""^*'>3iE^^ 









^_Wi/<^f__!*V»< f 



A FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW 



OF 'rH"^ 



IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR THE WEST INDIES. 



libkarv 



NEW YOkK 



BOTANIC A 1 



OAKoe/N, 



Vol. VTI. No. IGi'-. 



BARBADOS, .H'NE 13, 1908. 



Price Id. 



CONTENTS. 



Tage. 

 Africa, East, Exjieriiiicnt 



Stations in I'.W 



Agricultuial Entt'riJii.sc in 



Trinidad 180 



Antigua, Rainfall at 185 



British Guiana, Ayri- 



cultunil Expi>rts from 184 

 Cacao Exports from Trini- 

 dad 191 



Cane Juice Analysis at 



St. Kite's 184 



Cotton Notes :— 



Cotton Growers' Con- 

 ference at Barliados 182 

 Sea Lsland Cotton 



Market 181 



C. S. Department of 

 Agriculture and West 

 Indian Cotton Indus- 

 try 181 ! 



^yest Indian Cotton ... 181' 

 Diuuinica, Prize Holdi'igs 



Scheme at 18fi 



Duck.s, Indian Uunrer ... 18" 

 Education Scheme fiu- 



Estate Overs'eer', and 



Managers , 18!t 



Gleanings 188 



Hurricane Insurince of 



Cultiv.atior.s 185 



Insect Notes : ■ i 



Insect Pest? in Forc/ign 



Lands 186 



1!)0 



is: 



180 

 ]02 

 ]84 



189 

 189 



Page, 

 Jauiaic.i Cofl'ee in S.,uth 



Afiica 



Jamaicn Tea 



Mangos and liananas in 



Porto Rico 

 Market Rer>orts 

 Notes and '.'ounnents 

 Oui Bockshelf :- 

 ABC and XVZot Bee 



Culture 



I.iteratur' of Finrrinn. 

 The Building of an Island 189 

 Plants and Coast Emsion 185 

 liicf. Report from Pniti-sh 



Guiana 181 



Bice Industry of ISiitish 



Guiana 177 



Rice INIeal 184 



8.. Croix, Prcijiosed 



Experiuu'nt Stiition 



at 185 



Sugar Industry ;-- 

 Sugar-oane Experiuients 



in Porto Bico 179 



Sugar, Deteri(jriition of, 



on Storage 



Tobiicco Leaves, H.arvest 



ing and Curing .. 

 Trinid.-'d, Agricultural 



Eiducation at 



Vanilla I'roduotion in 



Reunion 



West Indian Products .. 



179 



190 



185 



190 

 191 



Rice Industry of British Guiana. 



"^^^'i) HEC^L^E'NT notes and articles in relation to 

 v , vs jj^i^, r;|,pi,l t'xtcnsion of rice cultivation in 



last 



British Guiana have appeared in 



CT> numbers of the Agrirultural Neu'S (Vol. V, p. liio, and 



I^ VI. p. 210). 



^ In the year 1000 less than G.OOO acres were under 



— rice in the colony. In the following yo.^r, however, the 



area devoted to the crop had increased to ]3,HSS acres. 

 This expansion has been continuous sii.ce then. In 

 190.5-6 the rice area was 23,853 acres and in 190G-7 it 

 reached 2(),.567 acres. Owing to the prev'iiling good 

 pri;^es, still further attention was given to the crop in 

 1907-S. New lands were taken up, and numerous rice 

 mills are being i rected in those parts of the colony 

 where the crop is grown. For the present season it 

 is estimated th.tt very nearly 30,000 acrts of rice were 

 planted in British Guiana. The cultivation of the crop 

 is to a large e.xtent earrii'd on by the coolie labourers 

 great numbers of whom, at the expiration of their term 

 of indentured labour, obtain small plots of bind, and 

 take up rice growing. The negroes of the colony have 

 slowly followed the example of the East Indians. 



While the yields ordinarily obtained from the crop 

 in British Guiana vary considerably in different districts, 

 the average return of paddy, on lands properly irrigated 

 and drained, works out at about 28 bags (each of 

 120 ft.), or 30 cwt., per acre. In a paper on the 

 subject read at the West Indian Agricultural Confer- 

 ence of 1906, the Hon. B. Howell Jones mentioned 

 that in certain places, on comparatively new land, he 

 had seen as many as 38 b.ags produced on a sitigle acre. 

 From the area planted in 1905-6, 23,728 tons of paddy 

 were produced, while 40,472 tons were yielded by the 

 increased acreage planted in 1906-7. 



The effect of the local production of rict on the 

 quantities of this cereal imported into the colony during 

 recent years has been very marked. In 1899-1950, the 

 quantity of rice imported' into British Guiani was 

 25,341,210 ft. By 1905-6 the imports had decreased to 

 13,289,573 ft., and in 1906-7 had fallen to 6,162,476 ft. 

 The official returns giving the rice imports for the six 



