Vox,. XVIII. No. 448. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



199 



all decide upon the right cotton for cultivation, but as the 

 field characters of strains, that is the yield and other points, 

 are of more importance from the grower's point of view, to 

 deciie on the relative values of strains for general 

 cultivation becomes much more complicated. It is with 

 reference to these points that the cotton experi 

 ments are being carried out in Montserrat. The three 

 strains experimented with, afier a process of selection, are 

 known as H. 9 and H 2'j, derived from a strain cultivated 

 for some years in Montserrat; and D. 1, a fine strain of 

 St. Kitts cotton. 



With regard to the spinning tests of these cottons, 

 Mr. J. W. McConnel, Vice-President of the Fine Cotton 

 Spinners' and Doublers' Association, Ltd., reports thit 

 all of these three cottons in each test were very satisfactory 

 indeed, and were very much better than our ordinary 

 mixing, and that, «n the whole, the Department is to be 

 congratulated on the report about these three cottons. 



Mr. Kobson considers that at present the H. 23 strain 

 of cotton promises to be the most profitable for cultivation, 

 though the valuations of the lint actually show that the 

 D. I type is of the highest value. The objection to the 

 D. 1 type from the grower's point of view is the relatively 

 low percentage of lint, and the small size of the boll. 



The careful selection of seed to supply the cotton 

 growers, so as to prevent a deterioration in the type, is 

 worthy of commendation, and it is to be hoped for the 

 future of the industry that this will be carefully continued. 



The area planted in cotton in the year under review 

 was about :;. 600 acres, and the total amount of lint produced 

 was 409,8.o5B)., the largest output recorded for the island, 

 giving an average yield per acre of 157 tti. of lint, contider- 

 ably in excess of the average yie'd of 146 tt). per acre for the 

 previous fourteen years. The return on the larger estates 

 per acre were below the average of the previous year, »nd 

 tiie inference from the improved results for the whole island 

 b that much better returns have been obtained from the 

 areas planted by small landowners. The activities of these 

 small growers received a considerable siiniulus owing to the 

 high prices obtainable for Sea Island cotton, which wag 

 purchased by the Government for war purposes. The 

 price paid for seed-cotton rose to 10^/. per Bt». early in the 

 season, although near the end of the crop it dropped to Id. 

 As the highe.st price previously paid for seed-cotton was \d 

 per 9)., it is no wonder that interest in the crop was much 

 atimulated. It is estimated that the amount of money put 

 into circulation amongst peasant cultivators as the result of 

 the 1917-18 crop of cotton was £20,000. 



Twenty years ago it would have been said that 

 Montserrat was almost dependent upon the lime industry. 

 Today it would appear that the lime industry is not 

 half the value to the island of the cotton industry. In 

 fact according tn the report under review, there seems to 

 be not only no extension of lime cultivation, but rather 

 a fear that it will continuously decrease in the future It 

 has been stated by lime planters that there has been a 

 definite change in the climatic conditions existing in 

 Montserrat since the hurricane <it 1899. but there does not 

 appear to be any definite reason to believe that this has 

 been the case. Mr. W Nowell, Mycologist on the staff of 

 the Imperial Department of Agriculture, has also recorded 

 his opinion, that th' re is no foundation for the idea that 

 Montserrat is troubled by any specific and special disease 

 of lime trees as coinpaied with other islands, such as 

 Dominica. The reason for the decline in the amount of 

 land under lime trees is probably owing to the fact that 

 Bew areas are net being planted when the older cultivations 



have become exhausted, and also that proper systems of 

 of cultivation in the existing areas have not been 

 suflScienily attended to. For instance, in the lime 

 experiment plot it has been definitely shown that the 

 planting of shelter belts of gliricidia and pigeon peas has 

 resulted in the greater vigour of the young lime trefs. This 

 has also been proved by the experiments at the Dominica 

 station. 



Dp to the middle of the last century the chief industry 

 in Montserrat, in common with most of the smaller West 

 Indies, was the cultivation of sugar-cane. In later years this 

 has become an almost negligible factor in the agriculture of 

 the island, and although owing to the high price of sugar in 

 the last three years, a partial revival rjf sugar-cane cultivation 

 seems to have taken pi^ce, it does not appear likely to be 

 much further extended. 



Mr. Robsori's work with regard to the cultivation of bay 

 trees for the distillation of bay oil is noteworthy. He has 

 demonstrated that the cultivation of the proper variety of bay 

 trees {Pimertta acris) is not inly profitable, but cnmparatively 

 simple. In 1908 one acre was planted ac the Botanic Station 

 in bay trees, at a distance of 9 feet x 6 feet, giving about 

 800 plants to the acre. Two and a half years after the trees 

 were planted, reaping of the leaves was begun, and it has 

 been systematically continued since that time, the estimated 

 value of the proluct per acre having risen from £7 in 1911 

 to £46 in 1917. No cultivation has been given to the 

 plot except occasional cmlassing, and as the trees 

 have increased in age they have so closed in and 

 covered the ground that Tery little cutlassing is now 

 necessary. In the earlier years the twigs were cut 

 off by the use of garden secateurs, but now that the 

 trees hare increased in size and vigour, it is found necessary 

 to behead them, by making use of a saw, at about 

 6 feet from the ground, the leaves being afterwards stripped 

 from the branches. This was, as Mr. Robson says, really a 

 pioneer eff'ort in the scientific cultivation of the bay tree for 

 the sake of its leaves, and he is to be congratulated on the 

 results he has obtained 



In previous issues of this Journal notice has been taken 

 of the cultivation of the Ajowan plant and the American 

 horsemint as sources of thymol in Montserrat. The analyses 

 made of these products appear to show that i hey might be 

 profitably grown, if they could be locally distilled. 



The usual experiments on ordinary ground provisions 

 are carried out, and it is hoped that Montserrat will 

 regain its reputation of being almost a self-supporting island 

 in the matter of locally grown foodstuffs. 



One minor industry which is peculiar to the island 

 among the West Indies is the production of papain. This 

 shows a falling off in the year under report as compared 

 with previous years, probably the result of the superior 

 profits derived by small p'anters from the cultivation of 

 cotton. 



The Experimtnt Slatioii Record (Vol. XL, No. 3), haw a 

 note on the value in Florida of tangelos. Tangelos originated 

 as a result of crosses made by the Department of Agriculture 

 between the tangerine orange and the grape fruit. The 

 success of the first two hybrids has led to the creation of 

 hundreds of additional hybrids between all the manderin 

 types of orange and the better types of grape fruit and 

 pomelo. There is reason to believe that some of these tangelos 

 will be found decidedly resistant to citrus canker, and henc« 

 the expected value of them to citrus growers in Florida 



