172 



THE AORICULTUUAL NEWS. 



Ski'tembek 13, 1902.. 



£^'«^.W^''^**^-^- 'f^'_'M^'S^~ 



NEWS FROM THE ISLANDS. 



The Hon'bk' William Fawcett, IJ.Sc, F.L.S., lia.s Iicl-ii 

 ai)i>oiiited rejire.sentative for Jamaica at the Iiiteinatioiial 

 Plant Ereediiig Convention to be held in New York on 

 September 30 and October 1 and 2 next. 



I'nibrella aut.s are reported to l)e troublesome to culti- 

 vated piant.s at IhitL-^h Guiana, Trinidad, Tobago and 

 Carriacou. The mo.st effective remedy i.s carbon bisulpliiile 

 soaketl in cotton wool and [ilaced in the nest.s (See 

 Agricultural Kcicn, p. 140. 



The third series of lectures to teachers of tlie Elementary 

 Schools at Montserrat and the Virgin Islands is jirojiosed to 

 be delivered bj- Mr. George Whitfield Smith in November 

 next. 



Onion-growing from sets is often a surer method tliiin 

 from seed. A .small iiro[)rietor at Montserrat has succe.ssfuUy 

 raised his own sets this year. The right method for growing 

 onion sets is described in the A^ricullurcl Xcirs, page loU. 



In onler to assist in improving the breed of beef and 

 milch cattle at St. Vincent, the Im|)erial l)e|iartmeiit of 

 Agriculture has allotted a special grant to that island for the 

 purchase of a thnniugh-bred Hereford bull. 



Tlic I'.iirliados Legislature has recently \(ited £100 'to 

 be ]ilaced at the disposal of the lini>erial Department of 

 Agriculture for the West Indies to meet expenses in connexion 

 ■with the attempts which are being carried out by the 

 Department to establish the sale of local [jroduce in English 

 and other maikets.' 



At .Mont.serrat the I'apaw is grown in nearly every yard 

 and small garden, and the milk obtained from the fresh fruit 

 is sold for making into papain. (See Ai/ririilliintl A'i'ir.t, 

 pp. 4-").) According to the local instructor, this plant, which 

 is almost neglected el.sewherc, 'afford.s a means of livelihnnd 

 to many of the jieasantry.' 



Mr. Hart has kindly contriliute<l seeds of a fine large- 

 giiava known in Trinidad as the Ited or Cayenne Gnava. It 

 has fewer seeds than the ordinary kind and is tilled witli 

 a sweet reddish pulli. (See Triniddtl /liilli-tin, Octolier 1900). 



An interesting plot to be called 'Coronation I'lot,' laid 

 out with ornamental plants and in ganlen beds for the use of 

 the children attending the .\nglican, Wesleyan and Itonian 

 Catholic schools at Plymouth, Montserrat, was recently 

 tipened by his Ibmour the Commissioner (.Mr. V. II. W'atkiiis.) 



Mr. Cieorge S. Hudson, the Agricultund Instructor at 

 St. Lucia, during the last fortnight has visiteil almost every 

 locality in that island and his rejKirt inilicates tliat liis 

 .services are becoming increasingly useful to flic planting 

 comnmnity. 



The Date Palm trees, including the celebrated Tafilat 

 variety obtained fiom .\lgeria in 1S9I and ]ilanted at Co})se 

 Cro.s.s, Antigua, fruited for the first time in 1S95. We regret 

 to learn that the trees are now badly attacked by a fungus, 

 disease. This is a connnon disea.se on half-wild date palm* 

 in the West Indies and requires careful attention. 



.\bout 1") acres of Goveriunent land adjoining Morne- 

 r.ruce, suitable for the cultivation of lime, cacao and food 

 crops are about to be added for the use of the .\gricultural 

 .school at Dominica. 



Mr. .loncs the Curator reports that a Garden Pavilion, 

 a cloak room and other buildings have recently been added- 

 to the llotanic Station at Dominica. 



as- 



Several jilots of ChoisenI, Piura and Kidney cotton liave 

 recently been planfeil at the Kiviere Doree station at 

 St. Lucia. Sea Island cotton will be planted as soon 

 .seed is obtainable. 



A special ert'ort is being made by the .\ntigua .\gricnl- 

 tural Society to enlist the interest of all clas.ses of the- 

 CDmmunity in the .\gricultural Show proiiosed to be held in 

 December next. .Mr. Sands is giving lectures an<l addresses. 

 in the country districts and numerous hand liills have been 

 tlistiibuted uiviiig d\ie notice of the Slinw. 



The war in \'euezuela has stopped the export of cattle- 

 thence to Trinidail. Tobago offers good opportunities for 

 raising cattle, guinea gras.s lieing wild throughout the i.sland 

 and the islanil should be able to raise cattle for the 

 Trinidad market. 



The mango cmp at the Botanic Station, (ircnada, this- 

 year, is reported as ipnte a failure: even the (irenada 

 Ceylon No. 1. which has hitherto fndted freely and regularly 

 failed ti> pri>duce a single panicle of flowers. 



The Cotton Gin, obtained some months ago by the- 

 Imiierial De]iartnient for u.se in the Leeward Island.s, ha.s 

 recently been at work at St. Kitt's, cleaning .some S,000 lb. 

 of seed cotton. It is hoped that next year, if circumstances- 

 permit, tliciT will b^ a steam gin at St. Kitf,s. 



.\mongst the wild animal.s of Tobago is the Manacou or 

 Opo.ssum. It is very commoi\ and destructive to iionltry, 

 fre<piently raiding the yards and killing and carrying otT 

 fowls. The young are carried by their mothers in a pouch, 

 like the Kangaroo. 



The u.-iele.ssness of shipping undersized jiines of ])oor 

 i|Uality to the London Market may be judged from the fact 

 that of a recent .shijiment of two barrels from one of tlie.se 

 island.s, 40 sold at 'Id. a )>iece, 2^ at b/., while the remainder 

 were reported as 'wurthless.' An average lot of pines from 

 two other West Indian Islands fetched 3(/. to 9</. eadi 

 whilst .some special Dominica pines have realized '2.<. ."V/. each. 



.\n exceptionally heavy fall of rain was exjierienced at 

 the Uofanic- Statiiin, Tobago, on .\ngust 'Jl, Lt<9 inches of 

 rain falling in forty-five minutes. Considerable damage was- 

 ilone to .seed beds and roads at the Station imd several 

 landslips occurred throughout the island. 



