Vol. I. No. U. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



213 



S/ta<h.f. — Small-leafed treo.s to let elieckeivil suiilii;!it 

 thioui;li. 



J'/iui.ls. --C\\tt\ng!i 10 to 12 feet loni^ of ^rowiiii,' shoots, 

 whifh should not cea.se growing if planted after file dry 

 sea.son, Imt go strait on and flower fully in two years. 



F/inilin;;. Either in liiu- on posts and hars, or on 

 shrubs of .suitable size and leafage, at the risk of wholesale 

 de.struction from disease ; or plants well ke;)t ai>art, each on 

 its own support, so that any vine showing signs of sickness 

 may be removed before infecting its neighbours. 



Cvlfurc. — Plantation.s to be gone thn ugh bi-monlhly : 

 shoots on the ground looped up ; climbing branches brought 

 down ; decayed leaves, etc., laid on roots for manure, when 

 needed. Pieparations for flowering according to climate. 



Croi>>'lii<i. — Flowers to be jiollinated in forenoon, prefer- 

 ably such as will liaug clear and grow straight pods, cpiantity 

 regulated according to mass and vigour of each vine, but 

 iiot such as to hinder the start of new growth for more than 

 two or three months. Pods should be gathered every other day. 



Curiii'j. — The slower, the better, beginning in a heated 

 room at about 113" F. for some days, then in a cooler one, 

 90" to 100' F., finishing at ordinary temperature; hunudity 

 of air keiit down if need be by charMal braizers, 



ilarkt(in(f. — Qualities and lengths kept distinct, made 

 up in packets of 50 pods, and neatly packed in tins holding 

 about 1 2 pounds each. 



Labour. — Cheapness anil intelligence are of the greatest 

 importance in vanilla iiroduction. The cultivator must himself 

 have his eyes everywhere; the bast of labour known here 

 deteriorates (juickly if left by ifself. 



A DISEASE OF PINE-APPLES. 



Specimens of yoitng pine-apple plants attacked by 

 a 'wilt' disease or 'blight,' have been received by the 

 Department. Tlie younger stages of the di.sease were 

 marked bv the tips of the leaves tuj'ning yellow and 

 drying up ; in the older stages the discoloration of tlie 

 leaves had proceeded further and they were more with- 

 ered. These symptoms pointed to an insufficient sup- 

 ply of water and hence probably to a root disease. 



On wasliing the roots they were at once seen to be 

 unhealthy, and in many cases were black and quite 

 rotten. (3n examining a section of such a root microsco- 

 pically it was seen lo posse.ss a covering of root-hairs. 

 This is very extraordinary' in old roots, as root-hairs ai'e 

 usually restricted to a short region of the root immedi- 

 ately behind tlie growing point. These root-hairs were 

 in many cases filled with the attacking fungus, which 

 •»vas al.so found in tiie tissues of the root. >Sections were 

 also made of young, apparently healthy, roots ; here 

 also the root-haii-s showed the presence of the fine, 

 colourless threads of the fungus. It w-oidd seem 

 probable that the extraordinary development of root- 

 hairs mentioned above is a special effort on the part of 

 the plant to try to replace those destroyed by the 

 fungus. 



The remedies suggested were : — 



(1) To dig up and burn all diseased plants and 

 those in their immediate neighbourhood. 



(2) To lime thoroughly th(^ s(jil from which these 

 plants were taken so as to kill any of the fungus or 

 spores that might be present. 



In the case of valuable pine-apple plants, it might 

 be found possible to save those affected by taking them 



np, cutting off the lower part of the stem until no 

 more black or dark root ends are visible : then 

 stripping off the leaves as for setting and resetting 

 in another field. The soil from which the diseased 

 plants are taken should not be used for some time. 



EXPERIMENTS IN ONION GROWING AT 

 DOMINICA. 



We learn from the Report on the Experiment 

 Plots at the Agriodtural School, Dominica, for the 

 year 1001-02, just issued, that two experiments were 

 made with onions, in one case grown from seefl, and in 

 the other from sets. 



E.Xl'EHIMEXT WITH SEED. 



The seed arri\ed on September 18, and sowing 

 was begun at once and carried on at intervals of 

 a week for a jjeriod of six weeks. The first sowings 

 came np well, but it was ob.served with later sowings 

 that tlie longer the seeds were kept the worse they 

 germinated, and in .some instances scarcely any grew. 

 The seedlings were planted out on October 28 in beds, 

 in rows (J to <S inclies apart and 5 inches between the 

 pl.ants in the rows. They grew well and were fit to 

 reap in Januar\". 



E.M'EIMMEXT WITH SETS. 



The sets arrived in good ccnidition on October 22 

 and were planted out at once, in beds, in rows (J inches 

 apart and 3 to 4 inches between the sets in the rows. 

 One plot was planted on fairly heavy loam, the other on 

 light, sandy soil. The sets on the heavy soils sprouted 

 better, grew more evenly, and were fit to reaj) almost 

 three weeks earlier than those on the light soil. I'he yield 

 from the heavy soil was double that from the light soil. 



Both crops were ready to reap at the end of January. 

 They were reaped as soon as the tops began to wither, 

 and spreafi out in the drying house until they had 

 dried up entiivly. The tops were then cut off 2 inches 

 from the bulb, the roots ]>ulled off, and the onions 

 packed into crates (made of old ))acking cases by the 

 Idovs) similar to those used at Bermuda, and shi]}ped to 

 New York. Messrs. Wessels & Co., reported they 

 arri\ed in good order, were of the proper size, properly 

 ])acked, and as good as any from Bermuda or Cuba. 

 Thev realizeil S2,5() per crate for tlie first shipment, 

 and >52.2.5 for the second. 



The seedlings ga\e a larger and more even crop 

 than the sets, but the latter were found easier to grow 

 and are not expensive when they sprout well. This is 

 believed to be the first plot of onions grown in 

 Dominica from Teneriffe seed. 



Lecture to Teachers at Barbados. 



The first of the lectures to the elementary .school 

 teachers of Barbados at the St. Peter's centre, on the manner 

 and method of teaching tlie principles of agriculture liy 

 means of object lessons, was delivered l)y Dr. Longfield 

 Smith, on Saturday, October IS. l?y the kindness of the 

 Rev. G. E. Elliot, the lecture was held in tlio Siieight.stown 

 parish room. Sixteen teachers attended besides several 

 planters and some ladies and gentlemen of the parish inter- 

 ested in tlie subject. 



