Vot. XVIII, No. 451. 



THE AGRIOULTURAL NEWS. 



353 



DOWN THE ISLANDS. 



ITEMS OF LOCAL INTEREST. 



ANTliJl'.v. Mr. T. Jackson, Curator, Botanic 



part of the month at which letters re cotton prospects wera 

 read and discussed. The rainfall for th- month was ■2"29 

 inches ; for the year to date ll'8f* inches. 



and 



Experiment Stations, states that diirinii June, plots of peas, 

 beans, yams and sweet potatoes were planted. The work of 

 cultivating the sugar cane variety nursery at Skerrets was 

 begun. Durmgthe month 2,219 plants of A^aw sisa/aiia, 

 322 B). of cotton seed and 4 pilms were distribnted. 

 Numerous boxes of Eucalyptus seeds were sown and many 

 young plants of the same transplanted. Numerous mahogany 

 and other plants were potted. The beds, borders, lawns, etc. 

 received necessary attention The young erne crop on the 

 whole was looking very promising and the young cotton crop 

 was healthy. It is expected that only a small onion crop will be 

 reaped. Messrs. Henkell du Buis.son & Co. are offering knd for 

 sale to peasants on conditions similar to those obtaining in 

 connexion with the Antigua Land Settlement Scheme which 

 is being carried out at Sawcolts. Investigations in con- 

 nexion with hardback grubs, are being continued. During 

 the month 274 crates of onions were shipped by the Growers' 

 Association. The work of examining selected cotton was 

 commenced. Several meetings of the Board of Management 

 of the Onion Growers' and Cotton Growers' Association 

 were held. The rainfall for the month was 3 6S inches. 

 The total amount for the year up to the en^l of June was 

 1696 inches. 



ST. KiTTS. Mr. F. R. Shepherd writes to say that 

 during June work in the Experiment Station consisted 

 principally in the planting of certain plots. Regard- 

 ing staple crops, the reaping of the cane crop in 

 eonnexion with the Central Sugar Factory had been 

 nearly completed. The returns obtained per acre from 

 many estates have exceeded their estimates owing to the 

 heavy rains in April, and the average for plants and ratoons 

 in the Northern Districts wdl be about 23 tons of c^nes per 

 acre, and for the Valley estates about IS tons. The musco- 

 vado estates are almost all making syrup, and much difficulty 

 has been experienced by some of the estates in getting pack- 

 ages for storing, the reaping of the err p being greatly delayed 

 in consequence. The cotton crop considerably improved 

 during the month and in some districts very advanced cotton 

 could be seen with first pickings. So far there has been no 

 appearance of any disease or pest Information was 

 received from England stating the probable average price for 

 cotton would be 60 cents. The rainfall for the month was 

 3'96 inches and for the year to date 16'60 inches. 



NEVIS. At the Experiment Station, writes Mr. W. I. 

 Howell, trouble has been caused through the dry weather. 

 Most of the plots at the end of June ^ote making very slow 

 progress. As regards distribution, the following were sent out: 

 cotton 216 tt)., cassava cuttings 200 and sweet potato cut- 

 tings 250. Concerning staple crops, the old cane crop was 

 being reaped, but tlie young canes were suffering very much 

 from want of rain, and many fields still neede ) supplying. 

 There was a great scarcity of ground provisions during 

 June, as it was not found possible to carry out any plantit^g 

 during the long spell of dry weather. Great difficulty was 

 experienced in getting the cotton crop established. Large 

 quantities of seeds were used as many of the fields had to be 

 replanted and supplied several times, and, in so'ne cases even 

 thtn were not established. There were a few fields of earl^ 

 cotton which were doing fairly wi'II. Special work of the 

 Agricultural Instructor consisted iu visiting plantations 

 including Pinneys coco nut estate A meeting of the Agri- 

 cultural and Commercial Society was held during the early 



WEST INDIAN PRODUCTS. 



DRUGS AND SPICES ON THE LONDON 

 MARKETS. 



Mr. J. R. Jackson, A.L.S., has forwarded the fol- 

 lowing report on the London drug and spice markets, 

 for the month of June ; — ■ 



In reporting on the condition of the Produce Markets 

 for the month of June it has to be borne in mind that it is 

 the first summer holiday montli of the year att'ecting moat 

 of the centres of industry auch as the docks and customs 

 and this year followed closely by the Whitsuntide holidays, 

 all of which have had a depressing infl uence on the amount 

 of business transacted at the Docks or in Mincing Lane. 

 The following are the principal items of interest. 



GINGER. 



At auction on the 12 th of the month ginger was io 

 full supply, slightly wormy brown Calicut sold at 65.y, fid., at 

 which r^te 103 bags were disposed of, while 399 bags of 

 washed rough and partly wormy Cochin were bought in at 

 65.f. At auction on the 25th as many as 1,368 packages 

 of nutmegs, mostly West Indian were offered, the bulk of 

 which were disposed of at Id. to id. per R. cheaper than 

 previous rates for sound, and hd. to Id. per tt). for defective. 

 At auction on the 12th of the month maee was represented 

 by 24 cases of Java, all of which were disposed of, fair, 

 flat, slighly wormy fetching \s 3d. to Is. id per t). and 

 good bold l.f. od. to l.v. 6(/. Pimento has been stationery 

 throughout the month at 5d. to 5\d. p?r B). 



At auction on the 5th of the month sarsaparilla was 

 represented by 29 packages of grey Jamaica, 77 of native 

 Jamaica, 79 of Lima and 12 of Mexican. There were no 

 buyers for either the grey Jamaica or the Mexican, the= 

 first named being bought in at 35-. and the Mexican at Is. 9d- 

 per lb. 



ANN ATT J SEEDS, CAS.^IX FISTULA, KOLA, LIME JUICE, 



LIME OIL, CITRIC ACID, ARROWROOT, AND 



TAMARINDS. 



At auction on the 5th of the month some 30 pack- 

 ages of annatto seed were offered but none were sold. It 

 was stated that b th East Indian and Java seeds were 

 obtainable at (id. per lb. At the same auction on the 5th of 

 the month Cassia Fistula was reported as being very scarce and 

 was rep esented by 4 pickages only, fair bright fetching 160^. 

 per cwt. Kola has been ia demand at fair rates: 119 packages 

 were offered at auction on the 5th of the month. Good 

 Ceylon halves fetching 6;/. to 6ki. per lb. and good African 

 quarters 6f(/. to Id. Lime .juice was in good supply on the 5th 

 of the month when 5 puncheons of gO;od pale raw were 

 oftered and held at 3s. per gallon. Two cases of hand pressed 

 West Indian oil of limes were also offered at this auction and 

 held at 14.v. per Bb. C'trio acid has been firm throughout 

 the month at 4f. id. to -is. 'id per lb. .Manufacturing St. Vin- 

 cent arrowroot was quoted' at the end of the month at 6d. 

 per lb. and fine at 7f /. West Indian tamarinds were re- 

 ported cheaper at the end of the month. Good Barbados 

 being quoted at 70.v. t > 75^-. per owD. and Antigua at i5s. 

 to 5Qs. 



