Vol. VII. No. 1G4. 



THE AGRICULTUKAL NEWS. 



•249 



Banana Growing in Mexico. 



The cliinalic cuiulitions ot southern Mexieo ure 

 ndnurably suited to banana cultivation, while the 

 various streams and small rivers that occur provide 

 facilities for transportation of the fruit to the coast. 

 Under these circumstances the Mexican banana indus- 

 try is becoming more important each yenr. 



The cost of land in the republic suitable tor the 

 cultivation is from ?10 to §15 per acre, and it is stated 

 that the cost nf clearing and making ready for planting 

 anuiunts to an additional S40 to-:?50 per acre. 



In gi-owing b^inanas on the commercial scale, 

 about 200 hills are allowed pei- acre, and thei'e arc 

 four suckers to each hill. It is arranged, liowcvor, 

 that tlic.«c suckers are m different stages of develop- 

 ment, the elde.--t bearing fruit, and the youngest just 

 ■coming forth from the ground. 



In an article dealing wil.li llic whole i|uestu)n (if 

 banana gidwing in Mexico that .appeareil in a lecent 

 inimber of Tfoplail America, there is given a tabular 

 statement showinij the average yield ;ind net proHt 

 obtained per acre by growers of the fruit in the chief 

 banana-producing countries According to this, a yield 

 •of 290 bunches per acre, giving a net profit of ;il(i8'75. 

 may be expected in .Mexico. ITondiiias comes second 

 with a retuin of .'?()G'<S4 per acre, while in -lamaica the 

 net profit, fiom l)aiiana growing is placed at .'^•"j.S'yT per 

 acre. 



Botanical Expedition to Jamaica. 



Di-. N. L. Britton, Director-in-C'hief nf the N9.W 

 York LJiitanical (Jardens, accompanied by J\[is. liritton 

 and J)r. Arthur Hollick, spent the month (jf March and 

 the gi-eater jiart of April last in Janiai(7i, nn a visit of 

 bot.aincal investigation. In the Ma.y iiumber of the 

 Joarudl of ihe Gaidens of which he is Director, 

 ]Jr. Briiton gives an account of the ilistricts visited, 

 jind mentions the chief plants of interestr that were 

 observed on the expedition. 



The total number of specimens collected aggre- 

 gate!] 4 000, and Dr. Britton states on behalf ot the 

 party that the work added materially to their knowl- 

 edge of the West Indian flora, and to its representa- 

 tion at the New York Botanical (Jardens. 



It w.as during this expedition th.-it a primitive 

 type of cotton was found growing wild over a consider- 

 able area between I'ortland J'oint and ilocky I'eint in 

 the south of the island (see Ai/ricullardi AV'fc.s, 

 Vol. VII, )). 150). As ])reviou.sly mentioned, seeds of 

 this cotton were forwarded to the United States 

 De))artment of Agi iciilturi', and they will be grown in 

 <:omparison with other c(jtt<)ns in tin.' ,-ui-liniatization 

 and breeiling experiments carried on by the Depart- 

 ment. 



Other districts visited by .the party, in search of 

 specimens w(;rethc Salt Puiid Hills, Great Goat Island, 

 Bluelields, Savnnna-la-Mar. Xegril. the Great Morass 

 <if Westmoreland. Dol|)hin Hpad, Montego Bay, Run- 

 away Bay, Bog Walk, and ' Kern Gully.' 



Guayule Rubber in Mexico. 



In futher reference to the Guayule rubber shrub 

 (Fartheniitm cnyentatum), it may be mentioned that 

 recent British Consular reports from Mexico state that, 

 owing to rapid exploitation, the supply of plants has of 

 late become very scarce. Remote districts are now 

 being Searched for the plant, and all the Guayule found 

 is delivered under contract tij the Continental Rubber 

 Company of Mexico. The total quantity of the shrub 

 that is now in existence in the republic is estimated at 

 400,030 tons, and practically the whole of this has been 

 bought up at from £2 10.«. to £7 lO.si. per ton. The 

 jiurchast's at the lower figure were made before land- 

 owners liecame aware of the .scarcity of the |)lant, or 

 realized that the slow rate of gri>wth made it impossible 

 for the suj.iply to keep iiu with the demand under 

 existing circumstances. It is feared tliat with the 

 consnmpiion of the existing supply the Mexican 

 Guayule industiy will go into dec ly. 



West Indian Bulletin. 



The second number of Vohime IX of the West 

 Iiuliitii litdli'tln has l)e<'n issued in ipiick succession to 

 part 1, and in it a further series of papers read at the 

 Agricultural Conference of January last is reprinted, to- 

 gether with summaries of the discussions that followed. 

 A short article on 'Cane Farming at Tiinidad ' by 

 Brofessor ("armody, F.I.C,, supplements the particulars 

 given in .a previous paper by the s.une .author ( H'«fii 

 liidinK Jiiilli'lln, Vol. YI), while tii.' series of articles 

 on the ■ I'olarimetric JJeierininatioii of Sucrose ' by 

 Dr. Francis Watts, C.M.G., and H. A. Teinpan}', B.Sc, is 

 completetl in the present number. The paper on ' Root 

 Disease of the Sugar-c.ine, ' contributetJ by Mr. F. A. 

 Scockdale, B.A., F.L.S., was summarized in the Aijri- 

 i-iilturul Neirs, Vol. \'II, p. 05. A further paper deal- 

 ing with the sugar industry is that by Hon. F. J. Clarke, 

 C.Sl.d, on the ' Establishment and Working of the 

 Sugar Industry Agricultural BanK at Barbados.' 



Following after sugar, the cacao industry next 

 received attention at the Agricultural Conference, and 

 a series of papers dealing with various phases of cacao 

 cultivation is reprinted in the number of the Wn-vt 

 Indian Bulletin under review. These include reports 

 on the results of i-ecent experiments witih cacao at 

 Dominica (contributed by Dr. Francis Watts, C.M.G., 

 and Mr. Joseph Jones),at Greiiad i (by Mr. R. D. Anstead, 

 B.A.), at Sr. liUcia (by Mr. J. C. Moore), and at Briti,sh 

 (Juia.iia (by Professor J. B. Harrison, CM. G,), and there 

 .are two papers by Mr. J. H. Hart, F.L.S., late Super- 

 intendent of the Boyal Botanic Gardens, Trinidad, 

 dealing with the 'Characters of CrioUo Cacao' and with 

 'The luiprovcment of Cacao in the West Indies,' 

 rc^spectively. ' The I'^ingus l)iseases of Cticao and 

 Sanitation of Cacao Oiviiards' are disiaissed by Mr. F. A. 

 Stockdale, B A., F.L.S., while Mr. H. A. Ballon, M.Sc, 

 contributes a paper on the subject of'Thrips on Cacao.' 

 The nuuiber closes with a brief paper, by Dr. Francis 

 Watts and Mr. Joseph Jones, on 'Experiments with 

 Citrate i^f Lime anil Concentrated Lime Juice.' 



