Vol. VII. Xo. 17 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



3r)7 



RICE CROP OF BRITISH GUIANA. 



Messrs. Saiidbauh. I'arkcr liir Co., of l)eiiierara. in 

 their tortnightly report, dated Octolier 3(», on the 

 condition of the rice industry of Britisji (juiaiui say : — 



The weather during the past fortnight'^ias continued dry, 

 and stutahle for liarvesting ami nulling, ifeqiing is going on 

 all over the colony, and ((uality of ])addy i.-; good. 



Rice is now coming into town freely, and several shi|)- 

 meats liave been made to the West Indian Islands during the 

 fortnight, aniDUuting to about 2,300 bags ;dl told. iMHiuiries 

 continue to come in from all parts and several sales have Ijeen 

 offectcd at the pricfi indicated below. 



Growers of jjaddy are holding for high prices, and 

 ini'lers have had to advance their prices to obtain supplies. 

 The conqietition is keener than ever before, and lack of 

 coinbinatidu among buyers and their agents is responsible to 

 a considerable extent for the high i)rices being ])aid for paddy. 

 " Fresaiit ■ |)rices -are : |)er bag of ISO lb. gross, '20s. to 

 •20.--. Cv/.: and p.'r bag of 1*U Itj. gro.ss, l8.s. :iJ: to IS.v. 9'/. 



better cullivatiiin and more care than in pnst years, and he 

 Imped these efforts at iinjirovements would be continued. 



The meeting chimed Mith a vote • f tlianks to Dr. Watts 

 for his afldress. 



NEVIS. 



Address on Soil Analysis. 



At a special nioetino^ of the Nevis Agricultural and 

 Commercial Society held on October 1.5 last. 

 Dr. Francis Watts, C.M.G., in response to the rcijuest 

 of members, gave an address on the subject of soil 

 analysis and its relation to agricultural problems, par- 

 ticuhirly in relation to cotton. 



l)r. Watts pointed out that an acre of .soil to the depth 

 of .■? inches weighed about 1,000,000 lb., so tliat a tpiantity 

 of 100 lb. per acre of any soil constituent was 0"01 per cent., 

 if the soil were considered to a deptli of .'i inches, but only 

 4)'002.5 per cent, it taken to the depth of a foot. He f urthei' 

 |>rtiuted out that-the'.tjuantities of coii.stitueiits, . such asiiitm- 

 t^en, potash, and phosphates, removed from the soil by 

 a crop of cotton are so .small as not to be readily estimated 

 l>y chemical analysis, and therefore no useful |)ui|iose would 

 be served by carrying out the suggestion, which was some- 

 times brought forward, that the manurial reiiuirements of the 

 cotton cro[) would be ascertained by analysing the soil before 

 And after bearing a crop. 



Dr. Watts then explained in .sonic detail tli^^' methods 

 adopted in the physical and chemical analysis of soils, and 

 laid f;efore the meeting the stuteinents of analysis of a number 

 «f Xevis soils, which were then generally discussed. 



The necessity of carrying out oi-casional experiments in 

 the course of their ordinary estate work was imjiressed upon 

 tLe members present, as in this way useful knowledge might be 

 obtained as to metluxls in which their estate practice might be 

 modified with protit to themselves. The need for thorough 

 tillage, the adequate u.se of pen manure and of proper weed- 

 ing were al.so emjihasized. It was shown that cotton is one 

 of the least exhausting crops [jrovided that the seed is 

 returne<l to the soil, either in the form of cotton-cakcineal, 

 distribute<f as manure, or first fed to cattle and the resulting 

 |>en manure ap|)licd to the land. If the seed is not so 

 i-eturned the defect may be made gooil by green dressings. 



Attention was drawn to the experiments with sugar and 

 totton now in progress under the care of the Department of 

 Agriculture, at >St. Kitt's-Xcvis and other island.-*, and plant- 

 ers were urged to give them thoughtful consideration. 



In reference to the present season's cotton crop at Nevis. 

 Dr. Watts expressed the opinion that it showed evidence of 



INSURANCE OF CROPS AGAINST 



HURRICANE DAMAGE. 



Particulars of the scheme of insurance of build- 

 ings and growing crops in the West Indies against 

 damage by hurricane, that has been arranged by a lead- 

 ing firm of brokers in London, have appeared' in past 

 numbers of the Agricultural iVcK'.s (see Vol. V, p. 129, 

 and VII, p. 1S.5). This subject was lately dealt with 

 in a lengtliy .article in the London Tiiue--^', from which 

 the following extracts have been made : — 



■ The object -was to give planters in Dominica (in connexion 

 with which island the idea first originated) an opportunity of 

 covering not only their buildings, but their estates, and it 

 was originally arranged to take both the buildings and the 

 cultivations at inclusive premiums. These two interests, are, 

 however, now treated separately, but underwriters only consent 

 to take cultivations on condition that the buildings are also 

 insured. Rates for the buildings vary from I A per cent, for 

 out-houses to ^ per cent, for first-class risks with parapet walls, 

 i.e. stone walls that are continued up beyond the eave.s, so as 

 to give the wind no opportunity of getting under the roof and 

 blowing it off. There is no hard and fast definition of 

 a hurricane in the policy : the only test is the damage done. 

 If it amounts to the a.s;reed jiercentage of excess, the insurer.* 

 are liable, and all that is reijuired is that the damage should 

 be done by wind. 



Besides lime trees and cacao trees (wldch form the chief 

 cultivations in Dominica), arrangements have been made to 

 cover other forms of cultivation, sucli as sugar-canes, cocoa- 

 . nuts, and.cotfee. uWith regard to sugar-canes there have been, 

 practically no iiupiiries for insurance i'.i the English i.sland.s, 

 but a considerable amount of business has been done in the 

 French island of Martinique. The dilficulties of assessing 

 damage from hurricane are so great in the case of the sugar- 

 cane that it is doubtful if the arrangement is .satisfactory. 



In regard to bananas, the lirokers have, so far, persistently 

 refused to accypt this crop for insurance, partly on account 

 of the fact that it is so easily liable to damage, and perhajis 

 still more onaccount of thediHiculties in assessing this damage. 

 Further, if the insurers were to pay all the claims that would 

 be advanced in connexion with this crop, the premiums would 

 be so high as practically to i)rohibit business. 



The only insurance of cott'ee which has so far been 

 effected is on two estates in the Klue Mountain di.strict of 

 .Jamaica. Here, the average crop of ten years is taken, and 

 should a hurricane occur, the loss is a.s.sessed by the insurers 

 agreeing to pay the difference between an amount .slightly 

 under the value of the average crop, and the actual pinduce 

 of the sales of the coffee at Liverpool. 



firowing cotton is also covered specially during the 

 hurricane months alone, i.i'., from .Tune to October inclusive. 

 There is a fixed scale of compensation increasing in amount 

 as the .season goes on, and this is based on calculations of 

 the probable loss a planter sutlers by reason of having his 

 cotton destroye«l by hurricane. If this occurs e;irly in the 

 .season, the cotton can be replanted, but if later on, all that 

 can be done is to put in a catch crop, and the scale of 

 compensation for September and October, therefore, is from 

 double to treble the amount of tile earlier months. 



