191 



THF, AGKICULTUKAL N'EWS. 



JuxK 2S, 1919. 



CAMPHOR TREES IN THE WEST INDIES. 



In coiniuxioii with previous arliclesoii this subject, 

 the following note, forwarded by ^Ir. W. X. Sands, 

 F.LS, Agricultural Superintendent, St. Vincent, is of 

 interest : — 



At the request of tke Imperial CommissioDer of Agricul- 

 ture herbarium specimtDS of the old camphor tree in the 

 Botanic Gardens, St. Yinceit, were recently sent to the 

 Director of the ll'^yal Botanic Gardens, Kew, with the 

 following note by the writer : 'The tree was probably 

 planted by Anderson between the years 17S6 anJ 1806, as 

 Gailding names Camphor as among the plants in 

 cultivation in the Garden in the atter year. The 

 twigs are green and remain so. No flowers have been 

 produced by the tree within my knowledge. A piece of 

 the mature woo.l examined at the Government Laboratory, 

 Antigua, was found to contain no solid camphor but oil 

 only.' 



The Assistant Director of Kew in acknowledging the 

 receipt of the specimens, says: — 



' The Camphor you sent exactly matches Ciitnanwmum 

 Camphora, var. s;/<iu(csceiis. We have a specimen in the 

 herbarium sent by Guilding from St. Vincent in 1S'J2. It 

 may be that the variety f^laucesceiis is always oil-yielding, 

 but on this point we re(juire a d' al more evidence'. 



In the Agnat/Zitfi/ .Xncs (Vol. XVIII, No 43S).Collens 

 st-ates that in the llo) -il iJotanic Gardens. Trinidad, one tree 

 among those growing there was found to yield oil only, and 

 that 'a field examination of it showed several 

 differences from the camphor-producing type; the petioles 

 and stem were reddish and leaves ovate. On being crushed 

 the leaves yieMed a turpentine like odour soooewhat similar 

 to that of mango leaves'. As this form, from the descrip- 

 tion given, is clearly distinct from the variety i;/aucesi:e>is, 

 there may be at least three forms ■ f Camphor in cultivation 

 in the West Indies, only one of which, so far as is known, at 

 preseiit, yields solid camphor; but as pointed out above, 

 additional evidence is required, and it is hoped that this 

 will be obtained as a result of the investigations now being 

 made by the authorities of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 



DOWN THE ISLANDS. 



ITEMS OF LOOAL INTEREST, 



ST. viNiENT. The following plant distribution is 

 recorded from the Botanic and Experiment Stations, during 

 the month of May: cured cacao. 17 lb. ; caco-nut phnts, 

 21 ; lotton seed, '.Wt D) ; Benj^al beat.?, 6 ttt ; biisli bonavist, 

 t) tb. The weather, Mr Sands .states, contin led dry, and 

 little eould be done on the land except the cleaning up of 

 fieldf. In 11 few CA.sis .some couon was .sown. A good 

 deal o( produce was awaiting shipment. During the iiion.h 

 the (Xjtupn Inspector and ihe Foreman visited thu islands 

 of .Mustir|ue and Btttiwia, whef" Sea Isl.ind cotton i.i 

 grown, with ihc object of aacer aining the conditions that 

 exist during the clo.se season in regard to the cntton 

 Htainer and Uaf blister mite Very few citton stf.iners 

 were ffpn at .Mustitjue, but at I'.altawia cntton stainers 

 were numerous on rato"n Sea Island plants from cut back 

 4stalk?, which were holing and whicli. on examination, 

 were pr ved to be infested with intunal boll di.sease. 



Thi.s pest was a .<;o breeding on seed-CDtton waste thrown 

 in the neighbourhood of houses and on wild ochro recently 

 grown from s»ed. The campaign against the ;otton stainer 

 at Government House grounds was still in progrtss. 



