340 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



Nov>;MBEit 1, 1919. 



DOWN THE ISLANDS. 



ITEMS OF LOCAL INTEREST. 



ST. viNCLNT. Plant distribution during the month of 

 September comprised, 4 grafted mango plants, 2,350 shade 

 tree cuttints ^Gliricidi>), and 221 decorative plants. In the 

 Botanic Gardens 432 coco-nut.s of a good variety were 

 sown for sale to planters. Routine work in the (iirdens 

 was contiDiifd. The Agricultural Superintendent, Mr. 

 W. N. Sands, states, io regard to siaple crops that with good 

 weather they made satisfactory progress, and their condition 

 was up to the average. The acceptance by this 

 officer of the post of Assistant Ecanoniic Botanist in the 

 Federated iUlay States is recorded. The rainfall for the 

 month at the Botanic Gardens was 875 inches ; at the 

 Experiment Station 8-S6 inches were registered. 



<;een.\da. I'rom notes forwarded by ilr. J.C.Moore, 

 Superintendent of Agriculture, for the months of August 

 and September, it is gathered that the routine work of the 

 Botanic ijaidens has been maintained. Plant distribution 

 was as follows • cacao, SO ; limes, 400 ; budded oranges and 

 grape fruit, 31 ; grafted mangoes, IS ; ornamental, 48; 

 horse beans, 50lb. ; large white Lima beans, 2 packets ; 

 Crotalaria Jiina-a, 2 packets : St. Vincent castor oil seed, 

 € pints; onion sec dl ngs, 18*5: onion seed, 4B). 5 oz. : 

 grape, 1 ; other economic plants, 42. The condition of the 

 staple crops, >fr. Moore says, might be regarded as fair. 

 Cacao picking in many sections has begun, and the prospects 

 appear better than those of last year. Itecent rains have been 

 very favourable The Marie Galante cotton crop in Carria- 

 con, taken as a whole, promises to be early. The interplanted 

 corn is somewhat poor, due to lateness in planting, lack oi 

 cultivation, and neglect of seed selection. Thrips, while 

 present, do not appear to be as destructive as they were at 

 the same period last jear. Regarding pests, the cotton worm 

 and sugarcane moth borer are said to be present in 

 C'arriacou. Measures for their control have been recommend- 

 ed to the peasantry. The Superintendent of Agriculture 

 lectured and gave demonstrations on the cultivation of onions 

 in the parishes of St. George, St. .John, and St. Divid. Some 

 of tlese meetiniis were well attended, and keenness in the 

 cultivation wa.s manifested. August was a decidedly wet 

 month. The rainf»<ll at Hicbmond Hill was 1510 inches. 

 Sepiember was wet and hot : Richmond Hill recorded ll'On 

 incbc'? of rain. 



wv LiJtjiA. Mr. A. J. Brooks, Agricultural --uporinten 

 dent writ! s 10 say ihat [)lanl distribution is suti'ering consider- 

 ably, due to the withdrawal of coastini; steamers. Distribu- 

 tion during the month of September included: limes, 500 ; 

 mango 'Julie,' 18; ornamental planis, 40; economic, 2; 

 orchid.s, 2: i^rape Iruit, 12; Gliricidia cittingB, 142; rice, 

 361b.; vegetable .seed-s, tiO packets. Regarding staple crop?, 

 the resping of cacao had commenced, the lime crop w.is 

 clackenitig, while sugar-cane was niaiotaining good 

 giowib. I'rof. J. Chester Bradley, M.Sc , I'b.D , F.H.S., 

 of (Jornell TTniversity, who is on an entomological 

 expedition to South America, paid a visit to St. Lucia, 

 rtmaining thirteen days on the island. The 'Jastriet 



office was placed at his disposal during his stay, 

 and the Agricultural Assistant accompanied him on toars in 

 the country districts. Lectures on agricultural ."science were 

 givon in some of the primary schools by agricultural officers. 

 The rainfall for the month recorded at the Botanic 

 Gardens, Castries, was 8 '94 inches; at Choiseul, the record 

 was "•40 inches. 



DOMINICA. Mr. Joseph Jones, the Curator, in notes for- 

 warded to this Office, states that during the month of Septem- 

 ber 10,000 lime seedlings were transplanted inthe Experiment 

 Stations. In the lime experiment station the crop during the 

 month was 151 barrels of limes, making a total of 625 barrels 

 of fruit for six months. Plant distribution was as follows : 

 limes, 1,475 ; vanilla, 600 ; cacao, 25 ; Washington Xavel 

 orange, 16 ; miscellaneous, 35 : shade tree cuttings, 500 ; 

 vegetable seeds, 95 packets: onion .-^eed, 60 ft). The 

 local price for ri| e limes has risen from 6,f. to 7j. . per 

 barrel. Haw lime juice remains at 10^/. per gallon. The 

 latest cable quotations for cincentrated lime juice was £35 

 per pipe, showing a drop of £5. The price for cured c.i,cio 

 dropped from 9r/. t« 8./. per lb. A considerable amount 

 of blight on lime trees is reported from several districts. 

 The weather was normal. The rainfall for the month was 

 7 06 inches. 



SUGAR AND ALCOHOL FROM THE 

 NIPAH PALM. 



The Nipah palm {Nipa fnitirans), is one of the very 

 few tropical plants which occur in pure stands over extensive 

 areas in Borneo. In common with many other palms, its sap 

 contains sugar, and laboratory experiments conducted at 

 the Bureau of Science, Manila, indicate that produeti"n .if 

 sugar from Xipah palm sap would be a commercial su:i'e-.s. 

 .According to these experiments, it is estimated that there 

 would be at least 1 2 per cent, of rei-overable sugar in the 

 sap, and the aveiage annual yield of 4,000 gallons of sap 

 per acre of Nipah under management should produoe nboiu 

 4.000 ft>. of sugar. 



Although the production of sugar from the Xipih 

 sap is still in the experimental stage, the manufacture of 

 alcohol from the same source is a well e,--tablished industry. 

 l''or many years the natives of the Pliili[)pines have been 

 producing a low grade distillate averaging about 25 per cent 

 alcohol, which has been used as a beverage. Lately t'le 

 crude stills which produced this distillate have largely been 

 replaced by modern distilleries, of which seventy live were in 

 operation in 1913. These produced -I million gallons of 

 distilled spirits. Over 98 per cent, of this production is 

 diluted and used for leverages, and the balance utilized 

 as fuel for lamps, stoves and motors. 



The Nipah palm grows in dense formation on ti'tal 

 areas throughout all of the ICtstern tropics. /cy exteusite 

 areas ar- to be found in Borneo, and the I'ritish .North 

 Borneo Government estimate that at least 300,00'> a.res 

 exist at very accessible points throughout their territory. 

 <^ne block ot 57,000 acres has already been surveyed -m the 

 \Vest Coast, and certainly another 100,000 acres cm be 

 reached within four h' urs by launch from Sandakan on the 

 East Coast, and the same can bo said as regards Tawau 

 on the Kast < !oast, but further scjuth. Ihilklin \,,. v of 

 the Department of Forestry, British North Borneo, dis- 

 cusses the possibilities of eatabli.shing this industry in Borneo. 

 - {'I'll, JUhir,! of Tm/le Jwr»al, August 7, 1919.) 



