382 



THE AGRICULTURM. NEVTS. 



NOVEMBEK 29, 1919. 



DOWN THE ISLAi^DS. 



ITEMS OF LOCAL INTEREST. 



i:ken.\i>.\. Koutine work in the Botanic Gardeui was 



Maintained durins; the nionlli of October The f-jUow^iag 



comprised the plant distribution for the month: 



liine plants, 500 ; oroamental, 3 ; horse beans, 50 ib. • 



melon papaw seeds, loz. ; ou -n seeds, 3 fi). 15 oz. ; 



otJion seedlings, 100. The Acting Superintendent, Mr. 



W. O'Brien r)onovan, states, in reference to staple 



crops, that the reaping of cacao is in full swing. Indications 



are that a crop somewhat larger than that for 191S-19 



might be expected. The market continues firm, at very 



good pricrs. Live stock for butchers' meat continues scarce. 



It is believed that this scarcity will increase rather than 



decrease with the process of time- Sweet potatoes are beicg 



largely planted. A fair crop of first corn has been obtained, 



and a second planting is now in ptngress. Thrips have again 



hit hard some places The attackp, however, comparatively 



speaking, have been less severe than those of last year. It 



is noted that the estates suffering mostly are those which 



have only now begun treatment by prescribed remedial 



measures. The .judging of the gardens fground provisioD.-^) 



under the Scheme of Prize Holdi'" "s Competitions has been 



n->mpleted by officers of the Depan-raent. Assistance in the 



adjudication for prizes was given by some planters, members 



•of tiie Agricultural and Commercial Society. Intermittent 



showers fell throughout the month. The precipitation at 



Richmond Hill was 910 inches. A series of lectnres is 



contemplated with a view to the formation of Rural Credit 



Societies. 



.ST. VINCEST. Work in the Botanic Gardens duritjg 

 October consisted in a general clearing of drain.s, trimming 

 cf ornamental borders, weeding and edging of walks and 

 beds. There was a good supply of coconut plants in 

 the nursery for sale. Plant distribution included -'i,t<00 

 cane cuttings, 6 grafted mango plants, 106 decorative, and 

 5 B). onion seed. Regarding staple crops, Mr. S. C. Harland, 

 B Sc , As.siftant Agriculinral Superintendet^t. states that the 

 cotton fields generally are satisfactory, although signs ot 

 soil exhaustion are everywhere apparent. Some damage 

 has been done by the Soft Rot and Diplodia diseases. The 

 cotton worm is reported to be attacking cotton fields at 

 ftatho Mill and Villa in the Windwar.l district. Mr W. N. 

 •Sands, F.LS., the Agricultural Superintendent, left the colony 

 for England on October 16, to take up his now appointment 

 as Assistant Economic I'.otanist on the StalT of the Agricul- 

 tural Department, Federated Malay Stat«.s Seasonable 

 weather prevailed during the month. The rainfall recorded 

 at the Botanic Station was 13 05 inches, and at the Experi- 

 ment Station, 9CC> inches. 



a.stk;ua. The following plants were distributed from 

 the Botanic (iurdens during October: l,fi83 eucalyptus, 

 •270 mahogany, 270 sisal, 17 miscellanoous decorative, 73 

 miscellaneous economic, 41 Proaopis, 1 coco-nut, 200 

 Gliricidia cuttings, and 3 lb. onion seed. Ordinary routine 

 •work was perfornie<l in the l^xperiment Stations and 

 Botanic Gardens. Good rains fell during the month, and 

 these the Curator Mr. T. Jackson, .says, have materially 

 wfTected the outlook of the sugar crop for the year 1919- l'O. 

 If ii-imal weather is experienced daring the next few months, 

 it ii po-sihle that the island will make about I4,0i»0 to 

 15,000' u>D» of sugar. The crop is looking well and growing 

 rapidly in all parts ot the island, with the pot-sible excel tion 

 of some poriion.s of the Popeshead district. Thus district L < j 

 aot receive<l the same amount of nin as other localities, 



and in consequence of the lightness of the soil, it suffered' 

 more acutely than other places during the recent drought. 

