104 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



July 19, 1902. 



JC^P" 





WEST INDIAN FISHERIES. 



Tarpon in Jamaica. 



The int'onuiition j)ublishi'(l in tliu A(jricnlfariil 

 Neivs, (p. 72) lespectiiig Tarpon in Jamaica has been 

 sup))k'nientod by some interesting notes, enntributed 

 by JMr. S. F. Moj-es. It would seem that lieretotbre 

 tarpon fishing had been confined to the rivers to which 

 fishing parties periodically resorted and obtained good 

 .sport. Holland p(jnd has now attracted attention and 

 is likely to afford excellent fishing. Mr. Moyes writes: — 



HoIUukI ])C)iid is very deej). I liave seen liuiidred.s of 

 tarpon 'freak' there wliij.st shooting crocodiles; hut I only 

 trawled for tari)on once : baiting or fly fishing 1 con.sider 

 better. I have discovered that tarpon liite Ijest in the early 

 morning and in a rising tide : also fairly well in the evening, 

 especially on rising water. 1 believe mullet bait the best and 

 a kerb hook. Fishing parties here made a great mistake at 

 first by using hooks too small and rods too light. The result 

 was that, although many large fish, sometimes 1-5 to 30 lb. 

 weight, were hooked, few were landed liecause they invariably 

 broke the hooks or the rod.s and .so escaped. 



Our season here commences towards tlie end of Marrli 

 and \'irtually closes in August. 



Di'. J. E. Duerden has kindly forwarded a copy uf 

 the following letter from Mr. Jas. H. Cox of Kingston, 

 Jamaica, on the .same stdi)ect : — 



Dlj.serving the incjuiry re ' Tarfion,' 1 may mention 

 that the Yallahs i>oud ha.s a large sup|jly. 1 lia\e very 

 little time for ti.sliing or other sport, but with an ordinary 

 line, and bait of sea roach, I have hauled in on a 

 Sunday morning, at my place, lit. George, three monsters 

 weighing 53, .58, and 44 It)., respectively. I have .seen float- 

 ing on tlie pond the halves of several which had been chopped 

 in two by alligators, which ap|iean'd tn me larger than 

 those I caught. A.s I never indulge to any extent in fishing, 

 I cannot .say which arc the best seasons, but very fre<|nently 

 1 have caught (without any further trouble than baiting the 

 hook and casting it into the ponds and fastening it to a stick 

 stuck in the beach) large jacks, and once or twice calii)evers. 

 Snooks and jacks and alligators are plentiful in these ponds. 



VOLCANIC DUST AT JAMAICA. 



Aftei- the recciil volcanii- eiiipl imis reports wen- 

 received of dust falling in thr highl.-iiids nf .l.unaica. 

 Jlr. }l. H. (/ousins, the .\gricultural ("hrunst nf tli.-it 

 Colony, repoi'ts that he has received a sample ti-om 

 Mr. 8. T. Schar.schmidt. from Hanbury, Shooters Hill, 

 Manchester. This was comjiared with a sample of the 

 dust which fell at Barbados, forwarded to Mr. Cousins 

 by the Im))eriai ])e])artmiiit of Agriculture, and 'Ibuiid 

 to be indent ical therewith ill general coin|iositioii. It 

 was, of I'ourse, filler in gr.ide, but was otherwise 

 identical.' 



GARDEN NOTES. 



Recently while on a visit to Antigua there was 

 noticed an interesting instance of the way the Sacred 

 or Water Bean, .sometimes, but incorrectly, called the 

 Lotus, bean ( ychnnbia m fpecloffain) had established 

 itself in a wild state in the island. This lovely plant 

 with beautiful rosy flowers, on long slender stalks, had 

 taken comjilete possession of a large pond on the right 

 hand side of the high road leading from St. John's to 

 Parham. The jiond was some distance from any 

 dwelling and was surrounded by long grass and brush- 

 wood. It is seldom that so striking and beautiful a 

 jiieture is seen even in the trojiics. 



Fig. 9. NELUMUIUM LITHUM. 



(From tlic l>!rf!„i,n,-ii ,.f ll.uil' u!,,;/.) 

 It is stated th.il this plant (a native of the East 

 Indies) has, similarly, become wild in some parts of 

 British (iuiana. The y<'llow dowered Xrliniihl iint 

 inicinii. .-I nati\e of .lamaiea and the Southern 

 Cnited States is cult i\aled .It the liotauic (iardeiis at 

 l)omiiii<-;i .-iiid elsewhere in the Wt'st Indies. We 

 wiiiild be glad of notes of any other interesting foreign 

 plants that are establishing themselves in these 

 colonies. 



The Banana leaf. The gigantic leaves of the Kauana 

 when gi<iwing Inxuiiantly are one of the glories of the 

 tropics. The large green leaf-lilade is all in one jiiece and 

 soft and pleasant to the touch. This indicates that the 

 plant will grow best in fairly moist situations and where the 

 air is still. When planted in windy jilace.s, the leaves of 

 llic liaiiana soon become s|ilit up into strips. They cannot 

 thru prrtoriM tlirir work to the liest advantage. Conse- 

 i|ucnlly bananas do not thrive so well in windy situations. 



