Vol. VII. No. 16(1. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



279 



PRISON FARMS IN BRITISH GUIANA. 



A farm is worked in nonnexion with most of the 

 prisons in British Giiian.i, and tliis not only assists in 

 making the institutions self-supporting by providing 

 remunerative labour for the prisoners, but should 

 further serve a useful purpose iii training the men 

 concerned to a knowledge of agricultural work according 

 to the best methods. The following particulars in 

 regard to the farm worked in conne.xion with the Suddie 

 prison are from a late number of the Dement ni 

 Anjiisy : — 



Early in 1906, a farm of -Jo acie.s was started at the 

 Suddie prison in order to find employment for the prisoners. 

 A large amount of work had to be done before the land was 

 clear and ready for the sjiade of the eultivatdr. 



Plantains and sweet potatos were planted, but, on the 

 advice of Professor Han-json, Director f)f Science and Agri- 

 culture, who has stated that the greater part of the land is 

 not suitable for plantains, it.has.been decided to go in princi- 

 pally for rice and potatos. The tpiestion of a water supply, 

 so essential for the rice crop, at one time threatened to 

 put an obstacle in the way of this project, but this has been 

 overcome by improving and extending for a consideralde 

 distance a trench which now leads to a sand reef. A series 

 of small reservoirs has been made, and from tlie.se a constant 

 supply of water is obtaineil, the trench serving to carry it to 

 the ric« beds, which can be flooded at will, and also, by an 

 ingenious contrivance of stop-otts, acting as a drainage trench. 

 Besides rice, cassava, sweet jiotatos and ochros are grown here, 

 and in the conr.se of a month or two .every bit of the 2.5 acres 

 fi inning the farm will be under cultivation. As showing the 

 progress made, it may be stated that during the half-year 

 en<ling November last, 1,972 Itj. of sweet potatos were 

 obtained from the farm, but during the si.x months ending 

 May, the crop amounted to no less than 8,600 lb. So it was 

 with the other articles. The cas.sava crop during the last six 

 months came to 2,037 lb., against .5.53 lb. in the preceding six 

 months. Last half-year 113 bags of paddy were disposed of 

 and there were 120 bags on hand : while in the preceding 

 period 11 fi bags were sold and 75 remained on hand. 



SOIL MOISTURE AND HUMUS. 



Dealing with methods of improving the condition 

 of land in a low state of fertility, Farmers' Bulletin 

 'J//-'' of the United States Department of Agriculture, 

 entitled ' The Renovation of Worn-out Soils,' has the 

 following passage on the importance of maintaining 

 a proper supply of humus in the soil: — 



In producing sufficient gra.ss to yield a ton of dry hay 

 on an acre of land, a ijuantity of water approximating to 

 500 tons is withdrawn from the sriil-by the grass. In order 

 to supply this enormous quantity the land must not only be 

 in condition to absorb and hold water well, but it must be 

 porous enough to jiermit water to pass freely through the 

 soil. The prcsen('e of large ipiantities of decaying organic 

 matter (humus) adds enormously to the water-holdiiHf 

 ca])acity of the soil. One ton of humus will absorb 2 tons 

 of water and give it up readily to growing crops. Not only 

 that, but the shrinkage of the particles of decaying oroanic 

 matter and the consecpient loosening of soil grains keep the 

 soil open and porous. 



Furthermore, humus of good qtiality is exceedingly rich 

 in both nitrogen and mineral plant food. The maintenance of 



fertility may almost be saitl tti consist in keeping the soil 

 well su[p[ilied with humus. The first step in renovating 

 worn-out soils is to give them an abundant supply of humus 

 of good quality. Perhaps the best .source of humus is stable 

 manure containing both the liquid and the soil excrement, 

 especially when the stock are fed rich on nitrogenous foods. 

 Even a poor quality of barnyard manure, which has had 

 much of the plant foi>d leached out of it, has considerablt'- 

 value because of the humus it makes. 



Another clie^p and valuable .source of humus, but one 

 which must be used with judgement, is the use of green crops 

 grown to lie jiloughed under as manure. The legumes such 

 as cowpeas, woolly pyrol, Bengal beans, and velvet beans ar^ 

 especiall}' valuable for this purpose, because of the nitrogen 

 they contain ; but other crops, such as rye, and even corn 

 sown thickly may sometimes be made to sup[)ly large quanti- 

 ties of humus of fair quality 



COCOA-NUT PLANTING IN SAMOA. 



Copra forms by far the most important article of 

 export from the Samoan Islands at present, although 

 the shipments of 1907 (5,400 tons, valued at £77,9<SI} 

 fell far below those of the previous year. The price of 

 the iirodiict, too, fell from £17 per ton in 1906 to £12 in 

 1907. Notwithstanding this, the British ConsuTatSamoa 

 states that owners of land suitable for cocoa-nut cultiva- 

 tion are pa3'ing increasing attention to the industry; 

 and tjhe Government of the islands have for some year* 

 past I'ecpiired that each Samoan famih' shall plant at 

 least fifty cocoa-nuts yearly on their land. 



The following notes are taken from the latest 

 report of the British Consid at Samoa : — 



It is recommended that the holes in wdiich the cocoa-nuts 

 are to be planted should be about 2 feet deep and correspond- 

 ingly wide, and that the_y shoidd be tilled with a mixture of 

 good soil and compost, ashes, a little salt, and, in cases where 

 the soil lacks lime, some coral .sand. The nuts should be 

 covered with at least 3 or 4 inches of soil and not be closer 

 together than 33 feet, or about forty to the acre, or in the 

 immediate neighbourhood of the sea they may be 30 feet 

 apart. 



The crucial point is for the trees to have light and air 

 on all sides, otherwise they will not bear well. Where forest 

 ti-ees are left standing in their neighbourhood, the growth of 

 the cocoa-nut palms is much retarded and the yield lessened, 

 and when even orange and other fruit trees overgrow and 

 overshadow them, they do not thrive. According to the 

 e.xperience of some planters, trees growing one or two miles- 

 from the sea have a much smaller yield than those growing 

 close to it, although this may not everywhere be the case. 



It is stated by the authority mentioned above that the 

 upward growth of the cocoa-nut palm in Samoa appears to be 

 slower than in the coral islands of the South Seas, and 

 especially New Guinea. But in place of this it appears to 

 attain a greater age in Samoa, with unaltered yield. I was 

 shown (lalms by one of the oldest planters in Samoa, which 

 were still in full bearing, although they were reputed to be 

 eighty years old. Such trees may certainly attain an age of 

 a hundred years. The cr-owns of the palms in- Samoa appear 

 to me to be richer in leaves and much nifire compact than tho.se 

 of .several parts of Kaiser Wilhelmsland. 



The full-grown cocoa-nut jilant is a bad neighbour to 

 other plants, as its root sj-stem is uncommonly strong. > 



