86 



BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



The usual monthly meeting of the Board of Agriculture was 

 held at Head Quarter House on Tuesday i6th February, 1905, at 

 1 1. 1 5 a.m. Present: The Director of Public Gardens, the Island 

 Chemist, His Grace the Archbishop, Messrs. C. A. T. Fursdon, J. 

 W. Middleton and John Barclay, the Secretary. The Chairman, 

 the Hon. Colonial Secretary, wrote that as he had to attend a 

 meeting of the Privy Council at the same hour, he could not at- 

 tend, and His Grace the Archbishop was voted to the Chair. 



The Archbishop asked leave to present a report of the Commit- 

 tee on the Teaching of Agricultural Science in Secondary Schools. 

 The report was read and adopted. It was agreed that the Secre- 

 tary should send a copy of the report to the Schools Commission, 

 with the request that they would consider it. 



Mr. Middleton remarked that there was no provision made to 

 ensure the return of these trained men to the Island. It was 

 agreed to ask the Schools Commission to consider this point ; and 

 the Committee was asked to continue its work. 



The resignations of Hons. J. V. Calder and H. Cork and Mr. 

 Joseph Shore as members of the Board were presented. The Se- 

 cretary was directed to express the Board's regret, and to write the 

 Agricultural Society asking if they would nominate a representa- 

 tive in the place of Mr. Cork. 



The Secretary was instructed to suggest to the Governor the 

 name of Mr. G. D. Murray to fill Mr. Calder's place as being ac- 

 cessible to Kingston and one who would represent the Sugar In- 

 dustry. 



The Chemist's reports on Sugar Experiments, and the Analyses 

 of Milk, which had been circulated were submitted with the mem- 

 bers' criticisms. The Chemist replied to the criticisms, protesting 

 against the destruction of the experimental work at Worthy Park 

 by Mr. Calder. The Chemist presented a report on the Banana 

 Experiments at various centres, during 1904, in which he pointed 

 out the difficulties of this work and the failure of planters to record 

 the output of bunches from the manurial plots. These matters 

 were left in the hands of the Chairman. 



The Secretary submitted a copy of the Fruit Marks Act of Ca- 

 nada, together with a letter of explanation from the chief of the 

 Fruit Division of the Department of Agriculture there. He was 

 instructed to circulate these among the members of the Board for 

 their opinions and to publish them, if possible, in the newspapers 

 and the Agricultural Journal. 



The Secretary stated that with reference to the reported dying out 

 of cocoa trees in St. Mary, he had written cocoa planters in that 

 parish, chiefly around Troja and Highgate districts, asking for re- 

 ports on their cocoa trees and he had received replies from Messrs. 

 John Lockett, Troja ; F. N. Prendergast, Highgate ; H. T. Graham, 



