Vol. VII, No 153. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



6& 



CACAO EXPERIMENTS IN THE WEST 

 INDIES. 



The paper read by llr. J. C. .^loore at the late 

 Agricultural Conference, giving an account of cacao 

 experiments carried on at St. Lucia, i.s reproduced below, 

 in continuation of other papers which appeared in the 

 last number of the Agi'icLdfural Neim (Vol. VII, p. 53), 

 dealinc with cacao experiments in Grenada and 

 St. Lucia. The paper read by Blr. Joseph Jones, on 

 the subject of e.xperiments in grafting cacao made at 

 the Dominica Botanic Station, will be published in the 

 next issue of the Agriridturnl Neirs. 



( At AO EXPEEIMEN-rS IX ST. LUCIA. 



In St. Lucia, three I-acre cacao experiment iilots, 

 maintained by the Imperial Depai-tment of Agriculture, have 

 successively demonstrated, in three of the principal cacao 

 districts, the cultural and manurial treatment most likely to 

 convert unfruitful, diseased, and neglected trees, into healthy 

 and |)rofitable ones. 



On one plot the trees were old and neglected ; the stems 

 numbered about eight to the clump. It was described as the 

 worst piece of cacao in the locality ; luit by judicious treat- 

 ment, including thinning, pruning, shading, aiuuial forking, 

 weeding and burying weeds, draining ' and manuring, [he 

 productlveuess of this plot was, in three years, increased 

 from 56 lb. to 1,100 Ih. of cured cacao. 



The manures were applied during 1901, and consisted 

 of 10 cwt. of basic slag, and i cwt. of sulphate 

 of potash in February, 5 ca>-tdoads of pen inaiuirc in April, 

 and 1 cwt. of sulphate of anmionia in July. 



The cost of cultivation and manures during this period 

 was £H I3s., and the value of the crops reached £45 10.^-. 



The second plot consisted of seven-year-old trees in 

 a diseased and faihng condition, in the Soufriere district. 

 The cultural operations consisted of thinning, pruning, fork- 

 in", etc, as in the previously described plot. 



The cost of cultivation and manures during these tivL' 

 years reached £37 7s. 4f/., and the value of the croi)s 

 produced was £04 17.s-. 



The third plot, situated at Roseau, was a ndxtnre of nld 

 and young trees (the latter about seven years old) in 

 a negTected and dying condition. 



The cost of cultivation and manures was £30 K.*. 5'^, 

 and the value of the crops produced was £70 5.<. 



On another estate, not under the Department's super- 

 vision, similar cultural and manurial treatment on 38 acres of 

 old cacao resulted in a net profit of £180 for nine months, 

 over and above the average value of the crop reaped from 

 the plantatif>n before manuring was commenced. The benefit 

 to the general health and bearing capacity of the trees is said 

 to have increased their value by £500. 



SUMMARY OF RESULTS. 



From the results obtauied on these and other plots in 

 the island, the following conclusions may be drawn : — 



1 That intensive culture in cacao is very profitable 

 regards monetary returns. It also improves the vigour ; 

 disease-resisting power of the trees. 



2 That on St. Lucia sods phosphates and nitrogen, 

 the form of basic slag and sulphate of ammoida, increase v 

 considerably the productiveness of the trees. 



3 That l)etter results have beeii secured where 

 manure or other suitable organic manure has been used 

 addition to basic slag and sulphate .^t ammonia. 



, as 

 ind 



in 

 cry 



pen 

 in 



4. That on most St. Lucia plantations eSorts should be 

 directed towards increasing and subseipiently maintaining 

 the supply of organic matter in the soil. 



5. That the yield of cacao in St. Lucia from an estimated 

 area of G,200 acres, now giving, on an average, about 3001b. 

 of cured produce per acre, could be trebled by means of high 

 cultivation, costing, on an average, from £5 to £6 per acre 

 l)er annum. This means that from the present acreage, the 

 cacao exports could, in four or five years' time, be raised from 

 9,500 bags (190.5-fi crop) worth (at Gr/. per ft.) £47,500, to 

 28,500 bags, worth £142,500. In addition to this, the value 

 (>( the cacao properties would be greatly enhanced. 



GROUND NUT CULTIVATION IN 

 BURMA. 



One of the most noticeable features in connexion 

 with agriculture in fjurma of late years is the remark- 

 able extension in the area devoted to ground nut 

 cultivation, !i crop to the value of which attention has- 

 frequently been drawn in the Agricultural News. 

 Extracts from an article in the Tropical Agriculturist 

 of September last, dealing with this subject, are here 

 le printed : — 



Until about six years ago ground nut cultivation was 

 practically unknown in Burma, and where there was cultiva- 

 tion, it was insignificant and was mostly in the hands of 

 Indian cultivators who had migrated to these shores. Within 

 recent years however, the extension in the ground nut area 

 has been extraordinarily rapid, the acreage having increased 

 over twent3'-fold in five years. The [irovincial area in acres 

 during the [last five years has been : 1902-3, 3,86G ; 1903-4, 

 11,731 : 1904-5, 15,880; 190-5-6, 37,110 : and 1906-7, 78,743. 



From an economic point of view Arachis hypoijaen is of 

 considerable imijortancc, and it may be stated tliat few 

 legumes can compare with it in the numljcr of uses to which 

 it can be put. From the seeds, a clear, straw-coloured, non- 

 drying od, having the taste of olive oil, is expressed, which 

 is used in lieu of olive oil for alimentary and medicinal 

 purposes. Further, in the manufacture of soap and as 

 a lubricant, this oil is in great demand. Some sixty years 

 ago the oil was unknown to European commerce, but at the 

 present day the annual consumption may be .safely computed 

 at over 150,000 tons of prepared oil. The nuts are largely 

 eaten by the natives of all classes, either shelled or roasted in 

 oil : roasted in shell they serve as a dessert on European 

 tables and are eaten with salt. Hand-shelled nuts are also- 

 made into confectionery, and the roasted seeds are often 

 used as a substitute for chocolate. 



The dried plants and leaves serve as a excellent fodder 

 for the cattle, the hay being very nutritious, greatly increas- 

 ing the milk of cows. From the refuse of the shells after the 

 extraction of the oil, a cake is also made which has a high 

 reputation as a nourishing cattle food. Besides, the plant is 

 eminently useful as a source of green manure, since, in 

 common with other leguminous plants, it has the power of 

 fixing free nitrogen from the atmosphere into the soil. 

 Analysis has shown that the roots, leaves, and stems contain 

 about 0'914 per cent, of nitrogen. On account of this 

 ])roperty, and also because of its infiuence upon the mechani- 

 cal texture of the soil, drainable [laddy land, which has 

 become exhausted, can bo made to produce further crops of 

 paddy it ground nuts are grown as a rotation crop. After 

 the harvest, the jdauts can be ploughed in as green manure, 

 and paddy grown on such soil usually produces a double crop. 



