•28 



THE AGrJCULTURAL NEWS. 



January 



1908, 



GLEANINGS. 



The exports nf ]iiiiiciitci 

 reached 85,000 cwt., valued at 

 States took 40 per cent. 



from .Taniaica during 1907 

 ysOOOO. Of this, the United 



The average rainfall tliat oecurrc<l in the Virgin Islands 

 during 1906-7 was53-(32 inches, as eonipared with an average 

 of 55'66 inches over the past five years. 



The average raiid'all e.^jjericnced in l!riti.-h Guiana dur- 

 ing the year 1907 reached ll'O inches. The average for the 

 fir.st six months of the year was 81 inches. 



The land under sugar-cane cultiv:Uion in P.ritish CUiiana 

 durin- 1907 was 7:5,4-71 ai-res, exclusive of about '2,o00 



acres cultivated by farmers. The are.i 

 already indicated, is o\cr ."il.l.llOO acres. 



under seedlings, as 



An ostrich f.irni has been started in ('uba- as an experi- 

 ment. At present the owner possessesaliont forty-eight ostriches. 

 The value of the full-i,qown binls is from .'?:!00 to !?400 each. 



Ciini^cr exjiorts from .laiiiaica during 190G-7 showed 

 a falling oil in ipiantity, but there was an increase in value 

 of nearly £11,900 as comiiared with the shijinients of 190-5-6. 



Jamaican gra]ie fruits of medium size are retailed in 

 London at 4f/. each, while the li>'-gcr sizes fetch as much as 

 8'/. eacli. {London Dnilij Mail ) 



The sugar cropof Porto liico for the year I'.KMl iinmuntcd 

 to 205,000 toii«<. This indicates an increase in sugar [iroduc- 

 tion of 'JOO per cent, in the last five years. 



The United States (.'onsul at Odessa reports tliat in his 

 district refined cocoa-nut oil is being largely sold as a butter 

 substitute. Oleomargarine, a well-known substitute coini)ose<l 

 cheifiy of animal fats, has (piite been driven from the market. 



Thirty-three bales of Sea Island cotton and I.'Sli bales of 

 Maris..' Oalantc were ginned at the (iovernment Cotton 

 (linnery, Hillsborough, Carriacou, during the year 1900-7. 



(Al'IIIKl/ Jujioif.) 



A first consignment of cassava starch has been sliipped 

 to England by Messrs. Ethcrington from their factory in 

 Dominica. Shipments of cas.sava search liave been recently 

 sent from Jamaica to London, and the results are certainly 



ironiising. 



Tile (rurihifix Chronicle states that a Norwegian 

 comjjany has bought a large area of land at Toatal near 

 Passacoa in Cuba, with the object of cultivating pine-apples 

 and bananas for the home market. A manager well aci|uainted 

 with West Indian conditions hits Vieen a[ipointed. 



liussian egg exporters haveadoptedthemethod of shipping 

 their produce without the shells. In this way excessive 

 freight is avoided, as also loss from breakage, etc. These 

 eggs are put up in air-tight boxe.s, and may be purchased 

 with or without sail : they are sold by weight and ap()ear to 

 be popular on the continent, although they do not .sceui to 

 suit the English trade {JJritish Xatioiial DriK/f/ist.) 



The fruit growers of Porto IJico, representing a capital 

 of about §4,000,000, have recently formed a protective associa- 

 tion in order to be able to make more favourable terms with 

 th? steamship couiiiaiues for transport of their produi'c. 



I'raedial larceny, or the theft of growing crops, has 

 lately been causing a great deal of trouble in Jamaica. 

 A recent number of the Diiili/ Telcijraph reports the trial of 

 21 such cases in the police courts. The usual punishment 

 ap|iears to lie three months imprisonment. These thefts are 

 l>articnlarly hard upon the small peasant proprietor. 



The December number of the Jour mil of the Jamaica 

 Agricultural Society comments strongly on the unsanitary 

 conditions under which the milk .stipply of Kingston is 

 produced. Having regard to the readiness with which 

 disease may br carried through the medium nf milk, this is 

 a matter needing immediate attention from the Agricultural 

 Society and others in the island. 



The Liverpool press recently published a letter from 

 Mr. Chambeilain to Sir. Alfred Jones, in which the late 

 Secretary of State for the Colonies ofters his congratulations on 

 the progress of the cotton industry in Jamaica. Mr. Cham- 

 berlain added tliat he will be interested to learn of the 

 success of the efforts that aie being made in Jamaica to 

 eiiconrafce cotton growing amongst small landowners. 



The raising of Sicilian lemons is under exi>eriment in 

 Porto Piico, where a iilantation of 10,000 trees has recently 

 been establhshed. The trees were impp-.ted from one of the 

 best lemon-growing districts of Sicily. The specimens so far 

 )iroducnl in Porto Kico appear to ei|ual the best grade of 

 Sicilian lemons. These results appear to promise a new 

 iiidu-^try for the island. (J'.S. Couxiilnr li/jiiirt.) 



A note in the l.oiiixiiiim I'hiiitir draws attention to the 

 extraordinary development of the sugar industry in Porto 

 Itii'o. 'I'lie value of the sugar imported by the States from 

 Porto Ivico was in 1897, no more than J?I,500,000. The 

 figure for 1907 is .■?15,000,000— a ten-fold increa.se. This 

 also jiractically indicates that the total output of sugar from 

 the island at inesent is ten times what it was in 18:)7. 



A note in the .h/ririi/fiuni Xewx (\'oI. VI. p. ;!(ill) 

 mentioned that a shipment of bananas from I'linidad had 

 recently been made to France by the steamer (riKicle/otipa. 

 It has later been n^ported in the Port-of-Spain Mirror that 

 a price of §3 per bunch was realized for the fruit, but that 

 the expenses were high in con.seipience of the import duty on 

 foreiiiii fruit. Tli.- -ame paiier states that GOO more bunches 

 ( f bananas are being sent bv the next mail. 



