THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



Fkbuuauy 23, 1918. 



DOWN THE ISLANDS. 



ITEMS OF LOCAL INTEREST. 

 ST. VINCENT. Mr. W. N. Sands reports gineral routine 

 ■nork in the Botanic Gardens during the month of .laiiuary. 

 The reaping of various crops was continued. The prospects 

 are f aid to be not so good as last year. The planting of 

 ground provision crops was extensively carried on. Corn and 

 peas were also planted where conditions were favourable, 

 the excellent rains enabling good progress to be made. 

 The export of live stock, poultry, and eggs, as well as 

 farine, yams, cotton seed, and cotton-seed oil has been prohib- 

 ited except under license. The export of sugar, syrup, 

 and molasses had been already prohibited on .similar 

 terms. The granary's bins containing 1,"J00 cwt. of kiln- 

 dried corn were filled and sealed. It is hojjed to keep 

 this in ri serve for some little time. The refining of cotton- 

 seed oil for local consumption was continued at the ginnery. 

 The Agricultural Superintendent visited jkquia in connexion 

 with the destruction of silk-cotton and John Bull trees in 

 a campaign started against the native food-plants of the 

 cotton staincr in that island. The pest had done a great deal 

 of damage during the past .season. At several places visited 

 by the Cotton Inspector old cotton stalks were being destroyed, 

 and food crops planted. A similar condition of affairs is 

 reported from the Land Settlement estates of Lindley Valley 

 and Belair, where the people were said to be busily engaged 

 in planting ground provision crops. 



The rainfall recorded at the Botanic Station during the 

 month was 786 inches, and at the E>periment Station, 

 6-43 inches. The rainfall for 1917, the Agricultural Super- 

 intendent remarks, was exceptionally well distributed 

 in moat districts of the Colony. There were no Hoods 

 or continuous rains to cause damage to lands or crops 

 as in 1916. The year's rainfall, recorded at the Botanic 

 Gardens, was 102 3.5 inche?, which was .517 inches below 

 the average of the last twenty four years. At the 

 Experiment Station the precipitation was 88-7-5 inches. At 

 coast stations and other districts it nowhere exceeded 70 

 JDche.?. The monthly returns show that the month of .July 

 was wetter than usual, but that the rainfall of the other 

 months closely approached the average, with the exception of 

 November and December, which were very dry and much 

 below it. 



ST. LU<;iA. From the report of the Agricultural Superin- 

 tendent for the month of .January it appears that work in the 

 Experiment Station included reaping cassava and preparing 

 farine and starch on a commercial .scale; reaping sweet 

 potatoes and making from them Hour and chips for bread. 

 Blant distribution wa^ as follows: linifs, l,-.iOO; grafted man- 

 goes, 20; budded oranges, 8; ornamental plantc, 11. Theie 

 were al.-o distributed 400 tannia and 400 da.'^hecn plants, 

 1,000 cassava cuttings, and 198 packets vegetable seeds. 

 Further progrese, Mr. I'.rooks states, has been made with the 

 erection of a koker to prevent the fea-water from entering the 

 Botanic Gardens at ('astries. The concrete bridge referred 

 to in the last leport is almost completed. Special work has 

 been undertaken, as indicated above, in making farine, starcli, 

 sweet potato flour, and dried pniat<. chips. Corn meal and 

 bread made fn.m these flours and meals were supplied to mem- 

 bers of the Fofjd Committee and to several prominent families. 

 Assistauce wa.s also tendered to the raanageincnt of the lead- 

 ing bakery in Castries in making sweet potato bread and corn 

 meal bread. The rainfall for the month, recorded at the i'.oUnic 

 SUtion, Castries, was .5 40 inches; at the Agricultural and 

 Botanic Station, Choiseul, 'iOfi inches. 



