Vol. XII. No. 304. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



407 



been carefully cut out or trimmed previous to the planting of 

 the crop very little 'bluck scale' was to be found. 



John IJramble's plot was the best in the di.strict and 

 vas closely followed by that of ( leorge Thomas, but the 

 latter had not thinned out his plants so thoroughly. 



The competition has aroused a considerable amount of 

 interest and the lessons of the past season cannot fail to 

 have a good ett'ect. 



STUims AND luiK^HToN. Here there were few entries 

 because the majority of the holdings are so small that the 

 people could not put in the acreaga necessary to compete 

 tor the prizes offered. The heavy rain of the past three 

 months had caused more loss of cotton here than in the 

 other districts visited. The best jilot was Horatio Huggin's. 

 It was on a steep hillside with a large number of stones, 

 but notwithstanding these drawbacks it had been intelli- 

 gently handled 



S. Toussaint's plot was a good one, but the thinning 

 out of the plants was not thoroughly done and leaves with 

 'blister mite' had not been picked oft' and burnt. Charles 

 Huggins also showed a satisfactory plot, but he had not 

 thinned out his plants so carefully as Horatio Huggins. 

 The general impression formed was that the lands of this 

 district want help in the way of manure and that more 

 pigeon peas ought to be grown for green dressing purposes. 

 On poor lands the plants develop leaf and boll diseases at an 

 earlier stage and in greater intensity than on lands well 

 looked after. 



Here again it was notii^ed that plants singled out were 

 more erect and bearing better than where two or more had 

 been left together. In nearly all casesi where two plants 

 were allowed to remain the main stems had grown away 

 from each other and were leaning at angles up to 4.5?. 

 In cultivations where the growth is up to the average this 

 causes excessive shading of the ground; lack of laterals, and 

 in wet weather considerable loss of bolls on the under 

 portions of each plant. Again the sun's rays cannot reach 

 the soil under these conditions and consequently it remains 

 *ccld' longer than it should; besides, there is very little 

 heat radiated from the land to help ripen the lower bolls. 

 A good many of the small holders are now convinced that it 

 is good business to thin out to one plant in a hole, and to 

 regulate the distances between the holes according to the 

 fertility of the land. One grower who had tried the method 

 for the first time and was asked what he thought of it, 

 Teplied that if he lived for another 100 years he would 

 always single out his plants. 



At a meeting at Trumaka, the desire was expressed that 

 another competition be held next season. Although 

 meetings have not been held since the judging of the plots at 

 the other places, still, there is no doubt that further 

 competitions would lead to increased interest, better 

 cultivation and better crops. 



This being the first competition of its kind held in 

 St. Vincent, a good deal of pioneer work has had to be done, 

 still a satisfactory measure of success has been attained. 



The advice and assistance of the Agricultural OtHcers 

 was at all times welcomed, and the addresses of the Agri- 

 cultural Superintendent were listened to with very keen 

 interest and attention. 



FRUIT AND FRUIT TREES. 



A LITTLE-KNOWN FIG-TREE. 



Familiar in Egy|)t under the ancient name of 'Sycomore', 

 the interesting spci ies of Ficus known as F. sycommus has 

 for ages been renowned for its hard wood and for its pleas- 

 ant and nutritious fruit. These fruit, which the Arabs call 

 'figs of Pharoah', do not possess .^o fine a flavour as the figs 

 of the species Carica, but they are nevertheless very agreeable 

 to the taste, sweet, leaving an after taste resembling that of 

 coco nut. The pulp is firm and juicy. 



In Egypt, the 'Sycomore' is not cultivated in orchards, 

 but it is sometimes found growing in avenues. It forma 

 a useful shade tree near to houses and particularly for wells 

 to provide shade for the animals that work the native chain 

 pump. 



The geographical range of this ."ipecies comprises Egypt, 

 Abyssinia and Arabia The tree is susceptible to cold 

 weather. Mon. Charles Henry, ex gardener-in-chief to the 

 Khedive, writing in LAgronomie Cohniole (October :!1, 1913) 

 believes that the tree would thrive throughout the Tropics, 

 particularly in sheltered localities. Specimens already exist 

 in the French colonies in West Africa. 



The propagation of /'. sycomorvs presents no difficulties 

 and is done by means of cuttings 40 to .50 cm. long. la 

 three years the branches are well formed and the young trees 

 are ready to be planted out. 



The flower of this species is difi'erent to the other repre- 

 sentatives of the genus, for a de.scription of which the reader 

 may refer to Mon. Henry's article. 



During each year after the tree has come In bearing, the 

 bark of the larger branches is chipped ofl' to quicken fructifi- 

 cation. This treatment is analogous to 'ringing'. 



The ripening of the fruit is stimulated by caprification 

 — that is, by boring a small hole into the fruit. Latex is 

 exhuded and the wound heals. Ripening follows three or 

 four days after caprification. 



The average harvest yield is 660 ft. of fruit per tree. 

 It should be pointed out that all 'Sycomores' are not of 

 equal value. Varieties exist but have not so far been 

 determined; though by communicating with the writer 

 mentioned above it would be no doubt possible for those 

 interested in this useful tree to obtain further detailed 

 information. 



The total exports of Sea Island cotton from the 'West 

 Indian islands during the year October I, 1912 to Septem- 

 ber 30, 1913, was 2,154,475 ft. valued at £139,351. In 

 addition 459,460 ft. of Marie Galante was shipped. 



Britain's Imports of West Indian Fruits in 

 1912. — The figures issued for 1912, show how very small 

 a portion of Britain's imports of tropical fruits is supplied 

 by the British West Indies Of a total of £2,348,375 of 

 oranges purchased, the British West Indies only supplied 

 £58,517, the rest coming almost entirely from Spain. Iq 

 bananas, a peculiarly West Indian product, one may almost 

 say, the showing is far worse even. Whereas nearly 

 £2,000,000 were imported in the year, the West Indies 

 supplied only £10,586, or about one-half per cent Britain 

 bought lemons, limes and citrons to the extent of over 

 £400,000, of which the West Indies share was £1,160. 



Britain's imports of West Indian bananas shows a terious 

 falling otr in the last three or four years. In fact, they- 

 have decreased from £221,000 since 190S. The Canary^ 

 Islands, Costa Kica and Columbia have now the bulk of the 

 trade. (Canada-West India Magazine, NoTembet 1913.) 



