A FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW 



OF THE 



IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR THE WEST INDIES. 



Vol. I. No. 1.3. 



BARBADOS, OCTOBER 11, 1902. 



Price 1(/. 



CONTENTS. 



P.\GE 



*' Agrioultund News, " 

 coniiuents on 205 



Botanic Gardens, value 

 of ... 201 



British Guiana, Agricul- 

 tural Sliows in 20.5 



Cacaij in St. Lucia ... 190 



Canada and tlie West 

 Indies, Trade between. . . 201 



Cotton Growing in An- 

 tigua 195 



Cotton Seed and its By- 

 products 195 



Department News 203 



Dejiartnient l'ublicati(jns 207 



Department Reports : — 

 Antigua, Economic Ex- 

 periments 205 



Grape culture at Jamaica 19(5 



Oren.ida, Limes in 195 



Insect Notes : — 



Clothes moths, new 



remedy i«v 200 



Game birds, usefulness 

 of 200 



Page. 



Insect Notes (continued). 

 Insects attacking sweet 



potatos 



Maribunta at (irenada 

 Mealy-bug in Trinidad 

 ' Scavenger' Fly 



Jack-in-the-box tree 



Market Reports 



News from the Islands ... 



Notes and Comments 



Onion seedlings 



Our Book Shelf : — 



Check list of the Forest 



trees of U.S.A. 

 Natural History of 

 Plants 



Packing for Expurt 



Poultiy 



St. Lucia, cacao in 



St. Vincent volcanic dis- 

 turbances 



Sugar Industry : — 



Experiments at Barba- 

 dos 



Vanilla cultivatii )n ... 



their produce on the market in a sound condition. It 

 is no easy task to accomplish this off hand. We must 

 know the exact .stage at which each kind of fruit or 

 vegetable must be gathered in order to keep sound 

 during its long journey, and amve in England or 

 America in the best state. We also have to learn how- 

 to treat the produce between picking and packing : the 

 conditions necessary to allow 'ripening' to proceed 

 during voyage, and to prevent chilling and rotting. 

 On all these points knowledge has in the past been 

 gained bv experience, and the general precautions 

 necessary for the successful export of fruit and vege- 

 tables are now fairly well known although, unfortunately, 

 not always acted upon. 



200 

 2(H) 

 200 

 203 

 194 

 200 

 204 

 198 

 197 



203 



203 

 193 

 202 

 19(3 



201 



194 

 197 



Packing for Export. 



^ HfNi^ HROUGHOUT the West Indies, an increas- 

 r^ ^Sj ^"S number of people, year by year, take 

 ^^few^ some part in raising and packing perishable 

 produce for distant markets. All alike, whether 

 interested in oranges, bananas, pine-apples, onions or 

 sweet potatos, have the same object, the placing of 



One 2)oint the experience of the past has clearly 

 brought out, and that is, the absolute necessity of 

 careful packing. A man may raise the finest oranges 

 or pine-apples in the West Indies, ho may gather 

 them at the right moment, and handle them carefully, 

 but, unless they arc well packed, his trouble is to a 

 great extent thrown away, for they are practicall}- 

 certain to arrive on the market in poor condition. 



At the last Agricultural Conference the question 

 of regulating the (juality of exported fruit was brought 

 forward by the Hon'ble Sydney Olivier, C.M.G., Colonial 

 Secretary of Jamaica. He pointed out that bad 

 packing was responsible for the disrepute into which 

 some West Indian fruit was falling in the English 

 market. 'AH the buyers have been frightened ofif 

 Jamaica oranges and will not touch them on an}- 

 account' (Wed Indian Bulletin, Vol. Ill, p. 131). 



