194 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



OCTOBKR 11, 1902. 



Similarly with loganl to jiine-apples, his Honour H. 

 Hesketh Bfll writes : ' Pines in barrels are a by-wonl in 

 Covent Garden market' (Ayricaltaral Xeus p. IM). 



That the fault lies with the packer and not with 

 the fiuit the recent very successful shipments of 

 oranges, bananas and ])ine-apples from Dominica and 

 Barbados, sufficiently jirove. 



The situation is exactly the same with regard to 

 sweet potatos in the Uiiited States. As we show 

 elsewhere in this number, one set of ])i'(iducers .save 

 some 50 cents per barrel in laboui- etc., in their pack- 

 ing, and, as a result, obtain about .si. 00 per barrel less 

 than tliose who pack carefull}'. 



The question of packing is one demanding the 

 careful attention of every exporter of fruit or vege- 

 tables from the West Indies, for if bad methods of 

 packing are persevered in, their produce will fail to 

 gain the confidence of the market and their industry 

 fail to the ground. 



given by the Bourbon. These figures are summarized 

 in the accfimpanying table : — 



SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



Sugar-cane Experiments at Barbados. 



In iiur last issue a summary was given of the more 

 im])ortant results obtained from the sugar-cane 

 experiments carried out in Barbados during the past 

 season (see pp. 178-9). After stating the conclusions 

 to be drawn from the manurial experiments and 

 presenting a resume of th(> tests with seedling and 

 other canes, 51r. J. R. Hovell proceeded to discuss tlic 

 much debated question of the comparative value of tlu> 

 Bourbon and the varieties of canes at present cultivated. 



BOURBON VERSUS OTHER V.^RIETIES. 



I\Ir. Bovell pointed out, (illustrating his remarks 

 by means of a specially prepared coloiu'ed diagram) 

 that lor the thirty-five years, 18()0 to 1894 inclusive, 

 with an average rainfall of (iO inches, and an average 

 annual application of chemical manure to tiu' value of 

 £r)(i,000, the average yii'ld of the Boui-bon cane foi- the 

 wholi' of Barbados was I'AW tons sugar per acre. 



During 189.5 and 189() the lo.s.ses from the fungoid 

 diseases were very se\ere, so that the yields for tlu' 

 two years nnist be discarded. From 1897 the Bourbon 

 has practically been supplanted by other varieties 

 of canes, and for the )iiiiiid 1897 to 1901 we find 

 that with an average rauilall of (i9 inches and the \ cai'lv 

 aiiplicatioii of chemical manure to the \alue of .CTO.OOO, 

 the average yield of sugar for the whole island has 

 been 1-350 tons j)er acre, or practically the .same as that 



The question may be look at from another point 

 of view. Supposing there had been no other varieties 

 available to replace the Bourbon, what would be the 

 average yield at the present day ? For the past five years 

 the Bourbon cane has been cultivated on the experiment 

 plots, side by side with the other varieties and has 

 given an estimated yield of .S,891 If), of saccharose per 

 acre, as com])ai-ed with U,98(j tl). per acre, yielded by 

 the White Transparent. On this liasis the average 

 yield of sugar from the Bourbon for the last five years 

 would have been at the rate of 0-485 tons per acre. 



The total sugar crop of the island at jiresent, is 

 about 47,000 tons, exclusive of about 5,000 tons, 

 consumed locally. The Bourbon at the above estimate 

 would give a, total crop of about 17,000 tons. 



BAKIiADOS RESULTS COMl'.AREl) WITH oTHEIt I'.UtT.S 

 OF THE WEST INDIES. 



After the conclusion of Mr. Bovell's aildress, 

 Dr. Morris, the Commi.ssioi.er of Agriculture for the 

 West Indies, reviewed the general trend of the sugar- 

 cane experiments, which are being carried on by the 

 Dej)artment, not only in Barbados but also in Antigua, 

 St Kitt's and British Guiana. He jxiinted out the 

 close similarity between the results obtained in 

 Barbados and in the Leew.ird Islands (see Af/riculfiind 

 JVeu-s, p)). '.i') and :?(!). In both Antigua aiul St. Kitt's, 

 as in Barbados, B. 208 stood first in this year's experi- 

 ments. White Ti-ans])arent had done exceedinglv well 

 in Barbados, but in Antigua it was twentieth in order 

 of yield. E\idently in B. 208 we had a very promising 

 seedling caue worthy of cai'efid trial. As Mr. Watts 

 bad said in his report, ' B. 208 presents several good 

 qualities : the juice is exceptionally rich ; the cane is 

 one which we can recommend with some degree of 

 confidence, always renieudieiing that caution is neces- 

 sary in the introduction of anv new variety of Ciine.' 



Jack-in-the-Box Tree. 



On page 11!) of the Aijrirnltii ml .V«'(/-.s- we noted 

 that the Rev. H. Hutson has drawn attention to the 

 occurrence of this jilant in Turner's Hall Wood, 

 Barbados. .Mr. {'. T. .Mmphy the master of Turner's 

 Hall school, a keen agriculturist, wi-ites : — 



Before the jnuricane of 1898 a large ' .lack-in-thc 

 box' tree was to be found in Turner's Hall woml, but was 

 blown down, and at present oidy a few young trees occur 

 near where it stood. Should they flower 1 will try to obtair* 

 and forward specimens of the flower.-*, etc. for the indentifi- 

 cation of the .-ipecies. 



