Vol. I. No. 13. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



199 



no attention to trrfiding', and their .stock roaches market 

 abraded and brui.sed from jolting in loosel}' filled 

 barrels.' The packers economize in various ways, to 

 the extent of 50 cents, and as a result lose §1.00 

 on each barrel. 



To quote further I'min the Bnlli'tiii : The 

 essential point is that the .Simthern man can produce 

 as good ]iotatos as the Jersey man, and at as small 

 cost. When nature has done her part for both, 

 one goes to work in a .systematic way, separates his 

 marketable pi^tatos into two siz^s, packs them carefully 

 in full-sized barrels, puts in a wooden head under 

 pressure, stencils his initials on the barrel, sends it to 

 market and puts mcjney in bank. The other is care- 

 less in his packing. He saves something on barrel, 

 cover, labour, and potatos, but on the whole operation, 

 ■when he strikes a full market, ho loses time, labour and 

 money. But the market is not always low, so he does 

 not always lose money on a year's operations.' 

 —^^^ ♦ -^ 



Crated versus Uncrated Bananas. 



In his Annual Report for lUOl-02 of the Dominica 

 Botanic Garden, Mr. J. Jones the Curator records the 

 following interesting experiment. In August [1!)01] 

 sx trial shipment of fifty bunches of bananas was made, 

 und('r the direction of his Honour the Administrator, 

 to London, p^r Royal Mail Steamer via Barbados, with 

 the view of discovering whether bananas cut at the 

 right stage would reach the market in good condition. 

 Twenty-five of the bunches were crated and the 

 remainder wrapped in banana trash to protect them 

 while being handled and during transhi]jment. The 

 crated bananas arrived in good order and realizefl from 

 6s. to Gs. (}(L per bunch at a time when the market was 

 glutted with fruit of all kinds. The uncrated bunches 

 showed considerable wastage. The highest price 

 obtaine<l for the best of these was 4'*. per bunch. 



The ex|)eriment with the crated bananas was very 

 successful. The fruit was spoken of as being of good 

 quality, and it shows that bananas cut at the right 

 stage and carefully packed can be placed in good ortlei- 

 on the London market even during the hottest months 

 of the \'e;ir. 



who has j)aid sever.- 

 trade condition.s. 

 first place, to impn 

 that 'the onlv thine 



The Work of Travelling Instructors. 



Amongst our ' News from the Islamls' in this 

 number, two instances are given of the work which is 

 being done by the Ti'avelling Instructors of the 

 Department. The duties of these instructors are to 

 travel in the country districts, and demonstrate, practi- 

 cally, sound methods of cultivation and to assist the 

 people generally in their efforts to obtain a living from 

 the soil. The value of such Instructors has long been 

 recognized, and they are now to be found in almost 

 every island in the West Indies. Trinidad has recentl}' 

 decided to adopt their services and two Travelling 

 Instructors have been appointed for that Colony within 

 the last few months. 



West Indian Trade with Canada. 



The Maritime Merchavt for August 14, last, 

 prints an interesting interview with Mr. Charles 

 Pickford of the Pickford and Black Steamship Company, 



visits to the West Indies to study 



Whilst frankly seeking, in the 



rove Canada's trade, he points out 



V..,., „.....f^ standing in the way of our 



[Canada] securing as nuich of the trade as we want is 

 the question of sugar imjwrt.s. ... It is uphill work to 

 do business in the West Indian market unless you are 

 prepared not only to .sell but to buy.' 



The same view is expressed in the resolution 

 pa.ssed at the Canadian Manufacturers' Association, 

 reprinted on page 201. We trust the practical result 

 may be an extended market for West Indian sugar. 



Feeding Poultry. 



The attention of all interested in poultry keeping 

 is directed to the articles, in this and our last issue, on 

 ' Feeding Poultry,' by Mr. John Bai-clay of the Agri- 

 cidtural Society, Jamaica. The haphazard methods 

 often adopted and the use of wrong foods are the cause 

 of much waste of money, and of a considerable share 

 of the comjmrative failure many people experience 

 with jioultry. 



Mr. Barclay jioints out that Indian corn alone 

 is not a good food but contains too much fat and starch 

 in projiortion to fiesh-forming materials'. Its use in 

 excess is often the cause of death from 'apople.xy.' His 

 advice with regard to planting waste ground in pigeon 

 peas, etc., seems a good one, and, as he says, shoulil 

 result in enrichment of the land in additoin to keep- 

 ing the fowls in a healthy condition. 



Black Blight in Grenada. 



Black Blight ap])ears to bo attacking trees in 

 Grenada on a more serious scale than usual, and the 

 pest is sj>reading along the Leeward Coast. More 

 accurately, the scale insects of Grenada are becoming 

 more abundant and are showing themselves by an 

 evident increase in the black blight that so constantly 

 follows the attack of certain species. Such an attack 

 can be met only in one of two ways : either the owners 

 of affected trees must treat them, using a spra^'ing 

 machine to kill the scale insects, or the trouble can be 

 fought on a large scale with a 2>i"operly equipped 

 spraying outfit. In any case, the work necessary is 

 probably more arduous and costly than is warranted by 

 the value of the tribes. 



This attack emphasizes very strongly the need of 

 regulations to prevent scale insects being introduced. 

 The scale insects attacking mango and breadfruit in 

 Grenada are hit nxl need Hpecicft brought from outside 

 the West Indies on plants. The}- are now established 

 in the island and it will not be easj' to check them, 

 nor will regulations now made be of value as regards 

 these species, but regulations will serve to keep 

 out others. There are very many scale insects not 

 3et introduced which are likely to be far worse than 

 those already introduced, and the present state of 

 the trees in Grenada may serve to bring this home 

 to the minds of all who see them. It is to be hoped 

 that the attack will lessen, as the enemies and diseases 

 of these scale insects increase sufficiently to check them. 



