Vol. XVIIl. No. 455. 



TRE AaBICULTURAL NEWS. 



Ml 



ST. LUCIA PRIZE HOLDINGS 

 COMPETITION, 1918-19. 



The Report of Mr. Buckmire, Agiicultural Assis- 

 tant, on the above competition wa-s published in recent 

 issues of the Voice ot' St. Lucia, from which the 

 following extracts have been taken:— 



LIME COMPETITION —CASTEiE,s The object cf this 

 competition as detailed in the Agricultural Department 

 iveport of 1916-1? is to extend Lime ciiltivation in the 

 districts where soil and other conditions are well suited to 

 the cultivation of this pl.nt, ami to give such cultural 

 instruction and supervision during tlie first two years as 

 would ensure tlie permanent establishment of the plots and 

 serve as object-lessons to the growers. 



The area covered 

 in the competition was 

 large and extend- 

 ed from Vide Bouteille 

 to Garand, Babonneiu, 

 and from Moroe Dudon 

 and C'iceron to Anse- 

 lalUye. 



Thirty four plots 

 were entered for plant- 

 ing limes, but upto July 

 sufficient worktojustfiy 

 marking was done only 

 in fourteen plots, 

 and out ot this number 

 the requirements of the 

 competition were car 

 ried through to the 

 end on eleven plots. 



Most of the grow- 

 ers showed great inter- 

 est and followed the 

 instructions given them 

 in every detail. On most 



of the plots the plants were quite regular and wiml-belts and 

 other fhelter crops were established. The young plants 

 were thriving nicely and showed very satisfactory promise 



LLMB COMPETITION — souFRiERE. At the commence- 

 ment when the Prize Schi me was laid out to the growers in 

 this centre ten peasants fav>' in their names. The plots 

 were vi>ited and marked and cultural io.struotions given the 

 growers on the spot To six of these lusn who shewed more 

 than ordinary interest sufficient lime plants were distributed 

 to plant up acre plots at 20 feet apart. 



The condition of the plots during liter visits showed a 

 careless interest generally not only in the cleanliness etc , of 

 the plots but in the manner they were planted out. 



in only one plot wns the distance of 20 feet apart 

 adhered to, and on plots about 50 per ceit. of the plants put 

 out became established, 



c.ic.vo COMPETITION. Tlie object of this competition 

 is also detailed in the A .icultural Department report 

 1916 17, and is to improve the general condition of bearing 

 cacao plantations among the peasan;.-i. It is ojien for a 

 period of one year to persons owning not; more than 20 acres 

 of land. 



The number of persons who entered this competition 

 was eleven. The plots were visited, and cultural instruction 

 given to the growers nn the spot in the same way as was 

 done in the Lime competition. 



Eight of these growers worked in a more or less 

 satisfactory manner throughout the corapetion. 



BeiN'jING IN Limes, on an Estate in St. Lucia 



ONION GROWING IN DOMINICA. 



The experiments in onion growing have been contiooed 

 at the Spring Hill estate, and notts on tl e progress mads 

 have been published in the Agricultural Navs from time to 

 time. 



These experiments have shown that in Dominica it i* 

 desirable to use a considerable pro(,i'rtion of the seed, which 

 is received from Teneriffe about September-October of each 

 year, for the production of sets which can be grown and 

 stored and then used for successive monthly plantings from 

 Mny until about October. Onions grown directly from seed 

 sown in October would mature during the following March 

 and April, and if sets are planted with the rains early in 

 M*y, these would mature three months later. By successive 



p'antings of sets from 

 May onwards, o n i o n .s 

 could be reaped from 

 Augus" until the follow- 

 ing January. 



Now that these points 

 have been made clear, 

 and the suitability de- 

 monstrated of certain 

 parts of the leeward coast 

 for growing onions, it is 

 hoped that sufficient 

 interest will be taken in 

 this subject to follow up 

 the lead given by Mr. 

 Seignoret, and that with- 

 in a short time sutiicient 

 onions will be produced 

 to supply local require- 

 ments. As an aid to this 

 end, the Agricultural 

 Department has raised 

 and distributed during 

 the season a large number 

 of sets and seedlings to 

 interested persons. 

 The qui stion of seed production is also being considered, 

 and the results so far are promising. It was found that 

 while sets planted in M ly and the following months showed 

 no tendency to >eed, a proportion of those planted towards 

 the end of the season, when the sets had passed into their 

 second year, did so. Experiments with this locally produced 

 seed will shortly be made and reported upon. It is 

 probable that seed piodnction in t'le West Indies is a 

 matter of age of the bull> and season. Once these have 

 been determined, i'. may be possible (o raise seed locally, 

 instead of, as no*, being entirely dependent on other 

 countries f r supplies. 



It is hoped that close attention will be given by a 

 few interested persons to this cultivation. In an island 

 which practically depends upon orchard cultivation, the 

 establishment of even a small industry, the crop of which 

 would bring in ready money after about five or six months, 

 is desirable, and would p ove very helpful, espe ially to 

 small groWv;rs. There is nothing very difficult to le.irn abou'. 

 the cultivation : the trouble would be to secure that atten- 

 tion to detail and the carrying ou' of the work at the 

 right lime by persons who for a long time have 

 been nsed to orchard cultivation, which, generally 

 s|;eakinir, is carried on iu Dominica in a manner by no 

 means exacting in regard to .<iea3on il requirements and to 

 methods of work. (Beport on the Agricultural Department, 

 Dominica, for 191S-19 ) 



