Vol. I. No. 11. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



163 



SUGAR CROPS OF BARBADOS, 1882-1902. 



Suine weeks ago Mr. J. R. Bovell, the Agricultural 

 Suporinteiirk'iit of- the Sugar-cane Experiments for- 

 warded a memorandum on the susrar and niolas.ses 

 crops of Barbados for the four 3-ears 1899 to 1902 

 inclusive (A(jriciiltur(tl News, p. 131j. Since then 

 Mr. Bi)vell has prepared a furtlier memorandum of the 



sugar and molasses crops fur the j)ast twenty-one years. 

 The principal jmint in connexion with these figures 

 is tlie fact that whereas twenty-one years ago the 

 phxnters of Barbados obtained a profit of nearlj' £11, 

 they now sustain a lo.ss of about £4 for each ton of 

 .sugar and its molasses. 



The data for the cost of production of sugar and molasses fi-oni 1882 to 1887 has been obtained from only a 

 few estates. The cost from 1888 to 1897 is based on data obtained from many estates situated in all the districts of 

 the island. These amounts .should include the cost of a ton of sugar and its 100 gallons of molasses, and also the 

 value of the hogshead and puncheon. 



The average price at which sugar and molasses sold from 1882 to 1893 is taken fi'oni a return prepared for the 

 Hoyal West India Couinnssion and is the mean of the highest and lowest prices in each year. From 1897 to 1902 the 

 prices are the mean of the bi-weekly prices at which sugar and molasses sold during each year's crop season. 



Abnormal Indian Com. The Indian corn or 



maize usually bears its male and female flowers on distinct 

 portions of the plant The males form tlie terminal branched 

 tassel, whilst the female flowers are borne lower down and are 

 indicated by the well-known 'silk' of the young cobs. An 

 interesting example was recently forwarded to the Depart- 

 ment by ;Mr. W. AValcott of the Pine estate, Barbados, 

 in which tlie terminal inflorescene was mixed, consisting of 

 a small cob, bearing normal, nearly ripe corn, surrounded by 

 about a dozen spikes of ordinary male flowers, sucli as 

 comprise a normal tassel. Three other examples of this 

 phenfimcnon have also recently been seen in Earliados, and 

 one was reported from Trinidad. Dr. Maxwell T. ilasters 



states in his well-known book on Vegetable Teratology that 

 the phenomenon is known to occur now and then in the 

 maize jdant in various jjarts of the world. 



Tick Dip. 



The Agricultural Department of Natal after many trials, 

 have decided on the following as a standard dip. It is a 

 modification of Christian's, which was always found the most 

 ett'ective, and is most destructive to tick life, even affecting 

 the parasite in the larval stage. The ingredients are — arsenic, 

 81b ; caustic soda, 4A11>. ; tallow, 81b. ; Stockholm tar, 2A 

 gallons to 400 gallons of water. 



