246 



THE AGRICULTUKAL NEWS. 



Aixiimr 9, 1919. 



THE AGRICULTURAL CREDIT SOCIE- 

 TIES IN ST. LUCIA. 

 The Annual Keport on the working of the Agricultural 

 Credit f ocieties of St. Lucia has been published in the 

 OJficial Gaze/U of the colony for June U. 

 . " The working of these Societies in St. Lucia is j-et in its 

 infancy, operations having started about three years ago, and 

 judging from the report there is a very hopeful future for the 

 enterprize. We are strong on the point that if the colony is 

 to become prosperous the peasants must be solidly helped to 

 lift themselves out of the old rut. 



The Reprt states that there were 419 members 

 compared with 347 at the close of the previous year, and 

 that the amount of loans due to the Colonial Bank by 

 the Societies on March 31, 1919, was £2,420, an increase 

 of £1,189 on the previous year. If with this sum 

 at their command the peasants have endeavoured to 

 improve their cultivated areas or cleared lands for planting 

 up fresh crops, particularly sugar cane then we conclude it 

 has been money well spent, and cannot fail to benefit the 

 community, the peasants themselves included. Interest is 

 charged by the Colonial Bank at the rate of 7 per cent. 



Produce shipped during the year included Cocoa, Kola 

 and Sugar. In the case of Micoud, sales had not yet been 

 affected at the time the report was written, and the sales 

 account for cocoa shipped from 1 )ennery had not been yet 

 received. Excepting these two instances, the total amount 

 realized for the produce shipped by the Societies was £151 

 Ox. hd. while the cocoa sold locally fetched £119 Os. 3;/. 



A statement is made in the report that there i.s an almost 

 complete absence of loans being applied for such purposes as 

 christenings, marriages, funerals, etc. We are pleased that 

 an eye is being kept on this matter and have no doubt that 

 with continued attention by the officers concerned as well as 

 with increased prosperity among the peasants little or noth- 

 ing will .soon be heard of on this piirticular point. 



There was no increase in the number of societies, which 

 is ten; and since there is already one in each agricultural 

 centre tf the island it is a good idea that the number should 

 not be increased but that attention be paid to the full devel- 

 opment of those already established. 



About a year ago we drew attention to the fact that 

 there were small proprietors who could not be benefitted by 

 the help afforded by the Agricultural Societies, and it is 

 pleasing to note that the Agricultural Superintendent in his 

 letter accompanying the Keport has not lost sight of the 

 Ijoint, and we desire to urge all possible speed in providing 

 for these cultivators assistance oo similar lines as those 

 afforded through the Agricultural Credit Societies. (The 

 l^mct of St. Lucia, June 21, 1919.) 



PROSPECTS OF JUTE CULTIVATION 

 IN BRAZIL. 



The heavy cost of raw jute imported from India during 

 the war, and the consequently high price of hessians, has 

 caused the question of the possibility of the cultivation of 

 jute in Brazil to be extensively ventilated in the Brazilian 

 press. 



As a result of the publicity given lo the matter, the 

 Minister of Agriculture despatched two eiuissaries to India 

 to study the possibilities of this question, and on their 

 return they have made public the result of their investi- 

 gations. 



After an exhaustive analysis of the climatic and labour 

 conditions, one of the emissaries is very emphatic in his 

 opinion that the cultivation of jute in Brazil on a profitable 

 scale is impracticable. In support of this view he cites the 

 fact that the Government of Egypt, which possesses identical 

 lands lo the alluvial basins of the CJanges and the Brahma- 

 pootra, failed to establish jute in Egypt. He further quotes 

 the example of the United States and shows that, in both 

 of these countries the cultivation of jute was finally aban- 

 doned in favour of cotton. 



He proceeds with his exp sition by stating that th» 

 climatic conditions are not, however, the principal factors 

 in the formation of his opinion. He points out that the 

 cultivatior. of jute calls for the employment of a large 

 quantity of manual labour, and he attributes the failure of 

 the cultivation in the United States to the absolute necessity 

 of cutting and separating the fibres by hand — an operation 

 which has to be carried on often with water to the waist, 

 and calls for a highly skilled and practised labourer. He 

 further pays a high tribute to the excellent system of com- 

 munication, in India, whether by rail, wafer, or roail, aa 

 an important factor id jute cultivation, and which Brazil 

 entirely fails to possess. 



The second emi.ssary, on the other hand, has returned 

 with far more hopeful views on the subject. He extended his 

 tour to Cuba, and from his personal observation is convinced 

 that the machine in use there for separating the fibres, 

 satisfactorily solves the labour problem (which has always 

 been considered the objection lo cultivation in Brazil), He 

 points out that the price of unskilled labour is 6,i-. per day 

 in Cuba, owing to the gieat demand from the sugar planta- 

 tions — a price which is even higher than in lirazil. He 

 further endeavours to destroy the generally accepted opinion 

 that jute can only be cultivated on low-lying alluvial lands, 

 and states that in Cuba he saw excellent jute plantations on 

 land which had been previously under sugar. ( Tin- Board of 

 Tnidi- /,wr«a/ for May 8, 1919.) 



DEPARTMENT NEWS. 



.Mr. H. A. Ballon, M.Sc, Entomologist on the 



8t,afl' of the (Jepurtiiicnt.is expected to leave Barbados by 



S!S. 'I'arima'on or about August 14, for St. Lucia, for 



the purpose of conducting invcKoigations in that Colony. 



Mr. S. C. Harland, B.Sc, As-sistant for Cotton Re- 

 search, arrived at I'.arbados on August 4 by C.U.M.H. 

 '(Janw^uet' from St Vincent en route for the Leeward 

 Islands for the purpose of conducting investigations 

 there. It is expected he will return to St. Vincent 

 in abottt six weeks time. 



It is stated in the India Rubber Journal for May 1, 

 that Dr. A reus has recently made a number of experiments 

 to find out whether drip tins filled with water and placed 

 on rubber trees help to keep the latex vessels open and 

 reduce the amount of scrap rubber. The results do aot 

 appear to justify the expense and labour involved ia 

 adopting the system. 



A recent circular states that a big shipping, 

 engineering and machinery exhibition is to be opened at 

 Olympia, London, on September 25 next. This exhibition, 

 of which Sir Owen I'hilipps, G.C M.G., M.l'., is Honorary 

 President will afford the public an opportunity of becoming 

 acquainted with 'the luxury, comfort and ease of present 

 day .sea travel.' We presume that the term 'ease' is not 

 used in reference to present day facilities in obtaining 

 passages. 



