Vol. I. No. G. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



93 



liHITISlI <;UIAXA. AXXUAL REPORT ON 

 THE HOT A SIC <!ARDES, I'-IOl^.'. By B. Gaiiifdrt, Act- 

 ing Sniieriiitenilciit. 



Mr. Gaiiifort liaving been in eliarge of the Gardens for 

 only a short time attemiits no more tlian ' a bare record of 

 work done a.s shown by reconls, together with extracts from a 

 report which lias been prepared by the Head Gardener who 

 toiik charge imnicdiitely after Mr. .Jenni.in's death' in 

 Febnury last. (See ji. 2'J). 



'J"he nietorological tables, given in their usnal detail, 

 show amongst other points a rainfall for the year of 82".SS 

 indies. Over $1,.000 worth of plants and iiroduce Avere sold 

 or supplieil to Government Institntions. A large number of 

 ]ialms and other trees have been planted out during the year. 

 The oldest plant of the I'alniyra palm, (Bonis.tuK Jlahfl/i/i'r) 

 bore an immen.se. crop of yellowish brown fruit, and a younger 

 ]ilant has also liorne a ci'op. 



The native rubber plant, Supiiiin Jeiimnnii, known as 

 ' Touckjiong' by the Carabisi Indians and ' Cumakaballi' by 

 tlie Arawacks, Howered in the Gardens for the first time in 

 .June. All the flowers were male. Amongst other items 

 of economic interest it is reported that special attention 

 has been devoted to raising a stock of grafted mangos and 

 good \arieties oforange.s. 



moist tropics like Central America. The value <if the 

 point of view of shade put forward in this bulletin like 

 that of any theory whatever, lies in the experimen- 

 tal work to which it gives rise. If exi>erinients are set 

 on foot to test, quantitatively, the value of leguminous 

 sliide trees, and to find out that djgreo of shade which gives 

 the best results from the planters point of view, this 

 bulletin will have served its purpose. What is wanted in 

 this (pieition are scientifically planned experiments on a 

 sutficiently large scale to siitisfy [iractical men to determine 

 the exact i)oint when the benefits derived from the nitrogcn- 

 colle<'ting ba<-teria in the root nodules of the shade trees 

 are greatest without unduly diiiiinishing the crop by cutting 

 off too much light from the coffee or cacao trees. Too 

 dense shade would seriously diminish the crop by inter- 

 fering with assimilation. Too little shade would not give 

 the requisite amount of nitrogen to the soil. In other words, 

 an answer is required to the (juestion — How much shade 

 gives the best results ] The answer can only be given by 

 experiments. 



The bulletin concludes with a list of the shade trees in 

 use in the trojiics with notes on the more important ones. 

 To Exjieriment .Station workers and to all interested in 

 the (juestion of shade in troiiical agriculture, we recommend 

 this work for careful stuily as an able and comprehensive 

 treatise on the subject. 



SHADE IX COFFEE CULTURE. P,y (). F. Gooic. 

 Bulletin 2''>, DiuUioii of IJotany, United Sta'es Drjiarl inent 

 of Af/ricit/tiire, I'JOl. 



The recent accpiirement of tropical territory by the 

 United States in the East and West Indies has been followed 

 by considerable activity on the part of the Department of 

 Agriculture in those regions. The iireliminary steps towards 

 the formation of Exi)eriincnt Stations in l^orto Rico and the 

 Philliliines have been taken and a sjiecial agent in tropical 

 agriculture, Mr O. F. Cook, has been appointed. Among 

 the Bulletins from the pen of this investigator, that entitled 

 ' Shade in Coffee cultivation' certainly takes the first place. 

 The main idea of this bulletin is, that where shade trees 

 have been found beneficial in cultivation like cacao and 

 coffee, they have been leguminous trees, and their value 

 depends rather on the fertility imparted to the soil by their 

 root nodules than on th3 shade they imj)art. Tc-itiniony 

 in favour of shade has come almost entirely from Central 

 America, Venezuela and Columbia where it is the custom to 

 plant leguminous trees with coffee. In Brazil and the East 

 Indies where experiments have been made with figs and 

 other nondeguniinous trees, theory and [iractice are generally 

 opposed to the use of shade. These I'ontrary ideas can be 

 reconciled if we consider that the coffee and cacao iilanters 

 of the Central American region have been |)ractising, uncon- 

 sciously, a system of soil ferf ility just as have the agricul- 

 turists of temperate regions when employing leguminous crojis 

 like clovers and vetches in their rotations. Unless this 

 explanation is the correct one, it is difficult to under- 

 stand why shade trees .should be so presisteutly planted in 



Rubber Planting in Ceylon. 



The following extract from the Report for lOOl of 

 the Royal Botanic tiarden.'?, Ceylon, will be of inti-re.st 

 to rubber jjlanter.s in the West Indie.s. It .sho\v« that 

 higher prices are being obtained for carefully prejiared 

 Hevea or Para rubber grown in Ceylon than for the 

 best sam])les of South American Para rubber: — 



India rubber may now be regarded as e.stablished as 

 a minor product in the low-country, and an ex}K)rt of appre- 

 ciable quantities of Hevea or Para rubber has begun ; (Hi cwt. 

 valued at Rs. 11,980, were exported in 1901 to England. 

 Being carefully prepared, this rubber is of excellent quality, 

 and has sold for prices much exceeding those of the best Para 

 rubber sold o)i the same market from wild .sources. On one 

 occasion 4.s. I.','/, per lb. wa.s received for good biscuit, against 

 3.S-. 9.','/. for th'i best Para. A recent market re[iort .says: Ceylon 

 sells with eager competition. The ruliber is much liked, and 

 in large quantities would bring high }irices. Extension of 

 jilauting continues in suitable districts, and probably .■i,000 

 acres are now in rubber. In most cases the rubber is mixed 

 with tea and planted by roads and ravines, and perhaps this 

 is for most estates the most satisfactory method <if planting 

 under present circumstances. 



Composition of Cassava. 



The yield of cassiiva roots on well irrigated land may be 

 more than .'?:i,000 11). per acre. The percentage composition 

 of the roots (mean of six analyses) i.s as follows : — 



Water ... ... ... ... 70" 25 



Starch ... ... ... ... -'1- 44 



Nitrogenous matter ... ... ... I"12 



(!rude fibre ... ... ... .•■ I'll 



Sugar ... ..- ... ... 5' 13 



Ether extract ... ... ... 0-41 



Ash 0- 54 



(Journal Chemical Society, May, 1902.^ 



