Vol. XVII. No, 423. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



22T 



beets and carrots: fruit crops, sucb as tomatoes and egg-plants: 

 and leaf crops, such as cabbage.- and spinach. 



The importance of continual :ind careful cultivati'jD after 

 the plants have been set out cannot be too strongly empha- 

 sized. The gardener should never permit the surface of the 

 soil to become baked, or even in I'uini an appreciable crust. 

 The rake is perhaps the gardeners most valuable tool in 

 cultivation, but where the grimnd has become compacted 

 beneath the immediate surface, 'itlier tools must supplement 

 the rake. Close chopping with a garden hoe will break up 

 such hardened soil sati<factorily, and put it in good con- 

 dition, the finishing touches being given to the surface with 

 a rake. Care must be taken, liowver, not to cultivate when 

 the soil is too moist, although, on the other hand, to prevent 

 A crust forming, the ground .should be stirred as soon as the 

 moisture from rain has soaked in or partially evaporated. 



A POSSIBLY USEFUL TREE. 



There is a small tree or shrub widely spread throughout 

 the tropics, and well known in the West Indian islands 

 under different names, which is usually looked upon as more 

 or less of a nuisance, but which it appears might form the 

 basis of some minor industries if exploited. This is Acaa'a 

 foriiesiaiia, belonging to the Mimosa tribe of the order 

 Leguminosae. It is known in Barbados as sweet briar" on 

 account of its numerous thorns and the exquisite odour of its 

 tiowers. In Antigua it is called 'stinking eossie' — the last 

 word probably being a corruption of Acacia, and the adjective 

 attached referring to the particularly disagreeable smell of 

 the wood when cut. In the Irench islands it is called 

 'pompon jaune', and in Cuba it goes by the name of 'aromo 

 araarillo', in both cases evidently on account of the colour of 

 its tiowers. This plant is so widely distributed throughout 

 the West Indies, growing especially vigorously on poor and 

 rocky .soils, that there is no need to enter into a detailed 

 description of its appearance. 



It is said to have originally been brought from Mexico, 

 and to have been cultivated in the Farnese Garden at Rome, 

 to which circumstance it owes its botanic specific name. At 

 the present time it is cultivated on a commercial .scale in 

 Italy. Spain, and Southern France for the sake of its frag- 

 rant tiowers which are employed in the perfumery industry. 

 The annual value of the crop of the Howers of this plant in 

 France is stated to be thousands of francs, and a particularly 

 <lelicate and fragrant perfume is extracted from them. The 

 tiowers are very commonly used in the West Indian islands 

 to fill sachets for placing in wardrobes in order to impart 

 a pleasant odour to clothing contained in them. The pods, 

 which are produced in consiilerable numbers, contain a fair 

 amount of tannin, and might be utilized in the preparation 

 of leather. From cracks in the bark of the trnnk and branches 

 the.ie e.\-udes a gum which is hardly to be distinguished 

 from the true gum arable, and is utilized for the same 

 purposes. When freshly cut. the wood exhales a very 

 disagreeable odour, somewhat similar to asafietida. It is 

 a very hard and handsome wood, and although the trees do 

 not attain to any considerable size, the larger portions of 

 the trunk are employed by joiners in small woodwork. The 

 wood is utilized also for the production of charcoal, for 

 which purpose.it is much valued in the West, Indies. 



Desides the above commercial purposes to which Araa'a 

 -./(U/icsicuia might be put, it i> also credited with posse.ssing 

 valuable medicinal properties The Re't'ist't ,/, Ai^n'cii/turt, 

 CiDinneixio y TroJnji' oi Cui..a for March 19 1 ■■s, has an 

 article on this plant in whicl; rcfi'ience i^ niii.le t--. El Medico 



Bofanico CnoNo^ h book which appears to treat of the 

 medicinal values ot iJuban plants. According to this refer- 

 ence, an extract of the flowers of A. farnsuana, in alcohol 

 may alvantageously !ie employed in cases of dyspepsia .\n 

 infusion of the greei; pods in cold water possesses a strongly 

 astringent property, and has been used wiih effect for that 

 purpose, although the disgusting smell of the infusion makes 

 it ordinarily unac'eptable to patients. 



In the future, should the ^Vest Indian islands ever become 

 sufficiently populated to enable small industries to be profitably 

 carried on, A. Janus ana might prove of value as one of the 

 many plants which might be utilized in a local perfume indus- 

 try. Whether the pods could profitably be utilized in local 

 tanneries, to which attention has been lately directed in 

 several of the smaller islands, might be a matter of experiment. 

 At any rate, A. fariieuana need not be looked upon as 

 altogether a pest, considering the many useful product? which 

 it is capable of supplying. 



AGRICULTURE IN BARBADOS. 



The weather for June has been ideal. Although the 

 amount of rain which has fallen has been less in several 

 districts than last year, better weather has prevailed inas- 

 much as the rainfall has been excellently distributed. 



Very satisfactory progress is being made with the 

 tillage of the fields from whii.li the cane crop has been 

 reaped. Cane hole digging is being proceeded with very 

 rapidly on black soil estates, and preparation for the planting 

 of provison crops is being hastened. We have noticed some 

 very good preparation for potatoes. 



A very large area of corn his been planted. In many 

 instances more has been put in than was required by law, 

 and, as far as we can judge the fields of this cereal are -in 

 a much more satisfactory condition than at this time last 

 year. 



The present scarcity of potatoes will not be relieved 

 before the end of August, but thenceforward there should be 

 a steady supply. 



ilost fields of Lisbon yams have only just started to 

 grow and they are receiving a fairly liberal supply of farm- 

 yard manure. Taking the outlook as a whole, there need be 

 no anxiety, if favourable weather continues, concerning the 

 supply of locally grown food. It cannot be sold at prices as 

 low as those to which we were accustomed, but it will be 

 secured at rates reasonable in the present crisis. For all 

 that we have said, we would advise all peasants and holders 

 of small areas of land to supplement as far as they can what 

 is being done under 'The Vegetable Act'. 



The young cane crop, though not very forward, i!j 

 looking well and bunching satisfactorily. Here again, the 

 B.H. 10 (12) is showing to the best advantage. There are 

 some fine fields of this seedling to be seen in almost every 

 parish. The bun.-hes are very full, the foliage very green", 

 and the shoots are remarkably strong and bulky. In our 

 report at this date last 'year we noted that the B.H. 10 (12) 

 had developed fewer dry hearts durini^ the dry season than 

 had the ether two favourite seedlings. We have to record 

 the same thing again _this year. 



There continues to be very great scarcity of artificial 

 manures. A few estates which bought very early have 

 secured their season s supply, but, generally speaking, only 

 very small quantities are being doled Irom each shipment. 

 The cost o; sulphate of ammonia at the presrn- time is about. 

 ■■518<5 per ton, a- compared with ^Vib laso year, and -^100 ia 

 1910. (TheBarbado.? Agricu/tiii'a/ fiiporta-Jyoi^ 29, 1918.) 



