140 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



Aprjl 26. 1913. 



It is stated in a recent issue of the St. Croix Ai'is that 

 at an e-ttraordinfiry meeting of the Agricultural Society, 

 l»r. Longfield S.'iiiih gave an address to the planters ia 

 which he suggested some labour-saving changes in their 

 presmt sy.«teiii cf cane cultivation. The speaker a].so roferrel 

 to hybridization experiments with Sea I.sland and other 

 s| eci.s of cotton in Si. Croix and elsewhere, and pointed 

 our, ilie t-conomic benefits that are likely to accrue from the 

 re.-ulu obtained. 



GLEANINGS. 



It is probable that in Antigua there will be a fairly large 

 increase in the arreage under cotton during the coming season. 

 It is stated that at present there is little or no flower-bud 

 .anaggot of cotton in the island. 



In St. Kitts the weather during March has been showery, 

 Twith very high winds. In the Northern District the canes are 

 still very green owing to the late rains, and the returns from 

 this locality are somewhat disappointing. Grinding com- 

 anenced at the central factory on March 10. 



Information is presented in the Grenada Government 

 <Gaiette for April 1, 191-3, to the effect that the Governor 

 proposes to invite the Council to appoint a special committee 

 respecting the establishment «i a Land Bank in Grenada, 

 suited to the conditions obtaining in that ColonJ^ 



The distribution of plants from the Botanic Station , Domi- 

 mica, during March last, was as follows: limes 1,868: budded 

 <itrus 77; Para rubber 70; miscellaneous 8; making a total of 

 ■2,02'-) The total plant distribution for the twelve months 

 <ended March 31, 1913, was 7-5,146. The distribution for the 

 same period in 191 11 2 was 76,363. 



An announcement is made in the Leeward Islands 

 iSoverniiieid Ga:ette, for March 2", 1913, that an Ordinance 

 las been made by the Governor-iu Council to prohibit the 

 cutting without permit of wattle, sedge and broom straw 

 in the island of Barbuda. The penalty for breaking the 

 Ordinance is not exceeding £25. 



Information received from the Agricultural Instructor, 

 Ucvis, indicates that the cane crop throughout the island has 

 made very rapid progress during the past three months, 

 •especially in the case of the young canes. The old crop is 

 now being reaped and the returns, although not very good, are 

 anuch better than was aniicipated. There has been a small 

 increase in the acreage put in canes for the next crop. 



A note in Nature for March 20, 1913, contains the 

 information that a new eyepiece micrometer has been 

 invented which will probably replace all others. The 

 ^fundamental idea is that the scale used is such that microns 

 «an at once be read off without greatly changing the tube- 

 lengths or considering the micrometer value of the objective 

 employed, therefore dispensing with the arithmetic for which 

 <Lis is a necessary datum. 



Theagriculiural notes in the Demerara Argosy for March 

 29, 1 913, provides the information that the majority of estates 

 will start sugar making next month, but that only a limited 

 i.rea of canes are due for reaping. As regards the rice crop, 

 the paddy is now ready for harvesting but the yield will be 

 below the usual average. The rice market is dull and prices 

 unremunerative to the millers who hold a considerable stock 

 of paddy Recent weather in Demerara has been marked by 

 heavy showers — a welcome change after the more or less severe 

 dry weather of the last eight weeks. 



An interesting catalogue has recently been received 

 from Messrs. Mansfield it Sons, Ltd., of .Birkenhead, 

 wh'ch describes an oil gis apparatus that may probably be 

 found of use for providing a suitable gas-supply for laboratories 

 which are out of the reach of an ordinary town gas-supply. 

 It is stated that great satisfaction has resulted from the 

 use of the follow ing oils from which the gas is prepared by 

 destructive distillation: creosote oil, palm oil, castor '>il, 

 coco-nut oil, Rang(>on oil, fish oil, tallow and unrefined fat. 

 The gas is stored in a gasometer similar to, but on a smaller 

 scale than, that employed in urban gas works. 



In the Antigua Sun a report from the Government Libora- 

 tory for the Leeward Islands intimates that a year of marked 

 dryness in that island is recorded for 1912. The average 

 rainfall has been the lowest since 187.5, with the exception of 

 1905. The low precipitation experienced from the beginning 

 of the year until September, combined to render the outlook 

 exceedingly unfavourable, though fairly well distributed rain 

 during the latter part of the year served to supply the needs 

 of the population for water and also to improve the crops 

 considerably. The average rainfall for thirty-nine jears, 

 187-1 to 1912, was 44 47 inches, so that the precipitation for 

 1912 is 12'24 inches below the average. 



Notice of Judgement No. 150 issued from the office of 

 the Secretary, I'uited States Department of Agriculture, 

 concerns the case of the marketing of citrus fruit badly dam- 

 aged by frost. Citrus fruit is injured in flavour by freezing 

 and so becomes dry and unfit for food. The damage is 

 evidenced at first by a more or le.ss bitter flavour, followed 

 by a marked decrease in sugar, and especially in acid content. 

 For the guidance of those concerned in the shipping of citrus 

 fruit, it is announced that, pending further investigation, all 

 citrus fruii will be deemed adulterated within the meaning 

 of the Food and Drugs Act, if the concents of any packets 

 arc found to contain 15 per cent, or more of citrus fruit 

 which, on a trai^sverse .section being made, the centre .shows 

 a marked drying in 20 per cent, or more of the exposed pulp. 



