Vol. XII. No. 280, 



THE AGllICULTURAL NEWS. 



31 



can be worked either bleached or unbleaclied. The fact that 

 the paper in its natural state, without the addition of any 

 materials whatever, can be made to possess grease-proof and 

 self-sizing cjualities is a point of commercial importance.' 



These investigators have also dressed some of the fibre 

 from the green stem, and the tensile strength tests indicate 

 that it is almost exactly similar in .strength to the best pure 

 manila hemp which is the only fibre than can be used in the 

 self-binding reaper machine. It might be added that manila 

 hemp is practically a monopoly of the I'hilippine Islands from 

 which the export was 121,6.)7 tons in 1904 valued at 

 £4,188,83.5: but this has declined to 140,208 tons valued at 

 £3,025,03G in 1911. 



In view of the valuable nature of Hedychium two other 

 members of the same Natural Order, Amomum In laisphenriuii, 

 and Alpiiiifi nutnus, were submitted to Messrs. Clayton 

 Beadle and Stephens for examination. It would appear 

 from this report that these two species, particularly Amomiuu 

 hemisp/iericmn, could be made to produce a strong brown 

 paper with a long tear, and although less valuable than 

 Hedychium these species might prove very useful sources of 

 material for paper-making. 



Anwmum hemisphericum is a native of -Java. Alpin'm, 

 nutans is recorded from Hong Kong, Formosa, Cochin China, 

 the Eastern Himalayas, and the Malay Peninsula. It is also 

 known from the West Indies, Cuatemala, Venezuela, 

 Surinam and Brazil, but like Hedychium it has probably 

 been introduced into the Western Hemisphere from the East. 



EXPORTS FROM ST. VINCENT, 1911. 



The following intorraatioii is taken from the 

 Report of the Supervisor of Customs, St. Vincent, for 

 1911, which was gazetted on November 28, 1912: — 



The value of the exports to the United Kingdom 

 amounted to £73,378 as against £63,981 for 1910, showing 

 an increase of £9,397. 



The value of exports to British Possessions were £42,106 

 as compared with £35,306 for the previous year — an increase 

 of £6,860. 



Exports to foreign countries amounted in value to 

 £3,081, as against £1,893 for the year 1910 — an increase of 

 £1,188. 



The following table shows the values of exports according 

 to the classification recently adopted: — 



Class I. Food, drink and tobacco £60,102 



Class II. Piaw materials and articles"! ,,, _„ , 

 • 1 f » J ■ 4o, ( d4 



mamly manufactured I ' 



Class III. Articles whoU)' or mainly I . ^^., 



unmanufacturedj '' ' 



Class IV. Miscellaneous and unclas.s-") 



Class V. Bullion specie 

 Total 



ifiedj 



1,046 



9,131 



118,625 



Under Class I, the principal article is, of course, arrow- 

 root, the value of which amounts to £40,429; cacao is valued 

 at £5,069, live stock at £4,071, ground nuts at £1,000, 

 sugar and syrup at £5,743, and vegetables at £1,455. All 

 the above are the produce or manufacture of the Colony. 



Under Class II, the principal item of export is cotton 

 valued at £41,019. Cotton seed is valued at £3,851. 



Under Cla.ss 111, the only item of any importance is 

 cassava starch valued at £1,268. 



Class IV does not call for any special comment. 

 Class V is composed of:— 



Bank notes £3,932 



Silver 5,198 



The following cxport.s have increased in value to an 

 appreciable extent: — 



Article. Increase. 



Arrowroot £10,339 



Cacao 937 



Sugar and syrup 1,936 



Cotton 3,210 



Cassava starch 488 



Specie (including bank notes) 2,601 



In the case of arrowroot it is significant that while the 

 exports have decreased in quantity to the extent of 

 1,038,595 lb, the value is £10,339 in e.xces3 of that for 

 1910. This is due, as regards quantity, to the fact that 

 exporters have held back much of the year's crop for reasons 

 of their own, and as regards value to the good prices which 

 have been ruling throughout the year 1911. 



The value of the following articles of export show 

 decrease: — 



.'Article. Decrease. 



Molasses £1,482 



Ground nuts 683 



Vegetables 289 



In the case of each of the above articles I believe the 

 reason for the decrease to be the same, namely the appropria- 

 tion of larger proportions of arable land for growing of 

 cotton and arrowroot on account of the higher prices prevail- 

 ing for these articles. 



In this connexion it will also be noticed that the local 

 consumption of wheaten flour has increased largely as is 

 evidenced by the considerable increase in importation of this 

 article during the year, flour taking the place of vegetables 

 where the supply failed to meet local demands. 



In conclusion I would draw attention to the fact that 

 the values of exports of the Colony exceed the value of its 

 imports to a marked extent, which under the circumstances 

 existing in St. Vincent may be taken as an indication of 

 improved economic conditions and an unmistakable sign that 

 the Colony is journeying towards prosperity. 



An abstract of a paper in the Experiment Station Record 

 for July 1912 gives the results of experiments dealint^ with 

 the time of the leaf-fall of .some tropical trees; they were con- 

 ducted at the Peradenyia liotanic Ciarden and Experiment 

 Station, Ceylon, and elsewhere. It was shown that if the 

 trees are pruned in the last month of the year, new leaf- 

 growth is formed in December, which does not fall in the 

 normal period for the loss of the leaves. This led to the 

 conclusion that the normal leaf-fall of the trees observed is 

 not due primarily to external conditions, but that its cause 

 lies in part at least within the plant. It may be stated that 

 the matter is summed up, in Schiraper's Plant Geography, 

 p. 245, in the following words: 'Such case.s of the loss and 

 restoration of the leaves independently of the season of the 

 year can only be due to internal causes. Frequently such 

 a leaf-fall is a sign that the tree is preparing to blossom,' 