ST Luci.\. Besides making farine and starch, work in 

 the E.xperiinent Stations .lurins{ the luonih of .Miy was of 

 a routine nature. Plant distribution ineluded 300 lima 

 pLints, 13 Uobiista coffee, l.oT Liberiau cotiue, 65.3 

 ornamental plants, 6 grafted mangoes, (52 cuttings. It 

 packets of vegetable seeds. The Agricultural Superintendent, 

 ilr A. J. Brook.s, states in regard to staple crops, that 

 the cacao cr p is practically over, the lime crop was now 

 comina in, and reaping operations in eonnexion with the 

 sugar crop were about 6nished. The rainfall recorded at 

 the Botanic Gardens, Castries, for the month was 8-24 

 inches; at Choiseul tlie record was 51-1 inches. 



DOMINICA. Mr. Joseph .Tone.», the Curator, writes to 

 .say that during the month of May, ;)() barrels of green limes 

 and 9 barrels of ripe limes were gathered Iroi* 

 the Lime I'xperiment Station. Plant distribution was 

 as follows : limes, 4,725; budded citrus, 15; grafted 

 mangoes, 14; miscellaneous, 117: making a total of 

 4,871 (■I'.nts. In addition, 24,000 onion seedlings, 

 2,000 cane cuttings, l-oO sha^ie tree cuttings, and 3Db. 

 Tephrosia seeds «ere sent out, iind 3G0 packets vegetable 

 seeds sold. The price paid for green limes locally has dropped 

 from 20jr. to IOj'. per barrel. The position in regard to ripe 

 limes and by-products remains the sime Referring to 

 weather condit nns, Mr Jones states that some showers fell 

 during the early part of the moutb, after which dry weather 

 was aga'n ■ xperienced in the Ro.seau district. The rainfall 

 recorded for the montih equal ed 4 (iO inches. The total 

 rainfall fiom Janinry 1 to date is 11 oO inches. 



MONTsKRR.vT l?i note.s forwa'ded by the Acting Curator, 

 Mr. A. Gallwey, work caraed out in ttie Botanic Gardens 

 during the month of -May was of a routine nature Plant 

 distribution included 1,700 lime plants, 1,324 bay plants, 42 

 papaw plan's. 7 gr-fted mangoes, 12A lb. pea.s, 1 lb. Castor 

 oil seed. The a^e^age yield of oil obtuned from distillations 

 of bay leaves was IGl oz. per 100 lb. of leaves. Slight 

 damage to the cotton crop was caused by very high winds 

 experienced during the first week- of the month. In addilioa 

 to the breaking of the stems of sev ral plants, a general 

 cessation of growth was observed, and the plants presented 

 a 'blasted' appearince. Rain is now needeil, especially for 

 the early planted cotton which is beginning to Hower pro- 

 fusely. The bay trees in the Chateau plot carried a luxuri- 

 ant growth of fresh leaves daring the month, which may part- 

 ly be responsible for the low yield of oil obtained. The i rees are 

 also flowering profusely. Cotton stainers in all stages were 

 seen in few numbers upon the ' twelve o'clock ' and other 

 malvaceous plants along the edges of cotton fields. The 

 rainfall recorded at (ir .ve >^tation for the month was 5-4SJ 

 inches ; the total rainfall f' r the year to .late is 1920 inches. 



.\NTli;UA. During the month of .May, 3,700 plants of 

 Agave u.ii/ami, 2,000 onion plants, (i miscell.mous. aud 

 1,115 lb. of cotton seed were distributed Work in the Experi- 

 ment Stations and liotanic Gardens was of a routine nature. 

 Tbe young cane crop, .Mr. Jackson states, is beginning to feel 

 iheert'ectof continued dry weather. The reaping of .sugarcane 

 is progref.«iiig, and more than half of the crop has been 

 harve-ted The onion crop is seriously all'ccted by dry 

 weather. During the month 7 1, 2821b. of cotton were shipped 

 to ICngland. < if this amount 3,oG41b. were stained. It is 

 hoped that; all the cotton will be reaped and ginned durini! 

 the montti of June. The amount of cotton jJnrchaHel frnm 

 peasants byilie Antigua Cotton Growers' -Association w.i« 



