Vol. I. No. 10. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS 



149 



ENGLISH POTATOS. 



CULTIVATION EXl'ERIME.VTS IX THE WEST IXDIES. 



Attention has been givon by the Imperial 

 Department of Agriculture during the lust three years 

 to the question of growing English potatos in the 

 West Indies. An attempt, suggested by Mr. James 

 Martiand, a leading English merc'iant "interestccl in 

 the subject, was made in 1900 to estal)lish an industry 

 in raising early jjotatos for the Englisii market. 

 Experiments were carried on l)etween December of 

 that year and March 1901 by the local officers of tlie 

 Dei^artment at Barbados, St. Vincent, Dominica, 

 Montserrat and St. Kitt's-Nevis. The seed was 

 obtainecl fron^i Mr. Martiand and arrived in the West 

 Indies in November. During the severe drought 

 experienced in tliese islands at the close of 1900, the 

 plants suffered severely and were also attacked by both 

 insect and fungoid pests. Owing to these drawbacks, 

 the results obtained were unsatisfactory. The total 

 yield of potatos rarely exceeded 4 tons per acre. 

 O /er GO per cent, of the tuber?, in some eases, were 

 either damaged or undersized and therefore unsaleable. 

 After discarding these, the sound potat(W were shipped 

 to England and offered for sn.le in the London and 

 Liverpool markets. The reports received with regard 

 to these shipments were not favourable, the potatos 

 only realizing from th. to S-'. per cwt. A further 

 sowing was made in the same islands in December 

 of 1901. The results of these experiments may be 

 gathered from the reports of the officers in charge them. 

 At Bnrbadon Mr. J. R. Bovell, the ,Sup°rinten- 

 dent of the Botanic Station, writes: — 'When these 

 potatos arrived the long drought had just commenced 

 so that not only did the potatos grow 'badl\- but there 

 ■was practically no result, the "seed" that did grow 

 producing potatos about the size of walnuts. This I 

 think is in great measure due not only to the droufht 

 but also to the lact that they were planted too latL-^in 

 the season. In confirmation of this, I may mention 

 that at the request of the Hon'ble Dr. John Sealy, I 

 imparted three barrels of " Bliss Triumph" potatos from 

 Messrs. Peter Henderson & Co., of New York, the 

 potatos arriving here on November 8. These potatos, 

 in .spite of the tironght, did fairly well.' A memoran- 

 dum of the results of this experiment was prepared by 

 Dr. Sealy and shows that from one sixth of an acre, 

 740 11). of marketable potatos wore obtained at a cost, in- 

 cluding artificial manure, of .*?9.01. Placing the market 

 value of the potatos at 2c. jjer It), there appeared a net 

 profit on the tran.saction of $5.79 or about S3.5 per acre. 

 From .S7. Vincent, Jlr. Powell, the Curator of the 

 Botanic Station, reports : ' The plot of English potatos 

 at the Botanic Station, at one time very promisino- 

 was almost entirely destroyed by mole crickets. From 

 1| acres only 18 It), of potatos were obtained.' 



At Donunicii, Mr. Jones, the Curator of the 

 Botanic Station, mentions that 'the results were poor. 

 One barrel of " Scottish Trinmphs," which again did 

 better than the other kinds, was sent to Barbados and 

 realized §4.00.' 



At Moiitsci-fttt, Mr. Jordan, the Agricultural 

 Instructor, states : ' The English potatos have not done 



well agiin this year owing to late planting. In the 

 early part of February the plants looked as healthy and 

 pronusing as any I have seen in England, but just at 

 the time the tubers were forming, dry weather was 

 experienced, with the result that, when dug, the potatos 

 were found to be numerous but very small. It is 

 evident that good results cannot be expected if the 

 pitatos are planteil later than the middle of October.' 

 At ,SV. Kift.-i, ilr. Lunt, the Cur.itor of the Botanic 

 Station, mentions: 'A further experiment with potatos 

 (English) was conducted. The results were not .satis- 

 factory and tend to prove that we cann(jt obtain what 

 are recognized as ncxv poUtfos here, their fiavour and 

 condition when reajied being precisely that of old 

 potatos.' 



At Jurinticii where corrresponding ex])eriments 

 were conducted in 1900-01 (./o«r/(«; of the ./(Oiviica 

 A(jrirnltLU;il Soviet i/. Vol. V., pp. 237-241) the reports 

 show that while s,-itistactory yields were obtained on 

 the upper lands, the crop on the lowlands was a failure 

 owing to drought. Both at Jamaica and in the 

 Windward and Leeward Islands the variety of potatos 

 known as the ' Scottish Tnnmj)h' was found to be by 

 far the most suitable for cultivation under all conditions 

 of soil and climate. 



S;) far as the smaller islands are concerned, 

 the results of these experiments, although not so 

 succe.ssful as was anticipated, yet afford valuable 

 information to those who may think of taking up the 

 industry at any future period. It is important to bear 

 in mind that while on the cool highlands the time 

 of planting may be slightly extended', on the lowlands, 

 owing to the risk of drought duriug the months of 

 November to Februar}-, successful results can onlv be 

 expected if the potatos are planted out early in October, 

 and it would always be of advantage if they could be 

 irrigated during spells of dry weather. 



LIME INDUSTRY OF MONTSERRAT. 



The following extract is taken from t\\r Mmitxer- 

 rdt Hendd of August 9, 1902: — 



It is just three years since the lime industry of the 

 Montserrat Company was destroyed, and so complete was the 

 destruction, that it was intimated that the Company had 

 contemplated [lacking nj) and cleai-ing out of the island to 

 establislied themselves somewhere else outside tlie hurricane 

 zone. It was not until after Mr. Joseph Sturge, the Director, 

 came from Birmingham and visited the .scene of devastation 

 ill the fall of the year, that it was decided to re-establish the 

 lime cultivation on a limited scale. Six years was the time 

 computed for the company to get any return on their outlay. 

 But the rapid growth and healthy appearance of the limes, 

 and the bearing of some in less than three years have been 

 something marvellous. That the pro.spect of the Company 

 for the_ year is 600 casks of raw and concentrated juice is 

 surpassing the most sanguine expectation. And this shows 

 how adapted is the soil of this i.sland to the growth of the 

 lime. It is to be hoi>eil that the outlook may encourage the 

 Company to extend their cultivation. That Mr. Driver the 

 Comi>any's Attorney, and his coadjutors are deserving of 

 praise goes without saying. So far as the lime industry goes, 

 if everything else in the island were as hopeful, in five years' 

 time, the material condition of the Presidency would be in a 

 healthy state. 



