Vol. VII. No. 158. 



THE AGKICULTUKAL NEWS, 



l.^l 



which this primitive type of cotton grows would seem to 

 establish beyond doubt that it is really a wild iilant. The 

 very small bolls and sparse lint would seeln to preclude the 

 idea that this cotton was introduced into the island for 

 civilized agriculture. If not truly indigei^oils it must have 

 been intmduced in aboriginal times, nr by accident. 



The existence of wild cotton in .Jamaic| has been claimed 

 by Macfayden and others; but the evidaice has not been 

 convincing. Macfayden described two f j ecies of cotton 

 {Goasi/jnum jainaicense and (t. ol/j/ux/jn-imhti) as native ot 

 .laniaica, but both are said to have yellows*- flowers and have 

 been reckoned a.s forms of Sea Island q)Uon {^'o.s.sv/y «'/(/// 

 har/tadei'xe). White flowers are not knnw-ii in any cottons of 

 the Sea Island series. 



In the characters (.f the seeds and bolls, Professor 

 Britton's cotton closely resembles a type which grows wild on 

 the Florida Keys. Sir George Watt's recent monograph 

 refers this Florida cotton and other I'eputed wild cottons from 

 Florida, .lamaica, Curacao and other West Indian Idealities to 

 (ioxni/piiim. jiiinctatiim, a species originally described from 

 Africa. The same author reckons (rossi/jiiiim pinirfatinn as 

 one of several ancestors of our Ignited States Upland varieties, 

 because a few of our Upland cottons have the red spots at the 

 ba.se of the petals. The argument is far from conclusive, fur 

 red spots occur in many widely different ty[ies, and are 

 probably an ancesti-al character of the genus. 



The seeds of this wild .lamaica cotton show a very 

 interesting diversity. In addition to the lint, a majority of 

 tliem have a dense adherent covering of brown fuzz, but on 

 some the fuzz has a dull greenish tinge, while in still a third 

 group mo.st of the surface is smooth and naked, the hairy 

 covering being limited to a tuft of brown fuzz at the base of 

 the seecl, and a tuft of lint at the apex. The pre.sence of all 

 three conditions in the same lot of seeds of this primitive wild 

 type of cotton may help us to believe that similar diversities 

 inside our t|>lflnd varieties do not, of necessity, prove 

 hybridization, Ijut may represent a normal range of ancestral 

 diversity in this group of plants. 



The usual correlation of greater length and smaller 

 ([uantity of lint on smooth .seeds also holds good. The lint 

 from the smooth seeds averages 31 '3 millimetres, that of the 

 fuzzy seeds 30 millimetres. The lint represents l(r03 per 

 cent, of the total weight of the smooth .seeds, and 18- 27 per 

 cent, of the fuzzy seeds. The smooth .seeds weigh, without 

 the lint, at the rate of 4-23 grammes per 100, the fuzzy at the 

 rate of 4 "9 7 grammes. If the fuzz were removed and weighed 

 with the lint, the proportion of fibre to seed would appear 

 still higher with the fuzzy seeds. The slight increase of length 

 of fibre on smooth .seeds is accompanied by a dis]iropor- 

 tionate reduction of the (ptantity of filire. 



WEST INDIAN AGRICULTURAL CON- 

 FERENCE, 1908, AND ST. VINCENT 

 DELEGATES. 



Tiie Hon. E. J. Cameron, Ailniioistrator of 

 St. Vincent, in a letter to the Imperial C'ommissioncr 

 of Agriculture, dated April 23 last, writes: — 



I de.sire to express my satisfai-tion at the opportunities 

 given by the Imperial Department of .\griculture to rejire- 

 sentatives from St. Vincent to attend these important t'oii- 

 ferenccs, and at the same time would, -Jbeg to express mv 

 appreciation of the attention .-ind kimbie.ss received by them 

 in llarbados. 



SCHOOL SHOWS AT TRINIDAD: 

 Award of Medal for Best Exhibits. 



With the object of encouraging agricultural instruc- 

 tion in the public elementary schools of Trinidad, the 

 Agricultural Society of the colony has for some years 

 past oti'ered a challenge medal for open competition, to 

 be awarded to the school which is adjudged to have 

 sent in to the annual School Shows (five of which are 

 held each year) the best collection of exhibits, which 

 must have been produced by the pupils in garden plots 

 connected with the school. 



In 190-t this medal was won by the Couva Government 

 School ; for three years in succession it was then won by the 

 Careenage School, and this year the medal was awardetl to the 

 Arouca Government School, in the Tacarigua Ward, of which 

 Mr. Sydney Smith is head-master. 



In the presence of a large gathering at the school on 

 April 24 last, the medal was presented to Mr. Smith, by the 

 Hon. S. W. Knaggs, Acting-Governor of the colony. 



Speeches were made by Lt.-Col. J. H. Collens (Chief 

 Inspector of Schools), his E.xcellency the Acting-Governer, and 

 Mr. Warner (M'^arden of Tacarigua), all of whom referred to 

 the value of the inclusioii of agricultural teaching in elenien- 

 taiy school work. In his rejily Mr. Smith stated that his 

 liu[iils had shown the greatest interest in agriculture and 

 .school garden work ever .since tlie first introduction of the 

 suViject into the school couise. 



THE CASHAW TREE IN HAWAII. 



The leguminous tree known as the Cashaw o'" 

 mescjuite (Ptusopis julitiora) is a native of Central 

 America and of Jamaica. It is very abundant in the 

 dry districts of the latter island. In Mexico and 

 Hawaii the tree is known as the ' algorobo.' The 

 cashaw grows to a height of 30 or 40 feet, and yields 

 a very liard wood, whii-h however splits readily, and 

 makes excellent shingles. It is also of great value for 

 fuel. The seod-pods of this tree form a nutritious 

 stock food, although cases are reported in which horses 

 have died after eating them. This is probably due to 

 the seeds germinating in the stomach. 



An extract is here given from an article dealing 

 with the spread of this tree in Hawaii, which appeared 

 some time ago in a Hawaiian journal : — 



No othei- imi)orted tree has spread so rapidly or has 

 jjroved to be so valuable in Hawaii as the mescpiite. Since its 

 introduction it has sjiread over more than .oO,000 acres of 

 what otherwi.se would be worthless land. It grows best 

 on the lowlands, but liy gradual acclimatization it now 

 thrives at an altitude of 2,.500 feet. The tree is .seldom 

 found growing well on the windward side of th'e' islands 

 liecan.se the salt air blasts the foliage. 



It has become the jn-incipal fuel tree <if the islands on 

 a<-count of its high calorific value, rapid growth, ready 

 regeneration, and accessibility to market. The pods, borne on 

 the trees in immense cjuantitie.s, are rich in nitrogen, and 

 form one of the principal foods for the fattening of cattle, 

 hoi-ses, and other stock. The flowers furnish an excellent, 

 clear honey, and most of the apiarists depend entirely on the 

 me.s(piite for the pasturage of their bees. 



The rapid spread of the tree in Hawaii is due entirely 

 to cattle and horses, which do uol injiu-e the seeds in the 

 eating of the poils, but r.i;lier prepare them for quick 

 germination. 



