THE AGRICULTUBAL NEWS. 



FKBR1 ' m:v 13, 1915. 



FRUIT AND FRUIT TREES. 



CACAO PROHIBITION 

 PRICES.' 



EFFECT ON 



At the closing auctions 01 1914, in London, prices 

 cacao were ruling high. The intention to resume sales i 

 January 5 was frustrated bj the inability oi the docks 

 wharves to unload steamers, and itwas consequently impos 

 sible to gel samples up in time. 



Writing under date ol January 12, 1915, Messrs. 

 Gillespie Bros. & Co. state: 



'For some weeks the chief strength of the market has lain 

 in the demand for export to neutral European countries: 

 but on the 7th inst. the Government prohibited the export 

 to any country on the Continent excepting France, ftus 

 3 in, Portugal, md to some specified Mediterranean ports. 

 Naturally the effect upon the market vas verj depressing, 

 business being practically broughl to standstiU. 



Interest in the supplies offered at auction to-day (when 

 5,545 bags were catalogued) was also seriouslj affected, and 

 fine Grenada opened at I 0*. decline, two fine marks selling 

 at 66s. As importers generally were disinclined to accept 



so great a reducti almost the whole of the catalogues were 



retired. Subsequently some parcels of fine Grenada were 

 sold at 68*., and this may be considered to-day's value 

 Common West Indian may be called 5s. lower: we value 

 ordinary Jamaica at 63*. per cwt; some plantation Trinidad 

 sold at 70*. 



'Accra has fluctuated considerably in Liverpool, fair- 

 fermented dropping to 18*. I Dec. Jan. shipment), but recover 

 ing afterwards to 52*. 



'Superior Bahia is being pressed for sale in Liverpool at 

 very 1"\\ prices.' 



BOARD OF Ti: VDE n I ES (RAW) FOE 12 U03TH8. 



Imports. B.C. «fe Export. Stock31Dec. 



in order b planter may decide what is th 



answei to the vital question 'Does it pay ' It is necess 

 to know the ci idded plants on a considerable 



scale, the seas 'hid to bud, the habit of budded ti 



the best planting distance for budded trees, their power of 

 resistance, _ which they come into bearing, exten 



which ill' i ■ ■ I i istics of the parent tree, and 



the yeild of buddei rees mipared with ordina igs. 



Before | teeding to describe the special experiments 



laid down, the writer puts forward a few facts in connexion 

 with the operation of budding. For instance, it is sta I 



that bud « I when covered up with earth, remains in 



perfectlj good condition for work on the next day. It 



is pointed OUt, also, that it is an advantage to he able to luiil 



in the nursery, where the plants remain, demanding only 

 ordinary nurserj treatment, until thoroughly established. 



This circumstance is: compared with the difficult ] 



entailed in grafting I >y approach on the plantation. 



Coining to the essential part of tin- article, the plots 

 which have been arranged for this experiment ol comparison 



are as follows; — 



1914 12,211 tons 10,733 



1913 34,983 „ 33,938 



11,154 

 9,875 



CACAO BUDDING IN ESTATE PRACTICE. 

 h has been demonstrated at more than one Agricultural 



Experiment Station in the West ladies, and in other part- of 

 the Tropics a> well, that the actual operation of budding cai 



can be carried out with every reasonable hope of success. 



The fact that budding as an art has been satisfactorily a n 



plished is ot much interest, but it will be of no practical 

 benefit to the planter until experiments have been made to 

 find out whether it is more profitable in the long run to 

 establish estates with budded cacao rather than with seedlings. 

 oman article by Mr. W. G. Freeman, B.Sc, which 

 appears in tic Bv the Department 01 Af/rkulture, 



Trinidad and Tobago ' v. m bei December 191 I), it 

 that such experiments are now being m n in Trinidad. 



The writer points out first the data which must be available 



* \„ u . go to pics-, Messrs. Gillespie Bros. A Co.'s report 

 ,\. iU . ,i .., 27. L916, comes to hand, in which it is stated 

 ,l l;lt iic t. ne of the market, in -|ctc of the prohibition, has 

 shown a gradual improvement, the prices for West Em 

 supplies showing a recovcrj ot I -. to 2». per cwt Readi swill 

 have noted that this improvenu nt has been maintained from 

 cabled quotations during the . iisi fortnight. 



ordinary sh a DK. A. One acre of cacao budded at -take. 

 B. ( (ne acre of cacao budded in nursery. 



( '. ( me acre ol cacao seedlings. 



1). < )ne acre of cacao grafted. 

 No PERMANENT SHADE. E. One acre of cacao budded 



at stake. 



I' i me acre oi cacao seedlings. 



The planting distance throughout i- 12 feet by 12 feet. 



In order I eke tin- results a real test of the value 



oi budded oi grafted plant , compared with seedlings, ii is 

 necessary that the buds and grafts should be taken from he 

 same trees as those which supply- the seeds. Accordingly, 

 a large number (twenty-nine) of Forastero tree- have been 

 si lei ted on account of their bearing capacity over a period of 



four years, and the character of their cacao. A corresponding 



el has been ael ■ ted fort he I ila lacill st «ks. 



Tic stock plants raised on plots A. Band E, will be 

 budded or grafted next year from the same Forastero trees 

 which supplied the seed for the seedling plots, and in the 

 same proportion. It will be understood that seed from the 

 whole of the selected trees is distributed uniformly thi 

 the plots. The results will, therefore, be thoroughly 

 parable, foi seedling budded and grafted plants, all of exactly 

 the sain, age, ind all derived from exactly the same known 

 trees, will ultimate^ be grown g side bj 3ide under similar 



condition-. 



It will be seen from this brief outline oi periments, 



that the results in a few years, on account ol the i siderable 



scale of the work in hand, should provide valuable infori 



G i ai. planter-. 



The .' employment ol explosives in agriculture 



has necessitated the introducti f spe I gislation in 



\eu South Wale- It is stated in the Agricultural Gazette 

 of tha ib 1914), that under the Act, any 



. is entitled to keep explosives, such as gelignite, 

 cheddite, together with detonators, up to a total 

 25 !h. I'.. i .. n \ quantity in excess of this am. .net, a 

 magazine is necessary. The construction of such a i 

 is described in the article under consideration. 



