Vol. VII. Xo. 165. 



THE AGRICULTUKAL NEWS. 



26.^ 



Agricultural Progress in Uganda. 



The chief agricultural products of Uganda in the 

 near future will apparently be cotton, rubber, cacao, 

 coffee, ground nuts, and chillies. In the annual Colonial 

 Me'port (190()-7) details are given in relation to the 

 production of the nbove articles, which show that satis- 

 factory progress is being made. 



Cotton cultivation is extending rapidly in the 

 Protectorate, and will probably become the most 

 important industry. In 190.5-(j, only 4.3 tons of cotton 

 ■were exported, but in 1906-7 the shipments rose to 

 175 tons, while some hundreds of tons of nnginned 

 cotton were still in store at the end of the year 



Rubber to the amount of 7.3,191 lb., having a value 

 of £9,7-59 was exported in 190b-7. This represents an 

 increase of about 40 |)cr cent, compared with the 

 exports of 1905-6. 



Cacao trees grow well at the Botanic Gardens, 

 and beans sent to the Imperial Institute have been 

 very favourably reported on. Cacao di)es not yet figure 

 in the exports, but it is expected that in the future it 

 will become a prominent source of reveiuie. 



Coffee plantations exist on a faii:ly large scale, but 

 only 110 cwt. of coffee were exported in 1906-7. This 

 is to a certain extent explained by a large local demand. 



Ground nuts to the amount of 2,425 cwt. were 

 exported during the year, while the quantity of chillies 

 shipped was 29,370 cwt. 



British Cotton Cultivation. 



Abstiacts of a series of reports prepared by 

 Professor Wynclham Dunstan, F.R.S., on cotton culti- 

 vation in parts of the British Empire, other than India 

 and Kgy[)t, have been issued as a Parliamenrar}' paper 

 {Colaniiil Reports. — Mlsccllavcoati Seriex, No fid). 



Th(.' main poiti<ui of British-ginwn cotton is pro- 

 duced in Ea.'-t and West Africa. The cotton exports 

 from the iSudan were valiieil ;it '£20,000 in 190-j and 

 £45,000 in 1906. 'J'he rate of development in Uganda is 

 even moie remarkable, cotton to the value of £11,400 

 being shipi-ed in 1906-7, as compared witli £1.0!S9 in 

 the previous year. Considerably increased shipments 

 are also ic[)orted from Seiria Leone, the Gold Co.-vst, 

 and Lagos in West Africa From the last-named pl.'ice 

 cotton to the extent of 2,440,000 Hi., v.dued at £40,000 

 was exported in 1906, as compared with 1.2S1,()00 lb. 

 in 1905. In Lagos, it is stated, ihere ai'e large areas of 

 land suitable for cotton growing, but transport dilticul- 

 ties are a hindrance to extendefl cultivation. 



The reports relating to South Africa show that 

 Rhodesia and the Transvaal are cajiable of \ielding 

 cottons of excellent quality. As with New Guinea, 

 and certain parts of the Austnilian colonies, howevei', 

 where there are extensive areas the soil and climate of 

 which are suitable for cotton growing, labour and trans- 

 port flitficidties are likely to give considenible trouble. 



Considerable attention is given in the report to 

 the development of the Sea Island cotton industry f)f 

 the West Indies. In 1905 the exports of cotton and 

 cotton seed from these colonies were valued at £63,000 : 

 in 1906 at more than £90,000, and for the year 1907 

 at £232.570. 



Barbados Lemon Grass Oil. 



In further reference to Barbados lemon grass oil, 

 concerning which a note appeared in the A;iricultural- 

 News of July 25 last, it may be metitioned that 

 Messrs. Schimmel & Co., i the well-known chemists of 

 Leipzig, have reported very favourably on the quality 

 of a sample recently submitted to them, which they 

 describe as being especially valuable on account of its- 

 high percentage (90) of citral, and its good solubility. 



Messrs. Schimmel & Co. point out, however, that 

 the price of this product is still on the decline — and now 

 stands at about 1 J r/. per oz., as compared with a price 

 of 8(/. per oz. two years ago, when the question of its 

 cultivation was first taken up in the West Indies. In 

 view of this report, therefore, it woidd seem that for 

 the present, there is no inducement for extending the 

 cultivation of lemon grass in these colonies. 



Agricultural Industries of San Domingo. 



The agricultural methods practised in the repub- 

 lic of San Domingo are not of the most up-to-date 

 description, but it is stated in the report, for 1907, of 

 the British Consul, that there has been an imj)rovement 

 during the past two or three years. 



The staple agricultural products of the repid)lic 

 are cacao, sugar, tobacco, bananas, and coffee. Cacao, 

 for the cultivation of which there are extensive areas 

 suitable in every respect in San Domingo, took the 

 premier place among the exports in 1907, the quantity 

 shipped being 9,983 tons. This is somewhat less than 

 the amount expoited in 1905 and 1906, but it is esti- 

 mated that a protracted drought reduced the cacao 

 yield by about 4 500 tons. The average price obtained 

 ($13-35 ])er 100 lb.) in the past year was almost double 

 that of 1905 and 1906, and this has encouraged 

 planters to extend the c.icao acreage. Practically the 

 whole of the exports went to Germany, the United 

 .States, and France. 



Owing to low prices the year 1907 was not 

 a favourable one for sugar growers in San Domingo. 

 In 1905, the sugar exports were 52,986 tons, having 

 a value of .^3,292,470, whereas in the past year, although 

 the shipments were 54,100 tons, the value fell to 

 .'?2,099,(j79. 



The tobacco industry is in a flourishing condition, 

 the exports for 1907 — 9,734 tons — being about 100 per 

 cent, greater than in 1905. The price obtained for this 

 ])roduct has shown a similarly satisfactory' increase 

 during the past two years. Germany takes practically 

 the whole of the tobacco produced in San Domingo. 



The banana trade of the republic is entirely in the 

 hands of the United Fruit Company who own extensive 

 plantations near Puerto Plata. The exports in 1907 

 reached 640,000 bunches, being much the same as in 

 the two previous years. The price paid for the fruit- 

 was 2.'*. 1(/. per bunch. 



Coffee was shipped during the year to the extent 

 of 3,376,970 lb., France being the chief purchaser. 



