

THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



Sj i-i i m ill: 11, 1915. 





GLEANINGS. 



[t is stated in the Dominica Chronich for August 11, 

 1915, thai by a special proclamation issued in the Official 



le, tin- Administrator ha prohibited absolutely the 

 importation into Dominica frpm the United States of any 

 citrus plants or budwood. 



According to the Medical Report on the Presidency of 



St. K i 1 1 .- Nevis, the estimated number of inhabitants in 1914 



follows: St. Kitts, 26,658; Nevis, 13,528; Anguilla, 



4,491. The respective increases over and above the estimate 



for the previous year are 175, 19.'!, ami 133. 



It is stated in The /ioaid of Trade Journal for 

 August 5, 1915, that the totaj value of the exports from the 

 French Colony of Reunion in 1914 was £691,250 as against 

 6663,667 in 1913. The principal exports are vanilla, rum, 

 tapioca, perfume essences, also fibre and vacoa. 



The annual report of the Registrar of civil status, 

 St. Lucia, for the year 1914 15, .states that on March 31, 1 9 I 1, 

 the population of the colony was considered to have been 

 50,809, while on March 31, 1915, it was computed to have 

 risen to 51,590, a natural increase of 78] . 



The principal agricultural exports from Colombia in 

 1912 were coffee, bananas, rubber, and raw tobacco. The 

 value of the coffee exported was 16,777,908 gold dollars, 

 while that of bananas was 1,996,999 gold dollars. The 

 value of the cattle hides exported was 2,661,722 gold 

 dollars. (Diplomatic and Consular Reports, No. 5437 

 Annual Series. ) 



It is gleaned from the Proceedings of the Agricultural 

 Society of Trinidad and Tobago, for .Tune 1915, that the 

 Permanent Exhibition Committee of that colony has voted 

 .£100 for the improvement of the Trinidad Court in the 

 Colonial Galleries at the Imperial Institute. Those who 

 have visited the Trinidad exhibition will realize that this 

 contribution has for some time been badly needed. 



An interesting catalogue entitle! Grafted Tropical Fruit 

 Trees has been received from the French Seed and Nursery 

 Company, 13 Clive Row, Calcutta, India. A large number 

 of grafted mangoes, litchi grafts, lime ami lemon and orange 

 grafts, as well as many novelties are listed together with 

 prices. The publication slnnld prove interesting to otl'n , , - 

 , charge of Botanic Gardens in the West [ndiee 



A statement frppears in the Vote i S< Lucia fpi 

 Augustl4, to the effect thai Union estate where lately the 

 i was situate.!, will lie utilized as S( 

 ivailable' for the purposes of an industrial school. 

 It appears that there is some necessity for such an 

 in St. ] if rl is established provision should be made 



for tip gricultural as well as industrial subjects. 



A valuable i ih on the distribution in tropical 



North America of species of Panicum has been received from 

 the Smithsonian Institution al Washit The senioi 



anther is Mr. A. S ; Hitchcock, who is rendering valuabli 

 assistance at the present time in regard to the identic 

 oi grasses collected in the West Indies. The publication 

 under review gives the distribution of the species in the 

 different West Indian islands. 



The following articles published by this Departn 

 are listed in recent issues of Tin Board oj Tradt Journal as 



likely to lie useful for reference commercially: Agricultural 

 Industrie- , | Montserrat I West In Jinn Bulletin), Sugar-cane 

 Cultivation in the Leeward Islands (Agricultural News), 

 Citrus Cultivation 'iii the Philippines {Agricultural Ne\ s), 

 and fishing Industry in the British West Indies (Editorial, 

 A'n {cultural News). 



In discussing the improvement of native cattle in 

 Jamaica, the Director of Agriculture states that the pure 

 bred .Mysore-, aic the hardiest, staunchest and most reliable 



draft animals yet tested in the island. Fresh hi 1 from the 



herds in Mysore is now desirable in order to maintain the' 

 highest standard of breed in Jamaica, although experts from 

 India have recorded their opinion that there are finer 

 specimens of the Mysore to be seen in Jamaica than in India 

 itself. 



The control of weeds, according to Farmers' Bulletin 

 No. 660 (United States Department of Agriculture), depends 

 largely upon the observance of three main principles: 



(1) preventing weeds from growing to seed on the estate, 



(2) preventing the introduction of weed seeds, (.3) prevent- 

 ing perennial weeds from making top growth. The entrance 

 of weed seed, particularly that carried by wind, can be 

 prevented very often by the establishment of protecting 

 hedges. 



According to a communication from a Javan Experiment 

 Station, translated and published in the Louisiana Planter, 

 the movement described as taking place i,, the stomata of 

 grasses is impossible in the case of sugarcane leaf-pores. The 

 cells can vary their distance in a very small degree by 

 changing their position between the surrounding epidermis 

 cells, but the position and structure of the accessory cells 

 make it possible to change the length of the slit in the 

 vertical direction. 



In continuation of previous cultural experiments with 

 onions, the Experiment Station Record (Vol. X XXIII, No, 1> 

 gives the result- of fertilizer tests conducted with Bermuda 

 and Denia onions for three seasons. Concise directions are 

 also given for growing onions by the transplanting method, 

 which ha- been found to be the best and most economical, 

 The fertilizer tests with onions have shown in general the- 

 value of fertilizers, and especially of nitrate of soda, in 

 increasing the yields. 



