ToL. I. No. 15. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



237 



CAXA/iY ISLAJDS.- TliADE OF FOR Jl'ol. 

 Diplonuitk- aiul I'oii.sular lieports. Foreij^ii Ottici.', July, I'JOl. 



The export ti-iulc was larger than in 1900, 1mt it is 

 iintcd tliat it remains to be seen whether this iniiirovenient 

 will be niaintaineil, or whether it will fall away under sm-h 

 influence as eoniiietition from the AVest Indies. 



Tlie imports of sugar liave fallen to 2S tons (1S99, 18-t 

 tons, I'JOU, 11:2 tons), tliis is ouing to the inereaseil local 

 jiroduction especially in Grand Canary, of sugar-cane and to 

 the new taritt. 



The nundier of bunches of bananas exported was 

 •26(5,700 (204.917 in 1900) and the value (the price obtained 

 Ijy the fanners) £:?:?,:?:i7 (£20,490 in 1 900). The fruit is said 

 to liave been not at all first-class. It is noted that the value 

 ■of the b.mana has actually increased in spite of the Jamaica 

 imports into the United Kingdom, but it is not expected that 

 the price paid can be maintained nuich longer. Land lias 

 jiciiuired great value, partly owing to the belief among 

 farmers and sliippers that Jamaica bananas have turned out 

 A failure : and that they arc inferior in (juality to the Canary 

 bananas. A crisis is foreseen in the event of the prices of 

 tjie fruit becoming lower, because many [leople have liorrowed 

 largely for tlie ]mrpose of acquiring land at very higli jjrices, 

 as much as £2-50 per acre. 



The jiotato crop was small owing to the prevalence of 

 <li.sease. The onion cro}> was, on the wliolc, an a1>sohite 

 failure ; mucli less land was jilanted with oiiions in Tcneritfe 

 and the crop in Lanzarote failed owing to lack of rain. 



sand had been so acted on by the sun as to be almost roast- 

 ing hot. . . Tlie prostrate canes can be made into syruii, and 

 the people were advi.^ed' to attend to this without ilelay. 

 In several localities the allottees had })lanted large plots of 

 various provisions after the damage done to the permanent 

 crops in ilay. These [irovisiou crops have now been 

 destroyed and their loss has made the [leople very despondent. 

 The tine cacao cultivation at Blount William has received 

 further damage. The branches of numerous trees were bent 

 downward, and hardly a flower was noticed. The cacao 

 season ha.s commenced, but not a .single jiod was seen on any 

 of the trees so serious was tlie damage of May 7. 



' On some of the arrowroot estates the ditticulty which 

 has arisen in regard to the w^atcr sujiply will proljably result 

 in the abandonment of the. manufacture, for a year or so.' 



VOLCANIC ERUPTION AT ST. VINCENT. 



l)A:\l.\iiE DIlNE TO (HOl'.S. 



^Ir. H. Powell, C'limtor of the Botanic Station at 

 at. Vincent, iind Mr. Thomas (Jsnient the Agi-iciiltural 

 Instructor liave made a rep )rt to the Ailmiuistrator of 

 the island on the damage done by the eruption (jf the 

 ].5tli ultiuii). 'The damage done to the crops in 

 aeneral over a large area of the windward coast is 

 severe, and in consequence, the agricultural outlook at 

 the jn-esent time is gloomy in the extreme.' The rejjort 

 is too long to be rei)roduced in fall in these pages, but 

 the following extracts will serve to convey some idea 

 •<)f the condition of the crops, etc., of the tmfortunate 

 <lwellers in the devastated part of the island : — 



' At Kingstown the depth of .sand was from ^ to ] of 

 4in inch. Thi.s gradually increased in thickness right on to 

 •Georgetown, and at Blount llentic, the new <leiiosit averaged 

 ■a inches in dciith. 



' At Hopewell and the ujjpcr part of the Mesopotamia 

 valley the "waif of the ijeojile, as at other places, was tliat 

 their |irovisions were being burnt up. Tiiis was in a sense 

 in<lee<l true, more particularly .so where the .sand was a coujile 

 ■of inches deep. The day was very liot, and as no rain had 

 fallen (of any conseipienee) during or since the eruption, the 



DEPARTMENT NEWS. 

 Dr. D. Morris, the Commi.ssioner of Agriculture 

 for the West Indies was due to leave Halifa.x; on the 

 :^rd. instant and is expected to reach St. Kitt's on the 

 11th. 



The third part of Vol. Ill of the llV.sf Lul'tiin 

 BidkHn, has been i)ublished, an<l may be obtained 

 from the usual agents of the Department (Price Q<J. 

 p<jst free 8'/.) Amongst its contents is a paper 

 suggesting the manufacture of sugar in the West 

 Indies for brewery purposes. Articles on (Jbjecti 

 lessons and School Gardens, illustrated by figures, 

 indicate exactly what is being done in some Engli.sh 

 Schools. Suggestions are also made to render the 

 courses of i)ractical \alue under West Indian conditions. 

 In addition to three short articles on entonn)logical 

 subjects, a complete descriptive list is given of the 

 known West Indian scale insects. The number 

 concludes with a resume of the recent volcanic phenom- 

 ena in the West Indies. 



Pamphlet No. 10 of the Department Series Inis 

 been issued entitled Si'cdliiuj mul Utlwr Can<'>i, Burba- 

 (1(1!^, IflOJ. It contains a summary of the results of the 

 sugar-cane experiments which have been carried on in 

 Barbados duiing the past season under the direction of 

 tlie Department. The nnjre detailed results will appear, 

 as usual, in the large Annual Report, no\y passing 

 through the press. The pamphlet can be obtained from 

 the local agents of the Dep.trtmont. Price 4-/. Post 

 free 5d. 



A summary of the sugar-cane experiments in the 

 Leeward Islands conducted by the Department during 

 the past season forms Pamphlet No. 20, (Seedling (tnd 

 Other C'lineH .in the Leeward Mund-'i, 1901-0 i) of the 

 same series. (Price 2d. Post free 2hl.) Its contents 

 are similar in character to those of the Barbados 

 pamphlet, the object in each case being to ]nit an^ 

 accurate summary of the experiments in the hands of 

 the planters at an earlier date than it is possible to 

 publish the larger Reports, which take a considerable 

 time after completion, in merely passing through the 

 press. 



