268 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



August 22, 1908. 



GLEANINGS. 



The sliipiueiits nf cacao niAile Ironi ( ii-cnada il\iri]ig llic 

 period from >rar<'li 21 to June '.W <>i the inosciit year were 

 15,458 hag.-. 



The Agricultural Suciety ot St. Lueia lecently imijorted 

 Sea Island cotton seed to the value of £10 for the purpose of 

 gratuitous distribution among the peasantry of the island. 



There i.s a vacancy at , the Agricultural School, 

 St. Vincent, for an Assistant Master. The salary attached 

 to the appointment is £+5 per annum, with fiee cpiarters. 



The F^uglish thoroughbred stallion horse ' lieau II, now 

 standing foi' service at the Stock Farm Agricultural School, 

 St. ViTicent, will not be available for service this year after 

 September ."iO next. (St. Vincent OjHri<i/ <r(iM-tti\) 



The first tiijiping of cultivated rubber tiees in the 

 soutllern pai-t of Tiinidad took place on August 1. The trees 

 in (juestion were on an estate in Pointe-a- Pierre district, 

 belonging to Sii- Ivlward Tennaiit, l!;ul. ( Port-irf-S|iain 



The total amount of Trinidrid cacao shipped during .July 

 l».st was 3,227,724 11). Of this, the United States took 

 slightly more than half, \i/.., 1,73."),7;5S lb ; France took 

 ■685,8-18 It). , and the United Kingdom .■!:l.j,(S.j:i It). Prices 

 vaiied froui (i2.<. to <)4.';. iicr cut., during thi' month. 



.Mr. .lolin Wcathei-head, late of Pay estate, ISarbados, has 

 been appointed manager of the Palenibouche estate, St. Lucia, 

 <ind .Mr. .1. (!. Salmon, deputy manager. It will be 

 remembered that the Baleinboucht! estate is the [iropeity of 

 Messrs. .Macfarlane, Junior A- Co., on which they are starting 

 the cultivation of Sea Island cnttoir in St. Lucia. 



The growing of sisal hemp is reported to be a promi>ing 

 industry in the Hawaiian Islands. .\t present about SfiO 

 acres are under cultivation. P.etween .'iOO an<l 100 acres 

 were to be cut dining 1007, with the pros|icct of harve.sting 

 600 acres in the pre.sent year. The whole of the output is 

 sliii)iied to San Francisco. (Briti.sh C''i".v"/((c lti/ii,ii.) 



Four trios of Indian Itunmr duck.s, .strong, healthy and 

 of good laying strain, have been obtained from JMigland by 

 the Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture, with the object 

 of e.xtending the l)re(Ml in St. Vincent ami St. Lucia, and later 

 on in other islands. It will be remembered that Inilian Itnnner 

 ducks have proved of si)ecial value in tliosi> parts of the 

 West Indies where they have b<;en already intrinlnccd. .\ii 

 article on the characteristics of the breed appeared in the 

 Aijricu/tunt/ Xr/i:i, Vol. Vll, p. 187. 



In addition to tho'articles mentioned in t\\f A(/)-irii/tiiriif 

 .Vr^'.v of .July 25 last (Vol. \'I1, p. 231 ) as being about to be 

 foiwarded from St. Lucia to the Canadian International 

 ]'^\hil>ition at Toronto, several barrels of coc:ja-nuts and of 

 green lin-.es for gratuitous distribution, together with decora- 

 tive jilants and grasses, were despatched liy the C.L.S. 

 ■ ( )caiHo ' on Autjust f<. 



Owing to the low price of nutmeg-, it ha-; been thought 

 advisable in many cases in (irenada to i ut out nutmeg trees 

 in cultivations where they occur growing in conne-xion with 

 cacao, and especially to weed out trees yielding small nuts or 

 poor eroi)s. .-\ suggestion has lately been lirought forward 

 that growers might ])os.'-ibly start a .-mall but reniiuierative 

 industry by utilizing the outer husk of the mitmeg in the 

 pre|iaration of pieservcs. 



The reiiort for l!)0()-7 c)n the Bas..<e I'ointe Central 

 Factor}', Martinique, shows that during the season the factory 

 handled l<j,0l)O metric tons of sugarcane. This was paid 

 for by the factory at K16o francs [1 franc = about dhd.] jier 

 ton. The factory sold its sugar in France at 24'."iO francs 

 (very approximately £1) and made a net gain of .§1 -06 per 

 ton of cane bought. The capital of this factory is J? 140,000, 

 and the reserve fund •'?1(),G60. 



The Ainiiiii/ 7i',/„,it (190G-7) on Uganda mentions that 

 1 libber planting is extending in the Protectorate, and is bein^' 

 taken up by the natives. Para trees two and a half years 

 old have attained a. height of very nearly 22 feet with 

 a girth of 5> inches at 3 feet above ground, while Castilloa 

 tree.s, two ami three quarter years old, are 12 feet high, and 

 1 7 inches in circunderence at 3 feet above ground. One 

 Para tree, tive and a half years old measured 30 feet in 

 height, and 17.', inches in girth. 



.Messrs Sandliarh, Parker i^- Co., of Demerara, report on 

 Augii-t 7 that the rain which fell at the end of July and 

 beginning of .August was somewhat too heavy for very youn"- 

 rice plants but beneficial to fields in a later stage of cultiva- 

 tion. ( 'oiiilitions are however still .satisfactory for the 

 coming crop. Tiiere were no shipments of rice to the West 

 Indian Islands during the fortiiiglit previous to Aui;ust7,and 

 tliere is very little cleaned rice on the llritisli (iuiana market. 



The export.s of rubber Irom .Spani-h 1 Icmlmas ha\e 

 lieen of considerable value of late year.-. Tlii- iiibber is 

 ]irodnced from trees of wihl growth, since little or no plantin<' 

 has been done. In 1906-7 the (piantity shipped was 44,2t<0 

 111 , as compared with 4(),34() It), in 1905-(). The decline is 

 stated to be due to the fact that large number.' of trees have 

 been ruined by continuous tapping. Honduras rubber 

 commanded a price of about 4.v. per lb. in Xew York towards 

 the end of 190(i, but its value fell to 2.<. Id. per 11). in 

 1907. (P.ritish <-<,„x„/„r h'r/„„f.) 



F.xteiisive areas of alkaline >oils exist in the noitliern 

 [lart of l''gyi>t, which are, however, being giadiiallv 

 reclaimed by washing and drainage. Sodium chloride 

 fretincntly forms the bulk of the -alts present in those 

 .soils. Cotton is often tlie fiist crop planted on the 

 reclaimed lands, and is said to be superior to nio.-t plants 

 in its power to withsta(id alkali. The ])resence of a moderate 

 amount ot salt in the .soil is generally regaided by growers 

 in Hgypt as beiieticial to the lotton crop. It is said to check 

 the tendency to excessive growth, to hasten ii|)ening, and to 

 improve the length, strength, and colour of the fibre. 



