ToL. VII. No. 169. 



THE AGRICULTUKAL NEWS. 



AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRIES OF 

 DUTCH GUIANA. 



The Aiiiuiiil li'iKirf { IftOT) uf the British Cnnsiil 

 at Paramaribt), Uiiteh Giiiatia, tri\'(_'S ijii aficuiint of the 

 progress that is being niarle in ilic agrjcnltnial indus- 

 tries of the colunj. Tiie iuHuwiirg;/* Dutes form an 

 -abstract of tliis portion of tlie report :^- 



BANANAS. 



The cultivation of bananas for export, which was 

 commenced in 1906, has not advanced so rapidly as was at 

 one time expected. At the end of 1907 the total area [ilant- 

 ed was -1,940 acres. The reason for the slow progress wa.s 

 that planters were in the first jilace unwilling to act on the 

 advice of e.xperts in regard to the manner of cultivation. 

 Latterly, however, this has been changed, and now that the 

 best methods have been generally ado]ited, the prosjiects are 

 bright, and it is confidently antici|iated that banana growing 

 will be a prosperous industry in the colony. 

 (AC \o. 



The total cacao crop for 1907 amounted to l,.'5cS6 tons, 

 as conqiared with l.^ill tons in 1906, and 1,495 tons in 

 1905. The cacao exports for the year were 1,349 tons. In 

 1906 they were 1,4.^0 tons. 



It is reported that the cacao plantations are still .suti'er- 

 ing severely from the 'witch broom ' disease, which not only- 

 results in an abnormal growth of hushy twigs, lint also 

 affects the pods, causing them to become excessively hard. 

 Wholesale pruning has during the past year been undertij^ken, 

 under the advice of the Agricultural Department of the 

 •colony After pruning, the cuts are tarred over, and the 

 lopped trees sprayed with a solution of sulphate of copper. 

 This treatment, it is stated, has greatly reduced the propor- 

 tion of ati'ected pnds, and it is expected that duiing the 

 jiresent year it will also be carried out on a number of other 

 plantatiiins. 



C-OKKKK. 



The return from the plantations of Liberian cutfee 

 increased from 116 tons in 1906 to '2-^9 tons in 1907. 



With the object of re-introducing' and extending the 

 cultivation of Arabian coiiee some 50,000 jjlants of this 

 variety were distributed to small holders (Biitish Indian anrl 

 Creole) in the colony during the year. The Arabian coffee, 

 it is mentioned, does well in Surinam, but until labour 

 is cheaper and more i)lentiful, its cultivation cannot be under- 

 taken on a large scale. This crop was largely grown in the 

 colony about seventy or eighty years ago, and in the year 

 18-'50, the exports of Arabian coffee were aborit 3,000 tons. 

 Its cultivatiorr declined i-apidly after the abolition of slavery 

 in 1863. 



EICE. 



Considerable efforts are being irrade to develop rice 

 growing in Surirram, in emulation of the flourishing industry 

 of British Guiana. Large tracts of laird, well .suited to the 

 crop, are available, and owing to steady immigration into the 

 colouy from the East Indies, the consumption of this cereal 

 is certairr to increase. The crdtivatioir, however, ]iiogre.sses 

 but slowly. In 1907 the rice crop amounted to 1,511 ton.s, 

 as conrpar-ed with 1,496 tons in 1906. • 



SUCAK. 



The weather during 1907 was unfavourable for the 

 sugar cro)), and the return was somewhat smaller than usual. 

 The output of sugar was 11,930 tons, as compared with 

 12,635 toirs in 1906. IJum, however-, was irranufactured to 

 the e.xteirt of 189,035 gallons, arrd 61,780 gallons of molasses 

 were also produced. 



RUBBER PRODUCTION IN THE CONGO 



FREE STATE. 



From particulars ijublishcd in i-ecent Cotuiilar Ripovtt 

 it is evident that the Congo Free State is destined to become 

 one of the great rubbei--i>roduci.ng countries of the futui-e. 

 At present the exports amount, on the average, to a little, 

 over 4,S00 tons of rubber per arrnum. In 1906, the actual 

 i|uantity shipped was 4,,s4S torrs, of the value of £1,950,000. 

 It is under-stood that the e.xiiorts for 1907 w-ere about the 

 same amount. 



Rubber is obtained ehiefiy fr-nm vines {Laiidolplii'i spp. 

 and Carpodinun spp.), as well as from ti-ees (chiefly Fiiiitiimin. 

 (.■lasticn). Owing to reckless destruction of the iilants by the 

 natives in the process of gatherirrg the pi-oduce, it is believed 

 that the sources of wild r-nbber in many parts of the State 

 have of late much diminished. With tire object of counter- 

 balancing this corrtiuual pi-occss of destruction, laws have 

 been enacted that yourrg trees shall be planted whose 

 producing capacity at maturity shall be e(jual to the airrouiit 

 of rubber collected. Thus, at present, for ever-y ton of rubber 

 gathered, the i-ollector must plant out five hundred young 

 trees. 



It has l>een proved by experiment that the rubber tree 

 Fiiiitniiiia cliisfica gives much earlier arrd better returns than 

 the different vai-ieties of vine rubber-, and it is estinrated that 

 fully 13,000,000 plants of this kind have already been .set out, 

 callable of pr-oducing within a few years, and at a low 

 estimate, 650 tons annually. Independently of this, the State 

 has established three gr-eat centr-es of rubber cultivation, each 

 of L'50,000 ar-res. When the whole 750,000 acres have been 

 lihinted, and are come into bearing, the total area is e.xpected 

 to produce 9,750 tons annually. 



TOBACCO PRODUCTION IN RHODESIA. 



Tobacco culture is exteniling in ,Southern Kliodesia, 

 and the Government of the country have engaged 

 a number of experts to give instruction to gr-owers 

 in the best methods of cultivating and curing the 

 pi-oduct. Turkish tobacco is the chief kind grown, 

 since the soil and climate are reported to be well suited 

 to the production of leaf of good quality of this variety, 

 but bright-leaf A^irginian tobacco is also under cultiva- 

 tion. It is stated that where farmers have followed 

 the advice of the experts a satisfactory measure of 

 success has already been attained. 



Full details of the work dorre are given in the reirort for 

 1907 of the Secretary for Agricultui-e of the territory. So far 

 as returns were sent in, the amount of tobacco produced in 

 1907 was 166,505 lb. It is krrown, however-, that a much 

 lar-ger quantity than this was actually turned out, but many 

 gr-owers did not send in retiu-ns. Flue-curing barns for deal- 

 irrg with the produce have been erected to specifications 

 fiu-nished by the Departrrrent, aird this method of (-rrririg the 

 leaf has, on the whole, been very satisfa(;tory. The Government 

 are offerirrg money prizes, which together anrount to £200, 

 for .the best tobaccos jji-oduced. Among the.se prizes is one 

 of £75 for the best crop of not less than 5,000 lb. of bright 

 leaf of the Virginian type. 



It is stated in tire report that the uncertainty of the 

 native labour- supi'ly at a time when it is chiefly ncedal is 

 the main difficulty in the way of a very large extension of 

 the present tobacco acreage in Southern Rhodesia. 