I'O.MINI* A. Mr. Joseph Jones, the Curator, reports plant 

 distribution duiing the month of January as follows: limes, 

 1.500; budded citrus, 4J; cacao, 15U; shade tree cuttings, 100; 

 eucalyptus, 100; bamboo, 100; miscellaneous, IIG. In 

 addition 12S packets of vegetable seeds were sold. Work in 

 the Botanic Gardens was of a routine nature. The local 

 price for fresh limes rose from 8s. to lOj. per barrel. The 

 rate for ripe limes dropped from 7.<. to ().<. G</. per barrel. 

 The lime crop for 1017 amounted to 396,184 barrels of fruit. 

 This is an increase of 12,000 barrels over the crop of 1916, 

 and .5,000 barrels in excess of the record crop of 1913. The 

 love vine ((7«sfu?(t (((/(trt'c'Oirt), a piarasite on lime trees, is 

 reported to be spreading to new localities, and legislation on 

 the lines of that adopted in Grenada and St. Lucia his been 

 suggested by several planters. During the first half of the 

 month the weather was very dry, only "08 inch of rain 

 being reeoidcd from the 1st to the l-5th. Towards the end 

 of the month, however, the rainfall was considerable, the 

 total for January being (v02 inches. 



.MON'TSEKRAT. Reporting for the n;nnth of January, 

 Mr. W. Robson states that the effects of the long drought 

 since Noveiuber have been very evident in the Experiment 

 Station during the month. Work of a routine nature was 

 nevertheless performed. Plant distribution included 500 

 bay plants, 400 sugar-cane cuttings, and 1 lb. of cowpeas. 

 In the r.otanic Gardens a distillation of growth of the 

 American horsemint was made with moderately satisfactory 

 results, as shown by analysis at the Government Laboratory. 

 Five distillations of bay leaves were also made, one of which 

 yielded at the rate of 217 oz. of oil per 100 8). of green 

 leaves. 



The destruction of old cotton plants tixod by law 

 at January .31 has been pushed forward, but several areas 

 were granted exemption until February 2.'i. It is now 

 evident, says Mr. Robson, that the crop, if it does not exceed, 

 will nearly reach 400,000 B). of lint. By a recent oppor- 

 tunity -51<i b\Ies of cotton, together with lime products, 

 were shipped during the month. A large piojjortion 

 of the crop will not be delivered to the Government 

 unless it is commandeered, and under the pro-ent arrange- 

 ments the export of this cotton is prohibited. A very 

 large area is ready for planting the new crop, and planting 

 in March will be l.irgely undertaken if rains permit. The plant- 

 ing of vegetables and corn during the last two months has 

 been almost impossible, and a shortage of supplies is feared 

 in a month or two. TvfO tins containing 71 lb. of bay oil 

 distilled from the experiment plot were shipped to England, 

 as well as samples of cotton lint for spinning tests. Inves- 

 tigation was made into the Muestion of the suppression of 

 lint length in second crop pickings of cotton, and the results 

 obtained were forwarded to the Mead Office at Rarbados. 

 Tlie rainfall for the month, recorded at Grove Station, was 

 •_' 64 inches. The island has not been so dry in .lanuary 

 in any previous year. 



\Nri.:t \. The Caiatnr, Mr. T. Jackson, in items of 

 departmental interest for the uiDnlh of Jiiniiary includes the 

 following plant distribution: onion plants, 1. "'12, 050; cane 

 plants, .50,000; coco nuts, 412; miscellaneous. "lO: yam sets, 

 .520; vegetable and flower seeds, 10 packets; cotton seed, 

 26 lb. <Jn account of exceptionally dry weathc r only routine 

 work was performed in the Botanic (iardens-. Rain fell in 

 the lenlral and sjulhern parts of the i.sland during the 

 month, and the planters took adv.antagc of this to put out 

 their onion .seedlings. In the western and northirn districts 

 very little rain fell, and all .rops an- suffering considerably. 

 Where rain fell, corn ;i.nd vegetablo crops were put in. On 