 Returns as to the area under cotton have not yet been 

 received, but it seems likely that the area planted will be 

 smaller than that of last year. Onion seed has germinated 

 well. Regarding pests, it is stated that the numbers of 

 cotton stainers have increased slightly during the month : 

 some attacks of caterpillars have been erperienced : and 

 investigations in connexion with hard back beetles were 

 continued. Good rains fell during the month, aggregating 

 7'8'2 inches. The total rainfall for the year to date is 

 31 ■73 inches. 



Appended to the above note.* forwarded by Mr, Jackson, 

 is a brief report by Mr. V. G. Per^ria. on Agricultural Instruc- 

 tion in Antigua for the month of October. This discloses 

 that fourteen peasants' holdings were visited during the 

 month. Fairly good yields of cotton were being obtained, 

 with little or no stained cotton. Leaf blister mite was 

 present in most holdings, and especially common in that 

 part of Piccadilly known as Cuba. The cause of tis was 

 found to be the presence of old cotton trees growing in the 

 neighbourhood, which could not be easily observed on account 

 of high grass and weeds that had grown up amongst them. 

 Cotton stainers were pre.sent in some holdings, and were 

 beginning to increase. Control of the.se by means of collect- 

 ing, or by trapping, was advised Boll shedding had occurred 

 in a few holding.^ but not to any great extent. No cotton 

 caterpillars had appeared during the month. The planting 

 of swee' potatoes was continued, and land was I'eing pre- 

 pared for the planting of corn, 



»T. KiTT#. Mr. F. R. Shepherd, Agricultural Super- 

 intendent, writes to say that during the month of October 

 the usual routine work was carried out in the Botanic 

 Gardens, which have much improved since the good rains 

 recently. Plants of Casuarina have been put out along the 

 seafront of the Station, Plant distribution included : 30 

 ornamental plants, 24 ears of Indian corn, ^ lb, Spanish pea- 

 nuts, 300 cassava cuttings, and lOO sweet potato cuttings 

 sent to I he Experiment Statico, Nevis, In addition, cuttings of 

 varieties of cassava were sent to the Bureau of Plant In- 

 dustry, Washington, The .sugarcane crop has consider- 

 ably improved, especially in the Valley district, owing to the 

 goods rains during the month, and the prospects are now 

 very favourable for the coming season The plant canr.s are 

 vigorous and healthy, whih the ratoons are responding to 

 the artificial manures applied. On some estates. Gelds for 

 the crop of r.^21 are b«ing planted chiefly with B. 147. The 

 cotton crop in the Northern d strict is practically over, the 

 plants are being ploughed under and the lands prepared for 

 cane. The yield or cotton per acre has been satisfactory. 

 In the Valley district picking is still in full swing. Leaf- 

 blister mite is appearing, but not to any great extent. Cotton 

 stainers have been found in small numbers in the Govern- 

 ment Cotton Farm, but constant hand collection in tins 

 with kerosene oil has prevented auy increase. As far as 

 can be seen, this pest has been considerably reduced this 

 season, and if it does not uow appear, a second picking of 

 cotton will be obtained from lands not needed for wne, 

 NEVIS, There wa'? uc plant distribution during the 

 month of September, Mi", H'lwell writes to say. The cane 

 crop throughout the island is suffering very much from want 

 of rain, an! niiny of the cane fields wre drying up. Cotton 

 picking is in prrgres', but with very poor returns. The late 

 planted cotton is doing very badly cu account of the very dry 

 weather, and it is very doubtful whether any cotton will bo 

 reaped from many of the fields, especially in the lowlands. 

 The rainfall for the mouth wa-* 2 10 iiches; for the year to 

 dite, 1967 inches. 



