Vol. VII. No. 154. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



89 



American Maize Crop. ' 



The final official estimate of the American maize 

 crop of 1 907 is 2,.592,3-2O,00O bushels. Although this 

 is fully 83.5,000,000 bushels les.s than the yield of 1906, 

 which formed a record crop, it has been exceeded only in 

 that year and in 190-5. There is consequently an 

 ample quantity for export, and the amount shipped 

 will probably be quite as great as would be the case if 

 the c'op weio considerably larger. This is duo to the 

 fact that, with a lecord crop, prices lend to drop, and 

 growers prefer to feed the corn to stock instead of 

 selling. At present prices, however, it would be more 

 profitable to place on tiie market. As a rule, about 

 one-thirtieth part of the maize crop of the United 

 States is exported. 



Mule Raising in Cuba. 



The ini;reased attention that is being devoted to 

 agriculture in Cuba, and the adoption of more up-to- 

 date methods, have brought about the necessity for more 

 efficient motive power on the estates, than the native 

 o.xen. This has led to an increased demand for mules, 

 and good animals are reported to fetch from S220 to 

 S2.50 on the Havana inai-ket. 



The growing value set - upon- mules in Cuba of 

 late years is indicated by the greater number of these 

 animals annually imported into the island. In 1902-3 

 the imports numbered 2,128 head : this increased to 

 3,4.54 in 1903-4, while the mule imports of 1904-.5 

 reached (i,.S01. Most of these animals were obtained 

 from the United States, 3Iexico, and the British West 

 Indies. As mules can be bred cheaply in Cuba, increas- 

 ing attention is being given to this bi-anch of stock 

 farming. 



Trinidad Oil-fields. 



In his report on the oil-fields of the Central Antic- 

 line (Central District of Trinidad), Mr. E. H. Cunning- 

 ham-Craig states that the surface indications of oil 

 are not numerous but are very striking in character. 



Favourable conditions for drilling along the Central 

 Anticline extend eastward through the Oropuche 

 La''-'oon, and the horizon of the Rio Blanco Oilsand 

 continues to be j'etroliferous when traced in this 

 direction. 



Diilling can be confidently recommended along the 

 greater part of the line on both sides of the crest, but 

 Mr. Craig thinks it probable that wells drilled south of 

 the crest would prove more productive than if sunk on 

 the northern fiank. The line between the Moruga 

 Road, and the point where the anticlinal crest reaches 

 the lagoon seem to offer the most favourable conditions. 



One of the chief difficulties that would be encoun- 

 tered by oil companies are the steep dips prevalent 

 over a large part of the Trinidad oil-fields. It; is only 

 in fairly deep wells, however, that difficulties caused by 

 steep dips become very serious, and Mr. Craig states 

 that any part of the area referred to in the report, can 

 be tested for oil without the necessity of drilling wells 

 deeper than 1,000 feet. 



Agricultural Conditions in British Honduras. 



British Honduras is a colony of great agricultural 

 resources, but up to the present, the development of 

 these resources has progressed very slowly. To a large 

 extent this can be accounted for by the want of good 

 roads and the poor facilities of transport that exist 

 within the colony. These considerations have been 

 mainly responsible for the fact that capitalists preferred 

 to make investments elsewhere, while the peasantry 

 have chiefly made a living out of the wood-cutting 

 industr}'. 



The soil and climate of British Honduras are 

 undoubtedl}' suited for the growth of many valuable 

 crops, such as limes, bananas, rice, maize, and cacao, and 

 in the future these will probably form staple jiroducts 

 of the colony. The past year was a good one, and the 

 agricultural exports showed a considerable increase; but 

 the rate of development is still slow, and the peasantry 

 are stated to be emigrating in search of work elsewhere. 



This is verj- unsatisfactory in a colony where there 

 exists such a large area of Crown lands, and it is possi- 

 ble, as the Belize Clarion suggests, that a modification 

 of the conditions under which lands are taken up in 

 British Honduras might go far to increase the number 

 of small holdings, and encourage the peasantry to settle 

 at home, instead of emigrating as they are doing .at 

 present. 



Packing Cacao Seeds. 



A method of packing cacao seeds for ex]3ort, 

 which had given good results in Sainoa, was described 

 in the Af/ricidtural News of October 20, I90G (Vol. V, 

 p. 331). 



By this method, ripe seeds, after being well washed, 

 were gently rubbed with a rough towel in order to 

 remove the pulp, care being taken not to damage the 

 skin. The beans are next placed in a current of cool 

 air for twenty-four hours. The material with which the 

 seeds are packed consists of a mixture of equal parts of 

 vegetable moidd and finely ground charcoal, moistened 

 to resemble earth taken from a shady place. A layer 

 of this mixture, 4 inch deep, is spread in the bottom of 

 atinbox(8x4x 4 inches) and on this rows of seeds 

 are placed, another la3'er of charcoal and mould coming 

 above. The box is filled in ■ this way with alternate 

 layers of seeds and packing mixture, and a box of the 

 above dimensions will hold about 200 seeds. 



In order to put the above method to the test at 

 Kew Gardens, a request was made to Sir Daniel Morris 

 that a p.ackage of seeds, put up in the manner described, 

 should be forwarded to Kew. A box containing 200 

 seeds was accordingly sent by parcel post from Domin- 

 ica, and arrived at Kew apir.uvntly in good condition, 

 every one of the seeds having germinated on the way, 

 A second supply of seeds packed in a similar manner 

 was forwarded a few months later, and these also arrived 

 in good condition, and practically all of them germinated. 

 I'he outcome of this packing experiment is that 

 cacao beans, selected, prepared, and packed as 

 above described, can be sent from the West Indies to 

 England, and probably much farther, and that about 70 

 per cent, of therid are likely to produce healthy plants. 



