Vol. XVII. No. 419. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



153 



Agricultural and Industrial Exhibition in 

 Trinidad. 



The annual agricultural and industrial exhibition 

 held by the co-operation of the Agricultural Society 

 and the Board of Agriculture, and, to a lesser e.xtent, 

 the Horticultural Club, took place in Port-of-Spain 

 on March 22, 1918. . 



The Acting Director of Agriculture, Mr. Freeman, 

 in his speech at the opening of the Exhibition by 

 His Excellency the Governor, is reported in the Port-of 

 Spain Gazette, March 23, to have drawn attention to 

 the dominant note of this year's exhibition; this was 

 the question of the production of local foodstuffs. One 

 of the greatest attractions of the show was the war- 

 time garden, a plot of ground tilled in model fashion 

 under the supervision of the Department of Agriculture. 

 This was meant to show how much could be produced 

 in yams, corn, cassaxa, etc. from a small piece of 

 ground. There were besides exhibits by the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture showing the eflbrt made by 

 planters to obtain high production from small areas. 

 The results showed that the gain was over 100 per 

 cent, over haphazard methods. Attention was also 

 directed to the use that can be made of ground 

 provisions, and amongst these was the making of bread 

 from them, which was recommended particularly to the 

 small cultivator, who is accustomed to have his 

 food made in his own household. The breads exhibited 

 were obtained from the Governor of the Prisons, who 

 had had them made from various meals supplied to him. 



Among excellent exhibits of various local manu- 

 fkctures that of the Prison Department of various 

 specimens of joinery, stone-cutting and other manual 

 industries drew especial attention. 



Naturally there were numerous exhibits of the 

 products of the chief industries of the island, among 

 which must be noticed coco- nut and cocoa butter, and 

 prepared chocolate produced by a local manufacturer. 



The reporter in the Port-of-Spain Gazette 

 mentions the really fine exhibits of goats, mostly 

 Toggenburg, showing a distinct improvement in the 

 class of goats bred at present. Hogs seem to have been 

 somewhat disappointing, and it is suggested that there 

 is room for much further development in hog raising. 

 The cattle were all of high class, an advance as far as 

 (juality is concerned, on past years. The exhibits of 

 horses were but few, but were quite up to the level in 

 quality compared with past years. 



Embargo on the Importation of Green Limes 



into the United States. 



Mr. J. Jones, Curator of the Botanic Garden, 

 Dominica, reports that news was received in that 

 island on April 15 that the United States Government 

 had placed an embargo on the importation of green 

 limes. This is a considerable blow to the lime industry 

 in that island, for it means that, for the time being, 

 a trade estimated at about £.")(!,000 annually, ceases. 

 Representations have been made with the hope that 

 the United States Government may raise the embargo. 



Another difficulty which the lime industry in 

 Dominica appears to be confronted with, is that for 

 the last two months there has been no market for ripe 

 limes, and the future position is not at all clear in 

 regard to this matter, which is of great importance, 

 especially to peasant growers. During a good crop 

 year it is probable that the peasants market from 

 70,000 to 7-5,000 barrels of ripe limes, — roughly one- 

 fifth of the crop of the island. Last year, when high 

 prices were obtained for green limes, and the usual 

 prices for ripe limes, it is estimated that nearly £20,000 

 must have been paid to the peasants for their fruit. • 

 It will be seen, therefore, that this closing of the 

 market is a serious matter. 



The difficulty of the disposal of the ripe lime* i 

 is owing largely to the want of shipping accommo- 

 dation for the export of the raw juice for use as 

 a beverage. The only other way of utilizing the ripe 

 fruit is for making citrate of lime or concentrated 

 lime juice. Again, on account of shipping difficulties, 

 these products may have to be stored for a consider- 

 able time. 



Sisal Cultivation in Antigua. 



In a review of the report on the AgriculturaF 

 Department, Antigua, for the year ended March 31,_ 

 1917, which appeari'd in the Agricuttural News for 

 March 9, 1918, attention was drawn to the fact that 

 8,000 sisal plants had been sent out from the Agri- 

 cultural Station to plant 11 acres in the windward 

 district in an attempt to establish a fibre industry in 

 that drier part of the i.sland. Mr T. Jackson, the 

 Agricultural Superintendent, has forwarded to this 

 Office some notes on observations he made after 

 paying a visit to the sisal cultivation. 



He states that there are growing on the estate^ 

 where the cultivation has been begun four varieties of 

 agave: (1) the ordinary wild agave found in Antigua 

 {Agave Keratto)\ (2) Agave sisalana (sisal); (3) Agave 

 fourcroydes (henequen); and (4) an unnamed variety 

 which occurs locally. The second and third of these 

 varieties are the only ones which are valuable as a 

 commercial source of fibre. 



Mr. Jackson remarks that, although the plants 

 have made very slow growth, their healthy appearance 

 indicates that the conditions are, on the whole, such 

 as to favour the success of the experiment. 



With regard to the planting of sisal and henequen, 

 Mr. Jackson observes that it is evident that the plants 

 should not be set deeply in the soil, as is exemplified 

 by the manner in which the wild agave grows. The 

 lower leaves of the plants should never be covered by 

 earth. 



He also advises that, until the plants attain a 

 considerable height, careful weeding around them by 

 means of a scutfie hoe is necessary, the ordinary agri- 

 cultural hoe not being suitable for the purpose: the 

 land between the row? of plants he advises to be kept 

 clean by occasional cutlassing. 



