Vol. XIV. No. 34'.). 



THE AGRICULTU11AL NEWS. 



299 



The Frog as a Pest of Corn. -The question as to 

 whether the frog will attack young corn is discussed in the 

 following note appearing in the Journal of the Jamiica 

 Agricultural Society. It appears thai in Jamaica this animal 



as well a- the dog may become at times a serious pest: 



'Very frequently it has been stated by small growers of 

 corn thatfrogs destroy the young corn by eating it. The 

 closest observation — going out into the fields at night and in 

 the early morning— never showed any damage to any emu we 

 ever had that could be put down to frogs, except that where 

 they were in large numbers, the frogs found the corn hides, 

 especially after rains, nice cool places to burrow in, when of 

 course, they disturbed the com that bad just started growing 

 or was a little above the ground; and we have often stated 

 our conclusions in reply to statements thatfrogs ate young 

 corn. We have heverseen it stated, too, from any part of the 

 world that frogs ate any vegetable material whatever — they 

 consume insects. However, it is well not to be too dogmatic 

 in agriculture. Mr. Schleifer, the Agricultural Instructor, 

 has corn planted in Clarendon by the banks of a river, and 

 he has stated from his own personal observation that at night 

 he has found frogs eating the corn, and on opening some 

 he lias found the young com shoots in their stomachs. We 

 reported this to the Entomologist, and it is also new to him 

 that frogs ate vegetable matter in this way. Further investi- 

 gation, however, will be made. Certainly if a carnivorous 

 animal like the mongoose can become a fruit eater and eat 

 pine-apples and bananas, and when clogs, ill fed at home, make 

 raids into cornfields when the cobs are ripening, jump 

 up, tear down the cobs and e it them, we are prepared for any 

 changes. Dogs, too, scrape out the seed corn just planted 

 and eat the grain.' 



EXPERIMENTAL WORK IN ST. CROIX. 



The chief event that occurred during 1914 in connexion 

 with the St. Croix Experiment Station was the addition of 

 the estate known as Anna's Hope, the area of which, includ- 

 ing the parts already owned by the Experiment Station, is 

 215 acres. Of this amount 170 acres are arable. The 

 experimental work conducted thereon and on private estates 

 is described by Dr. Longfield Smith (the Director) in his 

 Report for 1913-14. 



When taken over, the estate was in a very run down 

 condition. With the help of the motor plough, the Director 

 succeeded in preparing and planting 15 acres in cotton from 

 August to October, and this cotton, considering its late 

 planting, has yielded well. Only seeds obtained from the 

 plots of the best selected plants of the previous year were 

 planted, and iii this way a large amount of special cotton seed 

 was obtained for the use of planters. This supply has been 

 largely made use of, 5,000 lb. of this seed having been sold 

 for planting purposes in 191 (. 



Early in 1914 about 15 acres of the estate land was 

 planted in new varieties of cane, while 1 acres of the most 

 stony land was planted in sisal. Experiments with corn, 

 imphee and other crops were also carried out. 



The manurial experiments with sugar-canes conducted at 

 the station have led to the general conclusion that the use of 

 artificial manures in cane cultivation is not advisable. It is 

 probable that in St. Croix the limiting factor in cane produc- 

 tion is the rainfall, and wlien the usual application of about 

 L'li tons of pen manure per acre is applied in the preparation 

 of cane land for plant canes, the -oil contains all the food 

 which is necessary for the growth of the small crop that the 

 limited rainfall can produce. 



Experiments ol ome interest have been carried out in 



regard to bud selection, and the distance of planting canes. 



There is some indication that bud selection ma j be a means 



of carrying on observed vigour in any particular plant in the 

 field. The experiments on distance of planting show clearly 

 that the best results are obtained by close planting. 

 This result is in aci Ian e with those obtained recently in 



Porto Rico. 



The report from which the foregoing information has 

 been taken devotes a considerable amount of space to 

 results obtained with different varieties of sugar cane including 

 those raised locally. Several varieties have been produced 

 which show great promise, but it is emphasized that with 

 new varieties of cane raised from seed several years are 

 necessary to show their real merits. Of the imported canes, 

 B.16536 is stated to have done the best. Cine ]).<>3(>0 gave 

 the best results, as a plant cane, for the first two years' trials, 

 but has dropped to sixth place this year. 



The information contained in the report concerning 

 experiments conducted with cotton are of interest, but neea 

 not be dealt with here, in view of the fact that this information 

 has already been reviewed in the Agricultural Xwf. on page 

 134 of the present volume. 



Cacao in the Southern Provinces, Nigeria. - 



A great deal of new land has been planted with cacao within 

 the last three or four years, anil for which the Department of 

 Agriculture has supplied about 90,000 plants and 104,000 

 seeds. This Department is also establishing small model 

 plots of cacao in the various districts suitable for cacao 

 cultivation. The object of these plots is to teach the 

 planters how to plant and care for their trees, and when they 

 come into bearing, demonstrations as to the preparation of 

 the crop will be given. In conjunction with these plots 

 nurseries are being formed to raise plants for distribution. 

 European agricultural officers and native agricultural 

 instructors visit the principal cacao-growing districts to give 

 instructions in the cultivation and preparation of cacao. 



When the newly planted areas come into bearing, and 

 as planters become better acquainted with the proper way 

 to plant and take care of their trees, it is anticipated that 

 a very considerable increase in the exports of cacao will be 

 manifested. 



In 1905 the exports of cacao from Nigeria were worth 

 £16,922. In 1913 the value had risen to €157, ISO. 

 {Proceedings of the Third International Congress of Tropical 

 Agriculture.) 



In a note in the Experiment Station Record (Vol. 

 XXXIII, No. 1) it is shown that the rainfall of the United 

 States cotton belt varies widely, the average annual rainfall 

 being 31 inches in the west and 54 inches in the south east. 

 There is apparently a direct relation between rainfall and 

 temperature, an average low temperature meaning, as a rule, 

 a small amount of precipitation. Correlating rainfall with 

 crop growth, the conclusion is reached thai the best 

 conditions for growing cotton occur about latitude 32 X. in 

 an area where the total annual rainfall is aboul 50 inches 

 per annum, where the temperature is normal and therefore 

 almost entirely a fuction of the latitude, and where the crop 

 rainfall depends upon the rising temperature and upon the 

 slacking effect of oceanic influences, so that an average rain- 

 fall of 20 inches can readily be obtained luring the live or 

 six months required for the growth of the cotton plant. 



The relation of rainfall to other crops grown in the 

 cotton belt is also briefly considered. 



