Vol. XIV. No. 352. 



THE AOTtlCULTniAL NEWS. 



331 



\ •, •,,,,!'■ | for S 



iss is being made both in St. Lucia and Si N 



'i of 1 k worm 



disease. Eouse-to-house ag made and sanitary 



latrines are beii 



si lucia. From this colony Mr. A. J. Brooks writes 

 to say that during September the pi' king of cacao and limes 

 was in operation while the rtce ol the cane crop was 



ictory. Special work on the pari of officers oi the 

 Department consisted in the surveying and laving oul of the 

 Choiseul village extension, ai >ut bonuses to 



vendors of the limejuice factory. In connexion with the 



latter, 24 casks of concentrated rboys ol 



distilled oil were shipped during the month. The advi or; 

 committee appointed bj the Administrator in connexion with 

 the limejuice factory had its first mi eting at the Treasury on 



ember 20. 



The rainfall for the month it the Botanic Gardens 

 Castries, was ll"87 inches; rain fell on twenty-six days. 

 At the Agricultural and Botanic Station, Choiseul, 6 - 51 

 inches were received, which fell on fifteen days. 



The distribution of plants continues actively as usual. 



The following are the figures recorded for September: limes 



2,011: oranges (budded) 36; i ii< 200; decorative, 36, 



giving a total "1 2,283. A i siderable quantity of 



eed was also distributed. 



st. kins. Mr. F. R. Shepherd informs this Office thai 

 the chief work during September at the Experiment Station 

 consisted in the picking of cotton from the selection and 

 manurial experiment plots. The returns are, so far, excellent 

 both in quantity and quality. Owing to the seasonable 

 weather, th crop throughout the island has made 



great progress, and there is every prospect of a large 

 crop for next season. The canes are healthy and growing 

 vigorously. The only sign of anj disease is in the case of 1!. 208, 

 which on some estates is attacked by root fungus (Marasmius 



"/): but this variety is being gradually discarded. 

 The estate cotton is being reaped, but there will not be 

 so good a return as was at fir ted on account of the 



ni rains and high winds. In the Valley district the 

 yields will no doubt be fair, but in the northern districts 

 returns will be below the average. A meeting of the Agricul 

 tural and I d - i. was held on September 7, 



when the results of the reaping of the sugar-cane varieties 

 were laid before the meeting bj the Agricultural Superintend- 

 ent. The rainfall for the month at Basseterre was t*39 

 inches; the total precipitation so far for the year is 39"98 

 inches at Basseterre, and ii0'90 inch m the northern districts. 

 The following is a summary of the work conducted at the 

 Government Laboratory by Mr. II. Waterland, the Chemical 



Assistant: Direct polarization ol igar fr Central factory; 



physical analysis of soil; determination of organic carbon in 



soil; determination of nitrogen in si II; analysis of one sample 



if cane tops; estimation of water, protein, and fat in sample 



e tops; analysis of three samples of mill; sent by' the 



i 'I i't Pi lice and analyst i hn e samples of milk from 



the 3ub [nsj tor of Police in Nevis. 



dominica. His Excellency the Governor has been 



pleased to appoint provisionally, pending the signification ol 



His Majesty's pleasure, J >r. II. A. A. Nicholls, C.M.G., to be 



iiber of the Executive Council of the Presidency. 



rding to the Dominica CkronicL for Saturday September 



25, the weather was verj unpleasant on the previous Wi 



lay, when there were frequent south-westerly squalls with 



y sho«e,- lit On Tuesday night 



the baromi 1 to 29*78, n Wednesday it was stil 



Is to its 

 d point. I i r waa 



to be linked with 



: 



'Some indications of disturbance iminedi 



■ .lea.' The rainfall registered at the Botanic Gardens 

 for t he two nber 2 L and ■ lies. 



A no ■ ing in the I )ominii i 



calls attenl ton green 



limes In New V.iik al about 



shipments should 



that the same care should be bestowed upon packing and 

 ng as is done in i bi neighb >ui tng i land of St. Lucia. 



AFRICAN AGRICULTURE. 



The following particulars in connexion with agriculture 

 in Africa are ab matic and Consular Re- 



ports — No. 5423, Annual Series; and 



Nos. 821,825, 840, and 843. The total value of ground nuts 

 exported from French West Africa in 1914 \ i9 91,540 



francs or £2,395,661. With regard to the yield of ground 



nuts it is not easy to obtain reliable infi irniat ion upon the 

 subject from native cultivators. Th might be from 



S00 to 1,000 kilos, per hectare. The research station at 

 M'Hambey, whi built for the purpose of carrying on 



a scientific study of tin- cultivation of the ground nut plant, 

 should, it is believed, in a few years, be able to give 

 valuable adviee and information upon thesubj 



Two experimental plantations were opened during 1913, 

 one at Maigana near /.aria in the drier portion of the Protec 

 torate of Nigeria to the north, and the other at Aguji, some 

 30 miles east of Ilorin, in the more humid climate of the 

 Niger valley, some 200 miles further south. The object of 

 both these farms was primarily to test the suitability of the 



respective pistricts for cotton growing. In addition ti ■ 



however, a number of other crops were also under experiment 

 including green and leguminous crops of various kinds, ground 

 nuts, maize, and fodder crops. A special point was made it 

 both these plantations of the training of native instructors or 

 overseers, with a view to placing them in charge of trial plots 

 in out-districts, and other agricultural work. A comparative 

 statement, compiled 1>\ the Comptroller of Customs, of the 

 quantities and values of taose agricultural exports of Nigeria 

 which are of principal interest to the Northern Provinces, 

 shows that there was a remarkable increase in the export of 

 ground nuts during the year. Shea nuts also show a very 



ictory increase. I'i i slight rise in export of cotton from 

 Northern Nigeri i « is principally due to the greatly inci i 

 output of the Ilorin Province; it is mi that in the 



majority of districts t he popularity oi cotton cultivation is on 

 the wane, its place being taken by ground nuts and ! 

 corn, which prove to be re paying crops. 



As the export of cotton for both the Nigerias is 



included by the cust s in one return, it is not possible to 



state the proportion which can be credited properly to either 

 the northern or the southern Protectorate, and the fj 

 given in this connexi n for the whole of Nigeria. The 



total average export i lint and cotton seed for the 



past five years has been is follows: cotton lint 36,578 cwt. 

 value £102,168; co id 3,766 tons value £9,163. The 



average export of cacao for a similar period wa '. 130 1 IT lb. 

 value £125,150. 



