Vol. XIV. No. 350. 



TMK AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



319 



■ There are two Fungi 



■ and with - i much i ■ as to 



them to parasites. The first 



se is a species ol i -■■ fructifii 



are found everj w here in . , . . ■ \ isited on dead 



or dj ' twigs, [t closel; ibles the wil I 



fungus of American writers on 



bul has 1101 I to cause any such 



and frui fled for th 



A case has been :: 



little r i for doubt thai gus can under some 



circumstances bring about the death of twigs and 

 branches. 1 have not seen anj indication of its presence on 

 branches. 

 •( in such diseased main as were examined 



in Montserrat, the fungu d ip to the ;in 



itly healthy w I and i lurk 



.< Di dia, which appears to I tlie same as the well- 

 known cacao fungus. In th< > cao it is associated 



with the die-back that irs on tree: in exposed situations, 



usually in circumstances which make it difficult to decide 

 whether the die-back has attracted angus, or the fu 



• I the die-back. Th [opinion, to which 1 



myself adhereaftera period of doubt, is that ita;tsasa para- 

 site on trees weakened by unfavourable conditions. It may 

 ii -ry well be found to have a similai position in respect of 

 lime trees.' 



W.N. 



AGRICULTURE IN JAMAICA. 



A g 1 average crop <■! wffee was reaped during the year, 



but owing to the low pri due of the exported coffee 



was only £166,000 or a reduction of £100,000 on the crop, 

 as compared with values ruling in 1912, when we had a 



record year fiir this staple under modert nditions of com 



petition. 



Immediately after the outbreak of the war, coffee was 

 almost unsaleable. There is now a good demand at very 

 fair prices, our trouble being that of shipping facilities. 



A record year has been established for cacao in the lisl ol 

 our exports. It is now evident that the Government were 

 wise in giving especial encouragement to this industry. The 

 340,000 cacao plants distributed free to small holders during 

 the past three years through the various nurseries, should 

 serve to extend the industry to some practical purpose in the 

 near future. The importance of sanitation in the established 

 plantations is also receiving general recognition and unpro- 

 ductive trees have been brought into good bearing by simple 

 field measures. 



The cacao plots at Hope show marked improvement 

 under the new management and a good crop was reaped. 



The budding of 'Criollo' on Fbrastero seedlings has been 

 found to be very disadvantageous as the former variety is 

 far less fruitful and vigorous. A fine strain of Red Forastero 

 seedlings has been secured from selected pods kindly supplied 

 from Rose Hall estate by the Hon. 1 lugald Campbell for 

 our purposes at the Hope Nursery. 



A plantation of these seedlings showed a high average 

 quality and some of the trees are of remarkable vigour and 

 yield large crops of fine, large red pods. 



The Microbiologist has done a good deal of research 

 work on the diseases of cacao during the year and has made 

 useful suggestions to planters with regard to the treatment 

 ■of unhealthy trees. 



The million 



in 1911 « by the 



i iddle of i 



The output wa i |j I 6 | mill although 



uirly . ...us , 



in our records of tin ["hi 



indusl i I. Price ry low, the 



he size and quality of the early 



fruit and 1915 will bi for the <■ 

 industrj . 



can be expected n ith confid 



although war conditio present depression. 



(Annual Report I Agriculture, 

 lica, for the 3 March 31, 191 5 



THE RESULTS OF PLANTING SMOOTH 

 COTTON SEED. 



On ' s XIII of this Journal the result? 



given of an umber ol 



Island cotton seed in n peel of I be presence oi 

 fuzziness on the seed coat. The prevalence if seeds quite 

 free from fuzz was small in all cases. The maximum, 

 reached only in St. Vincent samples, was .". per cent., the 

 remainder having only I per cent, or less. 



The question having bi ; whether the operation 



of sorting out these seeds for rejection as usually pr; 

 is a useful one, the smooth seeds obtained in the analysis 

 mentioned above were forwarded by the Commissioner of 

 Agriculture to Mr. K. I!. Shepherd, Agricultural Superin 

 tendent in St. Kitts. with a requesl that plants be 

 from them and examined. 



Mr. Shepherd's report is now to hand. The plants .. 

 grown out of season and under difficulties arising from leaf- 

 blister mite and cotton stainers. Seventeen survived to a stage 

 which permitted of the picking of seed-cotton for examination 

 to an amount of some ] to 5 oz. per plant. 



It was not possible to detect much difference in the 

 individual plants, that is to say. none would have attracted 

 attention as rogues in the field. All would h 

 picked in the ordinary a nurse. 



The following table gives the results of the ex imination 

 made by Mr. Shepherd: — 



Thus out of seventeen plants only three produced cotton 

 with desirable qualities. It appears, therefore, that the 

 policy of rejecting smooth seeds is a sound one. 



The existence of plants with all their seeds smooth, and 

 the varying proportions of smooth seeds in the remainder, 

 suggest that a further analysis might give interesting results. 



It is hoped to raise progeny rows from some of these 

 plants for the purpose 01 testing the inheritance further. 



