Vol. XVII. No. 431. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS 



H:i 



than when they received a normal aojuunt, but there was no 

 increase in the fat content of the milk, 



In conclusion H may be said that keeping dairy cows in 

 mil]£ in hot sheds, blanketing ihem, and withholding water 

 in order to raise the fat content, is very dangerous to their 

 health. 



Physical condition nftlw cows.. — The abnormal conditions 

 brought about by withholding water were Dervou.«ness, gaunt- 

 ness, and high body temperature. When the animals were 

 watered every six hours, and when they received half the 

 normal ration of water, a larger amount of energy was re- 

 quired to accomplish the body functions. 



Cliief functions of 7vatcr in a dairy coze's ration — 

 The results of the experiments led the authors to the 

 following conclusions: A good dairy cow probably requires 

 more water than any other domestic ainimal. Water dissolves 

 food (foi this reason the more food an animal eats, the more 

 drink it requires), distributes it to the different paits of the 

 body, and lemoves the waste pioducts. The authors showed 

 that more than 12 per cent, of the total water drunk is 

 eliminated through the skin in winter in the shed, and 

 27 per cent, in August. On an average, 15 per cent, of the 

 water drunk passes into the milk (in good milkers this per- 

 centage is higher; in one of the experiment animals, among 

 which there were no choice cows, this percentage was 24). 



COFFEE CULTIVATION IN BRITISH 



GUIANA. 



In the course of the interestiog address delivered 

 before the Royal Agricultural and Commercial Society 

 of British Guiana, portions of which have been repro- 

 duced in the last two issues of this Journal, Professor 

 Harrison described the past history and the present 

 condition of the coffee industry in the colony. Coffee 

 has played such an important part as a crop of the 

 West Indies in the past, and may perhaps do the same 

 in the future, that we are glad to reprint below the 

 Professor's remarks on the subject:— 



We are aware that in the eighteenth century and in the 

 earlier part of the last century Guianai and especially Rerbice, 

 was celebrated for the hinh quality of coffee produced; and 

 that ac the time of the cessation of slavery, circumstances 

 beyond the control of the planters necessitated the gradual 

 abandonment of its cultivation. For instance, in 1821 the 

 export of coffee from the colony was 124,086 cwt.; in 1833 

 it had shrunk to 51,860 cwt.; in_1840 to 30,000 cwt.; in 

 1845 to 4,400 cwt.; whilst in 1847 it had disappeared from 

 the list of exports. In 1896 locally grown coffee had again 

 become an article of export, but only to the extent of 6-'< cwt., 

 whilst 1,763 cwt. of coffee was imported, its value being 

 upwards of $27,600. 



Sir Daniel Morris, in his subsidiary report to the West 

 Indian Royal Commission, laid great stress on growing 

 coffee, as being, next to rice, the most promising of all sub- 

 sidiary products. He pointed out that for coffee-growing 

 'British Guiana can offer exceptional advantage in .soil and 

 climate, and in proximity to suitable markets. These are 

 most important elements on which to base the existence of 

 large and successful industries.' 



The following table illustrates how far his advice has 

 been followed, and with what resuks as regards the extension 

 of the area planted and the exports and import.^ of coffee: — 



Quinquennial 

 periods. 



1 894-1 89« 



1S9G 



18991903 



1904-1908 



1909-1913 



1914, 1915 i i91( 



(3 years only) 

 1917 



Xo. of acres Coffee Coffee raw and 



(British) under exported, prepared, im- 



cultivation. R. ported, ft. 



No records 5,600 262,700 



.. .. ^V>'!' ni7\.'t7fi 



718 .5,580 284.160 



1,370 17.900 181,370 



2,660 11.5,200 83 200 



4,466 

 4 ::oS 



304,000 



:6<i snjf 



55,200 



In 1917 the export would have been far more than 

 doubled *ere It not lor the lack of shipping facilities, as in 

 1916 over .501,000 »>. were exported. 



The marked extension in coffee-planting during the 

 period under review has been mainly, if not entirely, with 

 the Liberian variety. Roth Arabian or so-called Creole 

 ccffee, and Liberiin coffee grow with exceptional vigour, 

 whilst the former is singularly free from disease. 



In 1897 it was already recognized that Liberian coffee 

 grew very well indeed in niany parts of the colony, and that 

 wherever it, ttouri.<3hed it was very prolific. It has since beea 

 found that at times and in certain places the difficulty is to 

 restrict its bearing propensities sufficiently to prevent th& 

 tree either permanently injuring itself or even dying from 

 the effects of over-production. Climatic conditions on lands 

 situated at some distance from the coast-line, and on the lands 

 along the lower reaches of the rivers are the most favourablo 

 for the growth of Liberian coffee. 



There are still plenty of openings for the development of 

 plantings of coffee, the best of which, perhaps, ar- on the 

 lands bordering both banks of the Berbice River along its 

 course from about 30 to 1 50 miles from its mouth, whilst 

 similar plantings in the N'orth West and in the Pomeroon 

 Districts would be of almost equal promise. 



Whilst progress iu this Colony with regard to coffee- 

 planiing durinu the past ten years appears to us to be 

 marked, our coffee industry is practically in a deplorable state 

 of stagnation in compari.^on with that of our neighbours in 

 Surinam. There, not only has the area planted with Liberian 

 coffee been greatly augmented, but coffee is being growp on 

 excellent cultural lines, such as are followed by very few 

 indeed of our planter.^, with the result that on plantations 

 there— plantations having from, say, 400 to 800 acres of 

 Liberian coffee in full bearing — returns of coffee per acre are 

 attained which to growers having only local experience, are 

 almost incredible. I do not know of any coffee-plantation 

 he.'e that can poi.vt to fields which yield year after year crops 

 of from 1,500 to even 2,000 lb. of cured coffee per acre. 

 N'ot alone have the Surinam coffee-planters materially 

 extended their cultivation and vastly increased their yields 

 per acre, but by the establishment of coffee pulping, drying 

 cleaning, and grading machinery of the very best ' modern 

 types they have brought their product from being one of 

 the lowest valued types of coffee on the market to one 

 occupying a very prominent position among the highest 

 grades of ccffce in the market of New \ork. Unfor- 

 tunately there are not any coffee plantations here of 

 areas sufficient in the opinions of their owners to jostify 

 investments in the latest types of coffee machinery, and 

 what is equally important, the employment of managers 

 capable of getting the best results from the best e^juijiped 

 factories. I am satisfied that there is a cert-iiu remedy for 

 this condition. It is the installation of co-operative coffee 

 factories in each of the more important coffee producing 

 districts of the colony. 



