284 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



Deckmber 20, 1902. 





GLEANINGS. 



There was a fair honey How from logwood and 

 otlier trees at St. Lucia during tlie latter part of Xoveudier 

 and strong colonies are rapidly filling supers. 



The Hon'lile Franeis Watts states that some of the 

 lilanurial experiments carried on with sugar-eanes at Antigua 

 'emphasise the point that it is not remunerative to use artifi- 

 cial manures upon land in j)00r Jihysieal condition.' 



The Mirror states that the shipnient.s of cacao from 

 Trinidad to the end of November were 29,435,000, or about 

 60,000 bags more than last year. 



The value of the cacao drier at the Dominica IJotanic 

 Station was appreciated and taken practical ad\antage of 

 during a recent siiell "f rain\ weather. 



The seeds of annatto, also known as roiicoti, are stated to 

 be an antidote for cassava poisoning. Any information on 

 this point would be of practical value and interest. 



Devil grass, or Bahama grass now found almost all over 

 the tro[iical and temperate regions of the world, is a native of 

 the East Indies. It is universally a]i])reciated for its |iowcr 

 to withstand drought, and to thrive on poi r .soils, and is 

 often employed for tennis lawns. 



The sale of [ilants at the Tobago ISotanic Station (hu-ing 

 October realized £\ ts. I),/, t'acao plants wero most in 

 demand. 



Varieties of cotton rccei\ed from ^lont.serrat an- 

 germinating freely at the IJotanic Station, Tob.igo. Cottiui 

 occurs in a wild state in Toliago ami good results mav lie 

 bope<l for from the imiiroved varieties now introduced. 



The Ligu cacao (Tltiohnmui hirolor) is now fruiting at 

 the llotauic Station, Dominica. Several plants of tlir 

 Alligitor cacao [riimhruiiia penltiffmiit) has also flowered. 

 Roth of these specie.s were obtained from Nicaragua by 

 JMr. J. H. Hart, Suiieriiitendent of the Botanic (iardens, 

 Trinidad. 



The sponge industry of the Turks and L'aicos Islands- 

 sliowe<l a substantial increase last year over the year previous. 

 The value of sponge exported in 1900 was .£.'{,9.50, while that 

 exported last year was £9,277. This industry is not carried 

 on wholly by the people of these islanils. More than three- 

 fourths in value of sponge exported last year was shippeil to 

 the liahanias and may be said to represent the gatherings 

 taken from the Caicos banks by .schooners from the Rahama 

 Islands. 



Some first-class poidtry com[irising Huff Orpingtons, 

 Wyandottes and I'lymouth Hocks have recently been 

 imiiortetl into St. Lucia l)y [aivafe individuals. 



A ipiantity of Seville orange and rough lemon seeds 

 lias been .sown at the Tobago Hotanio Station as stock for 

 liudding. 



On one estate in Grenada where very particular attention 

 is 'given to cultivation and manuring, the efforts of the 

 [iroprietor ha\e been rewarded by a yield of l-'?0 bags (of 182 

 it(. each) of cacao from about 16 acres. This is at the rate 

 of S l>ags |)er acre. 



According ti> the Murit/nic Jfi'rr/mnl the market for 

 molasses in Halifa.x is very firm and sellers are demanding 

 full (irices. The demand is remarkably g(«id at juesent and 

 holders anticipate that the .stocks will be no more than 

 ample for the sea.son's recjuirements. 



At Grenada demonsfrafion lessons in budding and 

 pruning were gi\en by the Agricultural Instructor at the 

 ISotanic Station fo the boys of the .\nglican and Uoman 

 Catholic Schools on the first and second Fridavs in September 

 last. 



Reference has already been made in the pages of fl.is 

 Journal to the valuable work done by Agricultural Instructcrs 

 in these islands. ( )f this the following extract from a reeerit 

 report by Mr. <lco. S. Hudson, the Agricultural Instructor at 

 St. Lucia supplies an instance : -'On October 4, I inspected 

 I'almiste Estate, Soufriere, the jiroperty of ^^essl•s. Minvielle 

 and Chastanet and was jileased to tind that in continuation of 

 my instructions they have transferred their plantation fn m 

 unhealthy weak plants to \ igorous trees. On the "ith 

 October 1 went over .Mi-. Lafitte's Cacao projierty 

 "La Dauiihin." Here also my instructions have licen carried 

 out with excellent results, .some yields being as high as S cwt. 

 per acre without manure.' 



The branch .\gricultural Societies at Soufriere and 

 Clioiseul in the island of St. Lucia are .said to be doing n.stful 

 work. 'I'heir efforts include the importation of pure bred 

 stock and the formation of \illage libraries of agricultural 

 liteiatnre. 



The .laniaica l.'/i'imr of Xo\cniber 2li, n']io|-fs that 'the 

 St. .\nn rarochial I'.oard has directed its clerk to apply to 

 the Supeiinteudenf of Public (ianlens for a hundred eucalyp- 

 tus trees, free of charge, to drain the swamps round St. Ann 

 Ray. If the re(|Uest is gi-anted. as we presume it will be, a 

 portion of the trees will be distributed to the residents of the 

 iowei' part of the town and the rest planted on lands 

 belonging to the lioard. The exiieriinent is an interesting 

 one for .lamaica, but the utility of the cucaly|itus tree in 

 (Irving up swamps and imi>roving the coiulition of a town has 

 been ampiv demonstrated over and over again in Australia 

 and elsewhere. We hope other Roards will follow the up-to- 

 date example set by St. .\nn. and that they will take up the 

 camiiaign against the malarial niosipiito on the lines recom- 

 mended bv Majia' Hess and other :inthorities.' 



