Vol. VI r. Xo. 155. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



105 



Agriculture in Southern Nigeria. 



The portion of the Annual RejM rt (liMJ-7) on 

 Soutliern Nigeria di.';xling with agiit-ulture sliows that 

 the chief industries liave made rapid strides of late 

 years. The leading agricultural exports consist of 

 cotton, palm oil, fibre, cofifec, 'and' shea "butter (from 

 Bidyrospermum Parkii). In the Western Province 

 of the Protectorate the area devoted to the cultiva- 

 tion of cotton, maize, cacao, and ground nuts has 

 undergone considerable extension du.ring the past yQ-.w. 

 It is stated that many districts are especially well 

 suited for cacao cultivation. Ground nuts are com- 

 mented upon in the report as a crop which should be 

 more largely grown on account of its value as green 

 manure. E.\periments in the cultivation of tobacco, 

 castor oil, bananas, and leguminous crops are in 

 progress at the Botanic Gardens in the We.stern 

 Province. From these gardens, too, it is mentioned 

 that 26,000 plants, as well as a quantity ot tubers, 

 packets of seeds, suckers, etc., were distributed during 

 the past year. 



Rubber planting in Southern Nigeria ap[)ears to 

 be proceeding apace. During the year 1,!_)03 plantations 

 of Funtumia rubber were made, consisting of 207,455 

 trees. Para rubber is also being planted in the Central 

 Province. The methods of preparation at present 

 generally adopted are somewhat crude, and much 

 higher prices will be obtained for the rubber when 

 improved methods have been brought into use. 



Destruction of Fruit Fly. 



The canipaign against the fruit (or orange) Hy 

 that was carried on in Bermuda last season, where all 

 fruit known to be in the least affected was rigorously 

 destroyed, was described in a recent number of the Afjri- 

 ciiltiiral News (Vol. VII, p. 8). In addition to destruc- 

 tion of fruit, wholesale pruning of the trees was also 

 undertaken, to prevent the bearing of fruit which 

 would serve for the reception of the eggs of the Hy. 

 Latest reports from Bermuda state that good residts 

 have attended the work thus carried out, and while the 

 islands were almost destitute of fruit, the flies also are 

 reported to have almost entirely disappeared. 



The K,'ir Bulletin (No. 1, 1908) describes 

 a method of destruction of this pest, which, from the 

 particulars brought forward, has given excellent results 

 in experimental trials in the Australian colonies, where 

 the insect has caused so much trouble. The renredy 

 depends on the fact that kerosene oil appears to hav(; 

 a great attraction for the fruit Hy, and on exposing 

 shallow vessels containing kerosene among the branches 

 of the trees, the Hies were destroyed by hundreds in 

 a short space of time. 



This method of combating the pest is referred to by 

 the Keiu Bulletin's by far the most efficient at present 

 brought to notice, but it must be remembered that by 

 its means only the adult tlies are killed, and that it 

 would still be necessary to collect and destroy fallen 

 infected fruit, with the object of killing as many 

 maggots as possible. 



Trinidad Meat Supply. 



The fact that British Guiiina now exports a con- 

 siderable number of cattle each year, whereas a few 

 years ago. they were impoi'ted into the colony in large 

 numbers, leads the Port-of-Hpain Gazette to suggest 

 that efforts should be made, thiough the medium of 

 the Government Farm and the Agricultural Society of 

 the island, to render Triniilad'less dependent on outside 

 sources for the required meat supply. 



The change was brought about in British Guiana 

 by the imposition of a heavy tlucy on all imported 

 cattle, a step which, however, is not recommended as 

 the right one to adopt in Trinidad. The suggested 

 course is that the Agricultural Society should each 

 year offer cash prizes to any local breeder who turns 

 out a number of oxen, fit for the butcher, and reaching 

 a given standard of excellence. This practically 

 amounts to paying a Oounty on cattle raising, but since 

 such an industry would be certain to be highly 

 remunerative when once developed, it is not likely 

 that such a system would become a heavy charge 

 on the funds of the society. 



In this connexion the Gazette comments upon 

 what it regards as the mistaken policy of the Govern- 

 ment Farm in annually selling off large numbers of 

 useful animals, which either go out of Trinidad, or are 

 at once sent to the butcher, instead of being used as 

 the foundation of a superior stock of animals in 

 the island. 



Vanilla Plants in School G-ardens. 



In their efforts to extend the cultivation of vanilla 

 in suitable districts and disseminate knowledge as 

 to proper methods of curing, etc., the Jamaica Board of 

 Agriculture sent an instructor to the parisli of 

 St. Elizabeth in October last, when the vanilla pods 

 were ready to be gathered, in order to demonstrate the 

 best methods to the growers. 



In his report dealing with the work done, the 

 instructor recommends that vanilla should not be 

 planted under very tall trees, since it is often necessity 

 to climb the trees in order to get at the pods, which 

 frequently leads to breakage of the vanilla vine.s. 

 More satisfactory results are obtained by planting under 

 trees which do not grow too high, and which send out 

 branches at a few feet from the ground. Grown in 

 this way, the pods can be easily gathered without 

 damaging the vines. 



Vines were planted by the instructor in one or two 

 school gardens, and instructions given to teachers and 

 children as to methods of treatment. It is remarked 

 in the report that it would be a good plan to introduce 

 a few vanilla plants into all the school gardens of 

 .lamaica. Cuttings of vanilla for such p\irposes mav 

 be obtained free from the Public Gardens, Kingston. 



These cuttings are about .S feet long, and shoulil 

 be planted in a wide hole about !) inches deep at the base 

 of suitable trees. About 1<S inches of the cutting should 

 remain above-ground, and be tied lightly to the tree. 



It is important that a small quantity of manure be 

 mixed with the soil used in filling the hole, and the 

 earth should be firmly trodden down around the plant. 



