VOL.: 



No. 459 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



a result of the poison. It i? likely that this poison wnuid 

 provide fairly efficient proCectioD against the unngoose. 



It is believed that i;ott()n wonin which have fed oii 

 3eaves to which Hatis gieejn or oUjer pciisons hnvo beea 

 appljedj cause the death of many 'oJackbinis in liirbados, and 

 in fact It is said iujn, ucaa Lilackoiias nave beea fouri I in cot- 

 ton fields, when tiie only reason that could be aacribed for 

 their death was the ea' ing of poisoned worms. If this is 

 true, there seems t > be stroni,' probability that to.ids might be 

 tilled in the same way by eating cotton worm^ which have 

 ibeen poisoned and h'>ve dropped to the ground. The Known 

 •facts are, that the f.oad is a most useful insect eater, and that 

 many of their breeding places have been eliminated in islands 

 snch as Barbados and Antigua where certain insects are more 

 serious pests than fornjerly . It is assumed that toad.-) are 

 'less numerous than they were, and that the doing away with 

 surface ponds has been largely responsible. 



H.A.B. 



CATTLE GRAZING IN BRITISH GUIANA. 



The foUowiritf stateioeots occur in the Reporp ou 

 the Lands aod Mines Department, British Ouiaua, 

 fnv 1918:— 



'fbo cattle-grazing industry has coatinu'jd to attract 

 much attention. At the close of the year under report 

 negotiations werti pending between a local syndicate and the 

 Government, for a Grazing Concession embracing nn area 

 of 2,000 Square miles of savannah land in the extreme 

 aouthern portion of the colony between the (Juitaro and 

 Takutu Rivers 



The coastland savannahs, which are now defined under 

 tht! new Crown Lands Kegulations of 1919 as ihe savannah 

 lands lying North of 5" North Latitude, Kast of the 

 lissequibo River and West of the Essequibo lands lying 

 North of the Cuyuni, comprise an estimated area of o.SOO 

 .square miles, and may be subdivided into two parts of 

 appro-ximateiy equal area; (1> the savannahs situated on the 

 low flat alluvial coastiands which are for the most part 

 ~wet' or swampy, and are fertile, and (2) those e.xtending 

 inland between tha rivers to the East of the Essequibo River, 

 .and forming .somewhat elevated and undulating .-..and downs 

 which are not at all fertile. 



Ten applications were received for Crazing Leases on 

 the coastland savannahs, covering an area of 29,859 acres 

 on the Abary, t'ourautyne and Canje Rivers, and the West 

 Coast of Eerbice, and eleven yearly Grazing Pervn'ssions, cov- 

 ering an area of 3,779 83 acres were issued in addition. 



The interior or Flinterland savannahs of the colony, 

 •which are situated entirely within the western portion of the 

 Hinterland, and separated from the coastland savannahs by 

 •extensive intervening forests, cover an estimated area of 

 ■<),190 square mile.s, which comprise extensive grass-clad 

 plains elevated 3,000 feet abofis sea-level, and include 

 ^rass-clad mountains. 



For the interior savannahs six new permissions for 

 -grazing ri^^his, embracing an ares of 290 square miles were 

 applied for and issued before the close of the year. 



The construction of the catt'e track from the Rupuuuni 

 to the Berbice River, which was begun la.st year, was pu.shcd 

 ■ahead under the direction of Mr. H. P. 0. Melville, Com- 

 missioner Rupununi District, and was practically completed 

 by the end of the year. Arrangements were male by the 

 Government fur t topographical and economic survey of 

 the trail and 'he country on each side of it for a width of 

 6 miles, to be commenced early in 1919, 



Those interested in the question of rattle-raising in the. 

 colony are recomnif-nded to read the interesting and io'strai:- 

 tive articles on the subject written, respectively, by Mr. 

 John Jlullin. Chief Clerk Department of Lands and iliuesi 

 Mr. John H. Haly, Manager of the Abary Cittle Rioch; 

 and Mr. A. E. Bratt, ^iu:.;;^.. r.^^,.:[^^ i. i..........o.s 



appearing in the /ounta/' of tin Board of A:^ncu!ture of 

 British Guiana, for the quarters ended March and Ostob-r 

 1918, respectively. 



SELECTION OF RUBBER TREES. 



lu regard to the selection of Hevea rubber trees ia 

 Ceylon, referred to in the editorial in the piesent issue of 

 the Ai^riacttural A'i'a'j, the suggestions put forward recently 

 by a writer in the Imtia, RiMer World (October 1, 1919>. 

 are deserving of attention. 



The proceluro to be followed in order to obtain the 

 best planting stock shoulil, iiccording to this writer, be a.H 

 follows : a number of the oldest trees to be found growing 

 under the same conditi ms should be selected. It is impor 

 tant to select the oldest trees in order that one uay be 

 certain that the trees have not suffered from disease, and 

 may therefore be regarded as immune. Presuming that of 

 these oldest trees those which show no evidence of ever having 

 been attacked by disease are selected, it remains to select; 

 from the remainder the highest yielders. If two or more 

 trees yield about the same quantity, the choice should fall 

 on the tree producing the best quality of latex. This 

 latter point is of less importance than yield and diseaaa 

 resistance, unless very great differences should be found in 

 the course of the experiments. 



In summarizing his article, the writer says; 'The 

 present method of reproducing flevea should be discontinued. 

 Breeding to obtain a better strain is, for technical reasons, 

 out of the question for any commercial firm. Seedling 

 selection offers no solution on account of the inability to 

 know what to select. Artificial propagation will overcome 

 the difliculty. Methods of artificial propagation may be 

 divided into two groups: those providing for their own 

 root systems, and those where one tree is grafted upon 

 another. One of the simplest methods is that carried out 

 lately in Sumatra, namely budding. When resorting to 

 budding or grafting, it is important to remember that 

 attention must be given to the selection of the stoct 

 principally in regard to re.-.islance to disease. 



'Carefully selected trees should be used for propagating 

 stock, taking into account productivity, disease resistance, 

 and quality of the rubber.' 



DEPARTMENT NEWS. 



Sir Francis \VhU«, K.C.M.G., D.Sc. Imperial 

 Commissioner of Agr::r.' ':-.-? f.:"r tb-/ West Indies, 

 returned to Barbados on November It), IU19, by the- 

 SS. 'Spheroid', after five raonths' duty in England. 



Mr. W. Nowell, D.I.C., Mycologist on the staff of 

 the Imperial Departutent, returned to the Head 

 Office on November 24 by the C.ll.M.S. ' Chaudiere' 

 from Trinidad, after several weeks' visit, l;o that ('olooy 

 in connexion with investigations into frogiiippfr anl 

 ■ irrtot diseSisWof the 'sugar-cane. ' • • 



