216 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



OcToBEu 25, 1902. 



SPRAYING YOUNG CORN. 



Si)iiit;' fXjR'iiiiK'nts have bctn carrird out with 

 the object of (leistruyiiig the 'fly' and ' woi in ' tliat 

 attack young Indiaii and (luinca corn ])lants. The 

 results obtained so liir. indicate that a siniiiic ami ett'ec- 

 tive means lias bet^n iimnd of jiroti-cting and ' t'stablish- 

 ing ' the corn at veiy small cost. Planters in l!arba<los 

 find that a croj) of corn cannot easily be i-aist^d during 

 the latter mouths i.if the year owing to the attacks of 

 these insects, but it is hi Hexed tliat the dan;age 

 may now be prc^xeuted and tho crop easily established 

 without any supplying. 



The method consists in spraying the young jilants 

 with an emulsion of crude, native petroleum, using a 

 small hand sprayer, made locally. The important 

 jKiints in the treatment are (1) the emulsion, made 

 with crude petroleum, which is strong, can be used very 

 ililute, and costs little : and (2) the hand-spraying 

 machine which is very small and simple, is worked by 

 one man, is made locally, costs little and does ;i 

 large acreage in one day. The method is also indejien- 

 4ent of weather, as the oil kills at once, and a 

 shower soon alter the application will make little 

 difference. 



It is believed tliat t his remc'dy is a thoroughly 

 practical one : it lias been tried on three estates, with 

 good results, and can be ctjntidently recommended t(j 

 ])lanters who are now sowing corn. 'J'he metho(l is 

 adapted only for voung ]ilanls. The machines used are 

 of small capacity and only give a spray big enough 

 to do thorouglilya hole lif corn at one stroke. 



The best formula for the emulsion is still under 

 consideration. It can be made by dissolving one ounce 

 <jf powdered, crude najithalene in 2 quarts of crude 

 jietroleiim and adding this to five pounds of boiling 

 whale oil soap which should be boiled in a 

 'skillet' and taken off the fire just befire the oil is 

 added. The oil and sna|i then ci.imbine to form 

 a semi-solid compound of which a gill should be 

 dissohed in 4 gallons of water or the whole in .50 gallons 

 of watei-. 'I'I'.is ibrmula is provisional and it is hojiod 

 that it may be possible to diminish the proportion of 

 soap. The ' cl-ude jietl-oleum' is mined in iiarb.ados 

 by the West India Petroleum Cempany and is .sold at 

 5 to () cents per gallon. Whale oil s.i.-ip is obtainable 

 in Bridgetown at .S and 10 cents per jjouiid and 

 napthaleiie can be bought at the druggists at a little 

 over one cent an ounce. The emulsion icadv for 

 application co.sts under one cent per gallon, the 

 <-hief ex]iendil lire being in Sfiaji. 



The spraying machines used are .s.ihl by Messrs. 

 C. F. Harri.son \: Co., I'.ndgetown. and this fiini svill 

 make them t 1 fill any denjimd that may arise. It is 

 hojied that iil.inteis now gidwing corn will test this 

 remedy aftei- communicating with this Department, as 

 it is desirable to carry on work on a number of estates 

 to arrive at an estimate of the cost jier acre, w hich is 

 apjiarently very small. Fuller particulars will be ]>ub- 

 lished later when the experiments have been concluded. 



AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES. 



Dominica. 



-Mr. A. K. Agai-. the Hon. Secretary, has con- 

 tributed an account ot a general meeting of the 

 Dominica Agricultural Society' held on September 27. 



A coiinuittee of iiiaiiagouoiit, coiisiderahly larger and 

 luoie I'bpre.seiitative than that fur the last show, was elected 

 loi- the Agvicultuiul Show of 190:5. 



The N'iceT'icsiilcnt, Mr. Lockhart, read an interesting 

 liiijier on cacao. Tlie iiaper was iiiaiiily liistoiical of the 

 origin and growth of cacao cultivation in DuininiciV : a 

 compari.son was made of the otit-imt of Dominica with that 

 ot Grenada and other places. A lively discussion followed, 

 touching on all tlie points brought forward in the iiaiier, and 

 also on the efl'ect jiroduced on cacao by the fall of volcanic 

 ash. The wish was generally expressed that the pai]er 

 should he printed liy the Society as .soon as ])0ssilile. 



Votes of thanks to ilr. Lockhart for liis valuable 

 lecture, and al.so to the Chairman, terminated the ineetiiig. 



Antigua. 



Tlie excessively dry Augie-t and Seiiteniber have retarded 

 all iilanting operations in Antigua to such an extent 

 tliat the Agricultural and Conunercial Society liave hceii 

 compelled tti abandon the idea of holding an Agricultural 

 Show ill December. Many planters have only just .sown their 

 corn, cotton, onions and vegetables and it would he prai-ti- 

 cally impo.^sible to obtain a good exhibition of iirodiice by 

 December. It is proposed to hold the Show in Fehruary. 



'HAY GRASS' AT ANTIGUA. 



In a jH'evious issin' ef the ,1 ///•('(■/;//(?/■((/ A'c^r.s (p. 

 104) we e.xpres.sed the desire to obtain notes of inter- 

 esting foreign plants, that aiv establishing themselves 

 in the West Indies. Referring thereto, Jlr. W. N. 

 Sinds, C'uratorof the Botanic Station Antigua, writes: — 



An'hopofjoii niiironitx known in .\ntigui as 'Hay grass' 

 is one of these and like AndropDiidu pi'rtiixux the ISarliaih s 

 ' Soiu'-grass' it constitutes a valuable fodder. It is an ]']ast 

 Indian species which no one has been ahle to determine how 

 or when it was introduced, nor do we believe it is found 

 el.sewhere in the West Indies in such (|uantity. It a[ipears to 

 have liceu first notiiei in the north ea.st part of the island 

 and fioia there it has spread practically all over the island, 

 ill some cases it has almost taken comiilete iio.s.session of 

 jiastures. Stock eat it readily even after it has Howered, so 

 tliat it is more valuable than Sjiiiuholas imlicus the comiiion 

 i!ed-grass which is only eaten in a young state. 



.Mr. C. A. Rarhcr when Superiutcudent of .\griciilture 

 for the Leeward Lslaiuls mentioned this grass in a [laper on 

 .\nligua gra.sses pul)lislied in the T.mvaril Ix/aiuh d'auttr, 

 SepteniUer 4, 1S94, ]ip. KUi-T. At that time it was ap|)ar- 

 ently only foiuid in the iieighliourhood of Clare Hall, but 

 since tlien, as mentioned above, it has spread to all parts of 

 the island. It grows in all sorts of situation.s, which fact adds 

 greatly to its value in a fairly dry island like Antigua. 



The Hon'ble Francis Watts in his paper 'Care ot" 

 Pastures in Antigua' ( West Intlian liiilhliii. \\\\. I, 

 ]). 4D?) refers to the Hay grass as jiaving made its- 

 appearance in Antigua in some unexplained manner, 

 and spreading steadily to the exclusion of other kinds. 

 It does not a])pc;ir to be known in other West Indian 

 island.s. 



