then 

 somewhat similar to that of a doctor called ujmju to examine 

 a portion of a de;ul or dying man without any facts al)0uf; 

 the case and asked to recommend a cour.se of treatment.' 

 The leaf and root diseases of tea and the distribution of the 

 sjiores of the fungus causing the former have lieen iii\esti- 

 gated. These simiio distribution experiments were conducted 

 in co-operation with the managers of estates who aiipeai- to 

 have taken a keen interest in the work. The finger-and-toe 

 disease of caljbages and turniiis, caused by the '.slime fungus' 

 Pla^nwiliophora, has made its a)ipearance in Ceylon. A 

 fungus has been noted growing on commercial samples of Para 

 rubber. Extensive measurements of cacao pods have been made 

 in order to determine whether any external characters of the 

 pod can lie used for selection of seed. It was found that the 

 external shajie and size of the fruit affords no criterion as to 

 the commercial value of the seed within and may often be a 

 most misleading character. Some attention luis been devoted 

 to the pollination of cacao, and, so far, only one insect, an 

 aphis, has been found bearing iKillen grains. Cacao seed has 

 been .sent to distant parts of the British Empire with a view 

 of discovering the length of time that the .seed will letKiii its 

 vitality under varying conditions. 



