102 



THE AGRICULTUKAL NEWS. 



July 19, 1902. 



EDITORIAL NOTICES. 



Letters and matter for iiuhlication, as well as all 

 specimens for naming should be addressed to the Commis- 

 sioner, Imperial Department of Agriculture, 

 Barbados. 



It is iiarticularly reijuested that no letters lie addressed 

 to any menilier of the stall' by name iSueli a course may 

 entail delay. 



Communications should always be written on one side 

 of the jiaper only. It should be understood that no contri- 

 butions or sji(.-(_-inii'us will, in any case, be returned. 



All application for copies of the 'Agricultural 

 News' should be addressed to the Agents, and 

 not to the Department. A comiilctc list of the Londoii 



and Local agents will be found on the last page of this 

 number. 



Correspondents sending news])apers should be careful to 

 mark the paragraphs they wish to bring under notice. 



Ca.ses fiirhnUling the nuniber.s of the Aiiririiltiiinl Ni-irs, 

 with gilt lettered, leather backs, may be nbtained fmni the 

 '.\dvcicate' (_)Wice, Bridgetown, Barbados. Price 2.s. Post free 

 2.S. 4</. 



^gricuhuriil ^leiufi 



Vol. I. SATURDAY, JULY 19, 1902. No. 7. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Grape Fruit 



In the Exports <>[' Jainaica Ibr tlio yoar 1!)01 

 (p.92) grapes were, by accident, in.sertc<l instead of 

 grajiu-truit. So far a.s we are aware grapes, although 

 more widely cvdtivated in Jamaica than formerly, have 

 not yet been exported in ajipi'eciable quantities. On 

 the other hand the grape fruit (a highly esteemed 

 variety of the shaddock) has been a rt'cognised article 

 <if export for many years, sometimes, amovmting to the 

 value of £10,000 per annum. 



Toronto Exhibition 1902. 



'I'he arrangements for this great Canadian Fair to 

 be o[)ene(l at Toronto at the end of next month are 

 advancing rapidly. We learn that the ))roduets of 

 British Guiana, Trinidad and most of the West Indian 

 Colonies are likely to be well re])re.sented. Mi'ssrs. 

 I'ic-kford & Black, Limited, are doing all they can to 

 assist by the free transist of exhibits and they will, also, 

 arrange them attractively in their places. The last 

 "H)])ortmiity for shi])ping cured produce, intended fir 

 this Kxhibition, will be i)y S.S. ' Ocamo' as follows: — 

 Demerara, July 2.5; Trinidad, July 2(i : liarbados, 

 July 29: St. Vincent, July :iO; St.' Lucia, July :{0 : 

 Dominica, July 'M : Abmt.serrat, August I ; .\ntigua, 

 August 2 : St Kitts, August 4. Further information 

 may be obtained from the Agents of the Pickford & 

 Jjlack Steamsliip Comjiany, Limited, in t'ach Colony. 



Bird Migrants in the West Indies. 



The season is fast approaching when the large 

 annual flight of bird migrants, plover, teal, snipe, 

 duck etc., will be passing over these islands. It is 

 stated that about firty species appear at Barbados 

 between the beginning and end of August, but they 

 merely alight here on their ])assage to some ilistant 

 land. If a southerly wind and laiu prevail they are 

 .said to rest a short while, whereas fine weather tempts 

 them to continue their flight. The birds no doubt 

 are migrants from the inainlaiid of North America 

 and they aj)pear to tiy, especially during fine weather, 

 to the east. That would bring them to the coast 

 of West Africa: but there is no doubt a large nural)er, 

 jio.ssibly the l)ulk of them, travel south to thi' mainland 

 of South America. A fiirly complete list of the bird 

 migrants that visit these islands wotild be an interest- 

 ing contribution to the pages of this Journal. 



Birds and Insect Pests. 



It is observed that increased attention is being 

 devoted in these Colonies to the protection of native 

 l)irds, both ornamental and useful. Birds are admitted 

 to be the most attractive and interesting mendjers of 

 our fiuna and every effort should be made to inerea.se 

 their numbers. Amongst nations the care of bird-life 

 fir song and beauty is regarded as a sign of advancing 

 civilization. Apart from the pleasure afforded b}' their 

 j)resence many birds are valuable, if not essential, to 

 our success in agricultural pursuits. 'I"he insect-feeding 

 birds are the means of saving an a])preeiable share of 

 our crops every year. The Barbados blackbird, to talie 

 a single instance, has been known to save a large field 

 of sweet potatos from being destroyed by caterpillars, 

 and the numerous tiy-cat(thers tend to reduce within 

 reasonable limits the plague of flies and beetles that 

 otherwise would not only seriously interfere with our 

 comfoi't but attack our fruit and other crops. 



Ornamental Seeds. 



There are numerous West Indian seeds of an 

 ornamental character that deserve to be more widely 

 known. The following are a few of the accessible 

 sorts : Horse-eye beans. Nicker beans (grey, black, 

 yellow, orange and white), Circassian beans, Crab-eyes, 

 (\iral beans, (red with black spots), So.-iji-berry, Job's 

 ti'ai's, ilannuee-a])ple seeds, Indian shot, Wild tamarind, 

 Cru-gru, and Velvet seeds. The latter are somewhat 

 rai'e and founfl only at British (luiana and Jamaica. 

 The })resent age is one in which there is a great 

 demand for curios* and the increasing number of 

 winter visitors to these Colonies shi>id<l enable aged 

 j)eople, and those who are only able to fdlow light, 

 .sedentary occuii.ations, to establish (piite a small 

 industry in mounting and preparing the orr.aniental 

 seeds of the West Indies. 



Budding and Grafting Fruit Trees. 



The regular and jurmanent improvement of West 

 Indian fruit of all kinds is a matter of the utmost 

 imjiiirtance. It is desirable, in these days, we should 



