284 



THE AGRICULTUKAL NEWS. 



Skptkmbkk 5, 1908. 



GLEANINGS. 



An Agiicuhural Show will be heM at St. ^'illeent in 

 .Taimary next nnck-r the auspice.s of the Imperial Department 

 (if Agricultnrc and the Agrieultnral and Commercial 

 Society of the island. Prizes will be awarded for cotton, 

 cacao, arrowroot, sugar, rum, starches, cott'ee, fruit, vegetables,, 

 and live stock. 



The trade rctuiiis of Tiinidad for 1907-8 .show that the 

 import of cacao into the island (for .subsequent re-e.xport) 

 increased by 2,702,82-^ Hi. compared with 1906-7. The 

 greater i)art of this amount came from Venezuela. The 

 rice imports .showed an increa.se in value of about £l,-300, 

 although the quantity imported was less by 1,20.5,057 &.,. 

 prol)ably owing to local production. 



Experiments in tlie growth of ditt'ereut varieties of 

 cabbage were carried out at the lV>tanic (Jardens, British 

 (Juiaua, during 1907-8. Tin- A jiiikk/ Jiejjui-t for the .season 

 mentions that the '.lersey \\'aketield ' variety again gave the 

 best I'esults, as in 190t)-7, and produced (■abbages almost as 

 good in t1avf)ur as if grown in Mnglaiid. 



Applications have been sent in to the Imperial Depart- 

 jnent of Agriculture by .seven e.stafe overseers at Barbados, 

 and by about the same number at Antigua, who are an.xious 

 to enter for the courses of reading and examination for over- 

 seers and sub-managers, of which particulars have been given 

 in recent numbers of the Ai/rii-ulliirnl AV c.s- (see Vol. VII, 

 1). 209). 



( )iie or two hauil eultixators which may possibly be 

 found to be suitable for use in connexion with cotton cultiva- 

 tion have been received by the Impt'rial l)e]iartment of 

 Agricidtnre for experimental purposes. They are now being 

 tried on cotton estates at Barbados, ami it is hoped later to 

 jnake trials with the im|)lements in cotton fields in 

 other islands. 



from the eommeneeinent of the sea.son up tn .Vugust 

 27 last, there wi're e.vported from Barbados 29,217 tons of 

 sugar and 18,917 ])uni-lie<ius of molas.ses, as compared with 

 .■52,().'5.5 tons of sugar and (il,21.5 puncheons of molasses, 

 ship|ied during the corresponding perio<l of last year. 



I )r. II. .\. .\ltord Xieholls has wi-itten to the J)oniiniia, 

 press pointing out that tile Italian (lovernment are about to 

 impose a duty on lemon prodtu'ts exiiortcd from the country. 

 It is anticipated that as a result the price of citrate of lime 

 will l)e incrcasi'd on the English market by about 3(7. per lb. 



The area under cocoa-nut palms in Ceylon reaches about 

 (180,000 acre.s, chiefly in gardens and plantations owned by 

 nativ(^s. Tea conies next in importance as regards the area 

 planted, viz., 390,000 acres. There are ;M,000 acres under 

 cacao, and about 120,000 acres planted with rubber. The 

 rubber jilantations are owned almost entirely by Kmopeans. 



The large jiioportion of fori'ign pii>|ii'ie1ors owning land 

 in Cuba is evident from figures lately published in the 

 Liiiiifiami Planti.r. Of the properties actually producing 

 sugar, ;3G are stated to belong to Americans, 7(1 to Europeans 

 and only 74 to Cubans. .Judging by the nundier of factories 

 iherefore, over .")() per cent, belong to outsiders, and these 

 properties are believed to be much more valuable than those 

 belonging to Cubans. Of the large sugar crop of 1907 — 

 1,428,000 tons — the American factories produced 3(J percent., 

 the European .35 per cent., and the Cuban .3,5 per cent. 



The number of bales of cotton imported into Great 

 I'.ritain for the week ending .Jidy 23 last was 2.5,002 (includ- 

 ing 33 bales British West Indian). The bales imjiorted 

 from January 1 to -Tuly 23 of the i)resent year numbered 

 2,193,1.51 (including 7,282 bales British We.4 Indian, and 

 .5,4.50 bales British West African). 



A small export tax of 3e. per 1,000 lb. of sugar shii)ped 

 abroad has been imposed in Trinidad, and took efl'ect as from 

 .Inly 1 last. The object of tlie tax is to assist in providing 

 funds iny the re-organized Agricultural Department of tlie 

 island. With an average .sugar crop, the sum rai.sed by 

 this means will amount to about £700. (I'ort-of-Spain 



A large numbci' of exhibits have I.jeen forwardeil to the 

 Toronto International Exhibition from British Cuiana. 

 These include .samples of rice paddy and of cleaned rice, 

 Liberian and .\rabian coffee, cacao, kola nuts, sugar, molas.ses, 

 rum, fruit preserves, pickles, ]>lantains Hour, isinglass, 

 lind>er, ruljliei', anil tobacco. 



A more than usually large area was planted with maize at 

 Barbad(js for the present sca.son. The crop is in good condi- 

 tion, but has of late syiffered much through lack of rain. 

 A small amount has ri|)ened, and already been reaped, but in 

 other cases, owing to the scarcity of green fodder, small 

 cultivators have found it remunerative to cut the crop befort^ 

 it has reached maturity, and to sell it for forage liurposes. 



The ( Jovernoi- of the Windward Islands has approved of 

 the sum of £50 being allocated for the purpose of making 

 prize awards to small cai-ao growers in the parishes of 

 St. David and St. Patrick, (irenada, for excellence of 

 cultivation in the year 1908-9. On account of the zeal and 

 interest shown in the Brize-holding scheme held last year in 

 the parish of St. .lolin, a further sum of £25 has been .set 

 apart for again holiling a competition in the parish this year. 



'I'he sugar lane crop in the .south of I'orto liico suffered 

 considerably from drought during 1907, and in order to deal 

 with this subject, a .sum of money has been voted in the 

 Legislative A.ssembly of the island for the pnr|)ose of carrying 

 out investigations to ascertain if artilicial irrigation is pos.sible. 

 Suggestions have been made that beneticial results would 

 fo11i>w if some of the small rivers that rise in th" centre of 

 the island, and now How to the nortli, were diverted ti> 

 a southerly direction. It is also recommended that reservoirs 

 should be built, in which water could be stored during the 

 rainy season, for distribution in time of drought. 



