YoL. XH. N. 



id. 



THE AOIIUUl.TLltAL NEWS. 



11 



'(2) The yield for a given period was greatest at first 

 from the trees tapped at frequent intervals. The relative 

 3'ield from the trees tapped at longer intervals gradually 

 increased until after three and a half years' continuous tapping, 

 the yield from trees lapped once a week, may, at a particular 

 season, become as great as or greater than that from trees 

 tapped at any shorter interval. 



'(•3) This conclusion is at present confined to the ca?e of 

 ■a. particular plantation of trees upwards of twenty years old 

 planted at a distance of only twelve by twelve feet.' 



EXPORT TRADE OF ST. LUCIA, 1911-12. 



The St. Lucia Gaz'Hi for October 26, 1912, contained 

 ihe Annual lleport of the Treasurer for the year 1911-12. 



This shows that the total exports from the island 

 amounted during 1911 to £273,111, or £4.5,4SO less than 

 the imports and £34,156 less than the exports in 1910. 



Of the produce of the island, by far the largest amount 

 vent to the United Kingdom, its value being £(5.5,440; the 

 next largest importing country was France with a value of 

 £31,719, followed by Canada and the British West Indies 

 with £9,678 and £2,780^ respectively. The exports other 

 than island produce were naturally composed of bunker coal, 

 with a value of £152,951. 



The following table gives the exports of the produce of 

 che island, with the declared values; for 1910 and 1911: — 



1910. 1911. 



Quantity. A'alue, £. Quantity. Value, £. 



;Uacao (lb.) 1,637,400 40,935 2,073,600 46,056 



Sugar, usine (tons) 5,199 64,987 4,288 52,535 



,, muscovado tons 76 760 172 1,555 



Logwood (tons) 463 936 2,638 5,276 



:Molasses(gals.) 9-5,220 1,914 74,306 1,400 



Hum (gals.) 4,692 391 12,410 1,034 



Cotton (lb.) 17,770 1,301 3,917 275 



Honey (pkgs.) 229 402 363 447 



Limes, green (pkgs.) 35 13 234 129 



Lime juice (pkgs ) 70 319 49 148 



Firewood (cords) 1,3G4 682 1,115 557 



Jlides and skins (pkgs) 161 926 151 820 



t^ico nuts (number), 6,750 119, 19,750 110 



I'imento sticks (No.) 1.3,175 545 14,103 428 

 Fresh fruit ) 



<,.umber)and , j 'J 



■mangoes (I'kg'!.) ) ■' 



Various, unspecified 1,551 1,735 



No statistical records have so far been kept of the 

 exports of ships' stores, so that these are not included in the 

 above figures. 



It is pointed out in the report that a great disparity 

 ippears between the value of imports and exports; the differ- 

 ence, when the imports and exports of bunker coal are 

 deducted, amount to £51,606, and the similar disparity in 

 1910 was £54,945. The report goes on to say: 'As a balance 

 Tnust be looked for, the difference may be taken to represent 

 the exports as ships' stores, and other proceeds of the coal 

 und shipping business, and the earnings brought into the 

 4Jolony of St. Lucians working abroad. 



There was a considerable excess in the cacao exports 

 -• )ver those of the previous year; whilst there was a decrease 

 'n the output of sugar. The cacao industry has shown 

 greater development during recent years, so that there has 

 'leon an increase of 25 per cent, of the exports of five years 

 igo. A short sugar crop caused a fall from 5,199 tons in 



1910 to 4,288 tons in 1911. The possession of good factoried 

 and the prospects of closer trade relations with ('anada are 

 considered to establish the sugar industry of the island on 

 a firm basis. 



As has been pointed out bc'cre in this journal, lime 

 cultivation has been taken up energetically in St. Lucia, anrl 

 promises to make a material addition to the exports in the 

 near future. 



A consideraljle output of logwood and pimento was 

 caused by the receipt of good offers. The small cultivation 

 of cotton continues to decline. 



'On the whole the agricultural prospects are good and 

 the present position of the Colony is one of progress.' 



THE GERMINATION ENERGY OF SEEDS. 



The abstract printed below is taken from the 

 Ballet In of the Bureau of Agrieulturnl Intelligence 

 and of Plant Diseases for July 1912. The original 

 paper appeared in Le Stazioni Sperinientali Itaiiane, 

 Modena, Vol. XIV, p. 302:— 



The valuation of the germination energy based on the 

 number of seeds which sprout within an empirically fixed 

 lapse of time cannot (owing to the irregular course of the 

 germination curve for seeds of the same or of distinct 

 varieties) give a clear idea as to the value in this respect of 

 a parcel of seed. 



It often happens that a high germination capacity is 

 accompanied by low germination energy and that the answers 

 furnished by different laboratories to the same questions 

 differ so widely as to give rise to complaints on the part of the 

 purchasers of seeds. In order to avoid this inconvenience the 

 Author agreeing with H. I'ieper (cf. Iveimversuche mit 

 Grassjimereien: Dissert. Jena, 1909) proposes that germination 

 energy be determined not on the basis of the percentage of 

 seeds which s[irout within a determined time, but on the mean 

 time required for germination, and that it be designated by 

 a number which represents its value exactly. 



Sujjposing for instance that a sample on being tested 

 for germinability had given the following results: — 



After 



95 



Then adding together the respective products of these 

 figures viz. 3 x 15 -(- 4 x .50-f-5 x 20 + 8 x 8+ 10 x 2 = 429; and 

 dividing this sum by the total number of sprouted seeds, 

 *,,-J'=4'5 is obtained. Then the results of the germinatioa 

 would be stated as follows: — 



(Jermination capacity 95 per cent. 



Mean germination time 4'5 days. 



With the.se two figvires the seed is sufficiently charac- 

 terized as regards its germination capacity. The dilliculty of 

 choosing a convenient term for expressing germination energy 

 is avoided, as well as all those discrepancies among the 

 results given by various laboratories, and which with the 

 methods actually followed are almost inevitable. 



The author gives the results of numerous experiments 

 made with the object of determining the mean average time 

 required by the seeds of the most important crops. 



