Vol,. XVII. No. 416. 



THE AGRICULTUEAL NEWS. 



301 



DOWN THE ISLANDS. 



ITEMS OF LOCAL INTEREST. 

 ^-•.(,. liRENADA. Reports from the Agiiculturallnstructors for 

 the month of February, which have rec-otly oritne to hand, 

 indicate considerable activity over native food production 

 work. Both officers are engaged on the native food crops 

 -campaign this year. 



It has been decided by the Agriculttiral and Couwiercial 

 Society that a Provision Gardens Comijetition be offered in 

 ■eacli parish in Grenada and in t'arriaoou during 191S. No 

 cacao competition has been offered this year. A Cotton 

 •<Jouipeiition will be oti'ered by the Agricultural Department 

 in Carriacou during 1918. 



liegarding the chief industries, it is stated that the cacao 

 <;rop continued during the month with very big pickings and 

 most estates are well forward up to date. The .spice crop 

 has a satisfactory appearance and prices are moving upward. 

 The sugar crop does not show very satisfactory prospects. 



In regard to peasant agriculture, praedial larceny is 

 complained of as being on the increase. A yam (locally 

 known as Cutand throw away) was dug by a peasant at 

 <iiand IJoy, weighing 53tb. and measuring 3 feet tj inches in 

 length. With favourable weather the planting of sweet 

 potatoes still continues. 



jtOiiiNiUA. The Curator. Mr. Joseph Jones, reports 

 usual routine work in the IJotanic Garden and Experiment 

 Station during the month of February. Plant distribution 

 included 2,650 limes, 150 shade trees, 100 vanilla, 142 

 miscellaneous. In addition, 344 packets of vegetable seeds 

 were sold. The price paid for fresh green limes locally rose from 

 lO.v. to l(3.v. per barrel, whilst ripe limes remained unchanged 

 at '').v. («/. per barrel. The Permanent l>'.xhibition Committee 

 met on the iTtli instant, and decided to take steps to 

 forward to the newly formed Commercial Museum at Ottawa 

 a collection of samples of the chief commercial products of 

 Dominica. The weather was normal: the rainfall for the 

 month equalled 8"3 inches. 



M0NT.SEREAT. Plant distribution during February was 

 as follows; bay plants, 610; cane cuttings, 7,250; sweet 

 potato cuttings, 1.200; ground nuts, 12 1b.; and pedigree 

 cotton seed, 540 tt). In the Botanic ( .'ardeps three distil- 

 lations of isay leaves were made with the usual results. 

 Piegarding staple -^rops, Mr. Piobson observes that good rains 

 having recently fallen, a start will be made to plant the 

 new cotton crop. The destruction of old plants from last 

 crop had been carried out fairly effectively, although a 

 number of pro.secutions • under the Cotton Ordinance were 

 found ncce.ssary. [t is suggested that a special instructor 

 should be appointed each year for about six weeks to carry 

 out the provisions of this Ordinance. The importance of the 

 cotton industry to the small grower is evidenceil by the fact 

 that for the .sale of cotton 1 ,043 licen.fes were issued in the 

 past season. Present indications are that the area planted 

 in cotton in 1918 will exceed that of any previous year. 

 A shortage of vegetables is feared, as the weather in Novem- 

 ber and December prevented the planting of potatoes to any 

 extent. Samples of cotton lint were sent to the newly 

 formed Commercial ^Museum at Ottawa. The rainfall 

 recorded at Grove Station was 6 38 inches; the distribution 

 however was very local, and the windward district has had 

 very little rain. 



NEVIS. Mr. W. 1. Howell, in his notes for the month 

 ■ <if February, rtlers to ihe progress made by the vari- 



ous plots in the Experiment Station. Plane distributioa 

 included 1,000 caspava cuttings, and 6ft. of cotton seed. 

 The cane crop throughout tli? island is being reaped but ths 

 returns are poor. Sut;ar is being made on some of tha 

 estates; the greater part of the crop, however, is being sold 

 to the St. Kitts Factory. The old cotton bushes are being 

 pulled up and preparation made for next season's crop. If 

 sufficient labour can be obtained there is likely to be a fairly 

 large increa-e in the acreage under cotton cultivation this 

 season. There is a large piantity of available land for 

 cotton growing, and advance.s could be obtained; the only 

 difficulty is labour. A small area wa.s planted i'l provision 

 crops during the month but not nearly as much as ought to 

 be put in, and every effort is being made to induce growers 

 to plant ground provisions. 



The total number of bales of cotton purchased for the 

 Admiralty amount now to 923, weighing 297,535B>. Tba 

 rainfall for the month was' 3'27 iiiiihes, and for th« 

 year: 5 '45 inches. 



viEGix ISLANDS. The Curator reports plant distribution 

 at Tortola as follows: onion seedlings, 58,600; cassava, 

 cuttings, 525: potato cuttings, 325; coconut plants, 13; 

 cotton seed 1 ODE). : vegetable seed, 6 packets. The conditioQ 

 of the cotton crop, ^Mr. Fishlock writes, is somewhat better;, 

 the plants are recovering from the attacks of cotton worm. 

 There will be a small cane crop, '^^nioris are promisinu 

 a good crop, but the prices in the lo3al market are likely ta 

 be lower than last year. The weather was more favourable 

 than in .January. l?ain fell in measurable quantity on 

 nineteen days of the month, the total precipitation recorded 

 at the Station being 240 inches. It is hoped, Mr. Fishlock 

 observes, to resuscitate the Cotton Growers' Association. A 

 meeting with this object in view wa* planned for March 8, 



DEPARTMENT NEWS. 



News has been received that- .Sir Francis Watts, 

 K.CM.G., the Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture 

 for the West Indies, arrived in .Jamaica on February 27. 



^Ir. H. A. Ballou, M.Sc, Entomologist on the staff 

 of this Department, has been ilecorated by the Sultaa 

 of Egypt with the Order of the Nile, Third Class, ia 

 recognition of his services in the investigation of cottoa 

 pests during the past year in Egypt. 



A despatch has been received from the Secretary 

 of State for the Coloni«--s, to the effect that Mr. Ballou 

 left Port Said on February 18, on his return journey 

 to the West Indies. ' ' 



Mr. S. C. Harland, li. .Sc, .Scitutitic Assistant for 

 Cotton Research, returneifto St. Vincent on March 2.5. 



According to the Aiiitr'ilian Su^ar Jonr'mi, November 

 S, 1917, Cuban sugar planters are advised to use native bat 

 guano as a substitute for phosphate. Form-rly very littJa 

 was known regarding the deposits in the bat caves of Cubs, 

 but considerable activity is now being manifestej in the 

 working of them. These caves are in the limestoce h"!l?, 

 and for centuries have been the Itome of millions of bits 

 whose excrements and bodies have leit deposits cDnsisting 

 principally of phosphate 'jf'lime, sjinetitaes amoanting t&. 

 as much as 40.000 to 50,000 t<-'n= and probably m-«re. 



