24 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



Januaey 25, 1908. 



EDITORIAL. NOTICES. 



Letters and matter for publication, as well as all 

 specimens for naming should -be addressed to the 

 Commissioner, Impeiiil De[)artment of Agriculture, 

 Barbados. 



All a]i|i]ieations for Copies of the 'Agricultural 

 News' should bo addiessed to the Agents, and not to 

 the Department. 



Local A(jev(K: Jlessrs. Bowcn & Sons, Bi-idgc- 

 town, Bai-bados. London A;jt;vt.s : I\Icssrs. Dulau & 

 Co., 37, Soho Square, \V., ,ind The West India Com- 

 mittee, L5. Seetliing Lane, E.G. A complete list of 

 Agents will be found on ]iage o of the cover. 



The Af/ricidtnral Ncics : Price Id. per number, 

 post fiee 2(1. Annu;il subscription payable to Agents, 

 2s. 2d. Tost free, 4.v. 4d. 



Agricultural Wealth of Panama. 



The district around the Port of Bocas del Toro in 

 Panatna is reported by the U.S. Consul to possess very 

 I'Oiisiderable agricultural wealth. The cidtivation of 

 bananas is the ciiief industry, thousands of acres having 

 lately been planted. Other products, such as cacao, 

 rubber, cocoa-nuts, .sarsaparilla and vanilla are described 

 as doing well in the district, although their cultivation 

 has not been developed to any gre.at e.^tent. 



Cacao is at present grown only by the natives, who 

 dry the beans in the sun, using uo special apparatus. 



Rubber grows wild in the interior flistricts. 

 A certain amount of this commodity is prepared and 

 brought to Bocas del Toro by the Indians, where it is 

 readily bought up by merchants. .Sarsaparilla also 

 grows wild in the interior .-iiid is gathered by the 

 natives Vanilla grows well, but the dam[> climate 

 causes difficulty in curing. 



Il^grmiltiiral |]inu!i 



Vol. VIL S.A.TU11DAV, .JANUARY 2.5, 190S. No. l-oO. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Contents of Present Issue. 



The editorial of the present issue gives a summary 

 of the Presidental address delivered by Sir Daniel 

 ^forris at the recent West Indian Agricultural 

 Conference. 



The notes on the sugar industry (page 1!)) relate to 

 mannrial experiments with sugar-cane in British 

 Cniana, the extent of the cane-farming industry in 

 Trinidad, and crop prospects in Cuba. 



Figures indicating tlic e.xtent of the fruit indus- 

 tries of Jamaica appear on page 20, and an article on 

 the following page gives useful hints in regard to pine- 

 apple cidtivation. 



The manurial requirements of the Sea Island 

 cotton crop arc discussed in an article on page 22. 



The AiiiiiKil h'<jjni-/ (li)(l(i-7) (111 the Leeward 

 Islands contains interesting information relating to agri- 

 cultural progress in the colony (l>age i'-i). 



The question of the best method (i( pic'iiaring 

 rubber for the market receives attention in an article 

 on page 2!J. 



The Popular Banana. 



Banana cultivaticHi, the b.inana industry of 

 Jamaica and (jtJK'i' countries, and the imports of tiiis 

 fruit into (iieat Britain and the L^nited States form 

 the subject of .-ui interesting article in a late number of 

 the Liverpool .Inarnul of Couimcrce. 



The remarkable development of the b;ui;ina trade 

 of Jamaica dining late years is described, the fii^ures 

 given, which are quoted from llic Inland Revenue /^c:;^7fj?'< 

 of the island showing t.hat during the nitie rears from 

 LS!)G to 190.5, the banana area of Jamaica h.ad increased 

 from U),227 to 44..S25 acres. 



British iin]ioits fiom Jamaica in 190.5 I'eached 

 1,200,000 bunches of bananas — a vast increase compared 

 with the 500.000 bunches impoited in 1901. 



Costa Rica has of late years become the premier 

 banana-producing country of the world, and in respect 

 to quantity shipped, he.ids the list of countries 

 exporting the liuit to England, sending no less than 

 2,0(il,70.5 bunches in 1905. 



Destruction of Locusts in Trinidad. 



The Locust Destruction Ordinance that iias been 

 in force up to the present in Trinidad provides for the 

 destruction of locusts at the expense of the Government 

 only. Tiie effect of' this has been that when destruc- 

 tion of locusts becomes necessary, owners of infested 

 areas have left everything to be done by the Covern- 

 ment agents. 



An amendment to the Ordinance, liowever, has 

 received the aj)proval of a Select Committee of the 

 Legislative Council, and will probably- soon become law. 

 This proposes that a notice shall Deserved on the owner 

 or occupier of hinds troubled with locusts, ordering 

 him to take measures for the destruction of the pests 

 within a given time, at his own expense. If this order 

 is not carried out within the time allotted, the agent of 

 the Covernment uijxy enter the lands, and destroy the 

 locusts, the expense of this operation being charged to 

 the owner or ocmpier, unless the Governor shall direct 

 otherwise. 



