98 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



March 27 



1915. 



tree was brought tV.au it- native home in Java) < Japtain 

 Bligh's first attempt failed owing to the mutiny of his 



;rew, but the sec i voyage was successful, and in 



January I7!i:i, he landed 153 plants in St \ incent 

 whence the species has spread int< > most parts of 

 tropica] America. 



An even more familar tree is the coco-nut palm. 

 Bui this ;ilso is an I ough it may now be 



yarded as growing wild inmost parts ofthe West 

 Indies. The original home of the coco-nut was believed 

 by de Candolle to be tb [ndian Archipelago. There 

 an be no doubt that it was established on the con- 

 tinent of America long before it found its way to the 

 West Indies. In connexion with this, the attention of 

 the read. a- may be called to the United Stat s' theory 

 iif the Central American origin of the coco-nut. This 

 is supported 1>\ Willis, and is probably the correct origin. 



We might continue to an almost unlimited extent, 

 mples of exotic plants in the West Indies. 

 Amongst ibles, the yam and sweet potato are 



South American, and several important fruits like the 

 banana and the lime same from Asia. As a matter of 

 fact if one considers the geological age of the West 

 Indian islands, which corresponds to the Pliocene of 

 other countries a comparatively recent formation — 

 one realizes how limited has been the time for any 

 evolutionary changes to produce an indigenous Mora. 



To show the extent to which introduced plants may 

 take possession, reference may be made before concluding 

 this section of our subject, to two Barbadian examples. 

 These are the little yellow-flowered plant Wedelia 

 bumpthalmoides, and the well-known Australian tree. 

 Casuarina. The former, it is said, was introduced by 

 a certain lady for her garden: but eventually some 

 ■ seeds escaped, and now this species forms characteristic 

 'carpets', having ousted several older inhabitants in 

 the struggle for existence. Casuarina the tree 

 has been equally successful in adapting itself to 

 Barbadian conditions, and can be found growing in 

 nearly every situation, on the coast as well as inland. 



In a gi neral way the West Indies maj regard 

 with satisfaction, their varied and valuable flora. In 

 India dnrine recenl years there has been a tend, ncj 



to attach less importance to the ml roil net ion of .species. 



In the West, we cannol afford to adopt this attitude, 

 first because of the strictly limited number of indigenous 

 forms, and -.(Mildly, because we have tor so long 

 derived such immense benefit from introduced species. 



Turning to the origin of domestic animals we 

 learn that when the Spaniards firsl came to the 

 Greater Antilles in the tide, nth century, tiny found no 

 horse- and it is recorded that in subsequent voyages 

 thej brought out their own chargei-s. These » 

 tine horses of Aral) blood and may he supposed to be 



iriginal stock of Jamaica horses. Since that time 

 up to tic- present. Iresh introductions have been 

 continuous both from America and Europe, and at 

 present, although .1 - 1 must of all the Eng- 

 lish island-, be regarded as the local stud 

 colon-, has its strain of ponies well adapted to local 

 conditions. 



The cat 1 1. also an- of exot ic origin. Probably the 

 Spaniards or ihe Portuguese are responsible for the 

 jinal importations, but for the last century and 

 a half animals belonging to the different English breeds 

 have also been brought over in large numbers. These 

 have principal^ been pur.- bi ol the 



Hereford, Red Poll, and Jersey breeds. The Zebu 

 breed (Bos vadicus) is a native of India. There exist 

 many of the* indigenous breeds of India Mysores, 

 Gir 1 1 1 — .a i . etc all of which have during recent years 

 been introduced through the enterprise of individual 

 proprietors, and latterly through the enterprise of the 

 Governments tin- the improvement of draft animals. 

 Tin Red Poll — Zebu cross makes an excellent dual- 

 purpose animal. 



From the point of view ..I introduction, the most 

 interesting animal in the West Indies is perhaps the 

 Barbados wool less sheep. It is supposed to be of East 

 African origin, and was certainly introduced before the 

 middle of the seventeenth century. It has since been 

 distributed through most of the islands. This animal 

 produces mutton of good quality and can thrive under 

 conditions which European breeds find themselves j 

 unsuitedfor. At the same time British representatives 

 have from time to time been imported, a satisfactory 



breed for crossing being the Kent or Etomney marsh 

 animal. 



The origin of goats, like that of poultry, is exotic. 

 A recent introduction of interest in connexion with 

 the latter is the high milk-yielding Toggenburg breed 

 of Switzerland. Poultry are represented by several ofl 

 the English breeds, and also 1>\ American teg. Rhode 

 Island Red). The lne.il which seems best adopted 

 naturalh for the West Indies is thi Leghorn, which 

 originated in t he countries ..I t lie Mediterranean. 



Winn w. conic I., consider the origin of ins 

 i and fungoid diseases we tread on rather specul 



