

THE AGKlClL'lTllAL NEWS. 



N"\ EMBER 6, 1915. 



DOWN THE ISLANDS. 



ITEMS OF LOCAL INTEREST. 



-i viNCEKT. Th ri ultura) S i dent I .Mr. 



"W. tf. Sam ! ing Septeml i i be 



made a toui i in the I ] ■ bile the 



Assistant Sup the Windward District to 



inve ■ itton and and d [n 1 



to education, two furtl s were held with the 



- Itural 



teaching in the primarj londarj schools. The scie 



i the Grammar School. Turning 



to the subject of staple crop p ported that the general 



condition was fair. 'I good deal of boll 



of cotton 1 1 i "'is, 



and the mgulai leaf spot di ha also done soi lamage. 



Taken as a whole, the season so far, has not been unfavourabe 

 for crops in most districts. The Work with pests anddiseases 

 has been illy continued 'bj the Department, as will 



be seen by referring to [nsecl Notes in this issue of the 

 Agricultural N-ws. On September 7 a visit was paid to 

 St. Vincent by the Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture, 

 win i inspected the Botanic and Experiment Stations and 

 Government Cotton Ginnery, and discussed with the 

 Administrator and Agricultural Superintendent, matters 

 connected with corn, cotton and other industries of the 

 colony. Dr. Watts is expected to paj another visil to 

 St Vincent in I tecember. 



dominica. Mr. Jo i ph Jones (the Curator and Agricul- 

 tural Superintendent) writes to the effect that the present 

 year's lime crop is not likely to be as big as that of last year. 

 Progress in relation to the lime industrj is to be seen in the 

 erection of four new steam concentrating plants, which are 

 now working satisfactorily. A trial run by one of these 

 indicated that the loss of acid when concentrating to a test 



of I 1" tn I 150Z. per gallon is n(ft more than 2 to •'! per cent., 



which confirms what has already been den strated at the 



Government Lime Juice Factory in St. Lucia. During the 

 month, a large number of estates were visited in connexion 

 with the recent storm. An account of the observations made 

 On this tour will be found on another page in this issue. Work 

 in the nurseries during September consisted in lifting and 

 delivering plants, potting, transplanting, budding, sowing 

 seeds, ami spraying. In the lime experiment station as 

 well as in the cacao station, the picking and recording of the 

 crop was carried on. The rainfall for the month of Septem 

 ber was 1 1 "36 inches. Then was a gale of considerable 

 severity on September 22, but by no means as severe as the 

 hurricane of August 10. A considerible amount of fruit has 

 been shipped to England for the use of wounded soldiers in 

 the different hospitals. 



montsebbat. Mr. Robsori, the- Curator, of the Botanic 

 Station, refers in a recent communication to the new papaw 

 experiment plot containing eighty plants of the self fertilizing 

 Eawaiian type. Experiments are in progress with a view 

 to controlling the 'damping off disi i ion which has 



occasioned some trouble. In regard to cotton, Mr. Bobson 



thinks that the continued g I weather will ensures crop 



ibove the average. Thi selection of cotton continues to 

 take up a good deal oi time, but it i believed that ultim- 

 |j a finer type ol cottoi < 11 bi produced in the island 

 than at present. The cultivation of ground nuts has 

 attracted the attention of planters, and it seems possible 

 exporl trade with Canada in the Virginia Running 

 type, valued at 7i per lb. may be established. During 

 September, three i ified their ling 



foi i\ examination in I'r.. 



lucfc I bj the Imperial Department of Agriculture. 



During the nth the weather was showery, but did not 



interfere with cotton" pit ! j extent. 



vxtigua. A i Mr. J. ■!." kson the cane 



continues to improve, though in s pis - rain is required. 



The germination of thi ion seed has 



been go i i have lost fairly large quantil 



of seedlings bj 'damping oft". During September the I roveni- 

 ment granary was workii 36,000 Bb. of com was 



!. The corn dried lb., while 



5,824 Hi. were sold. The new corn meal maker was erected. 



It is noted that two mi i the [ns n tte 



neral meeting of the Agricultural and Commercial 



Society w 'i held during the month. Fairly g 1 weather 



has 1m i ienced 



nevis. In the Experiment Station Mr. \V. Howell 

 states that the growth of Lima beans has been satisfactory, 



that plots wereprepared for onions and [ndian corn. 

 i tbservations relating to staple crops -how that the cane crop 

 is promising, while the returns from cotton are said to be 

 very poor. The reduced yields are to some extent the result 



of rough weathei I in August. The rainfall for 



the month was I 71 inches at the Botanic Station. 



viegin islands. The Experiment Station at Tortola 

 continues to be the scene of considerable activity though 

 some of the experiment plots have suffered on account of 

 the continued dry weather. Writing at the end of 

 September, Mr. G. A. Gomes refers to the efforts being made 

 to raise onion seedlings as speedily as possible. During the 

 month 225 barrels of limes were received and the ju 

 concentrated, and I'd bales of cotton were shipped to England. 

 The prospects for this last named crop have, it is stated, 

 become worse, and it is difficult to say whether the receipt 

 of rains can ever save the situation now. In the cane fields, 

 also because of dry weather, the plants are showing signs of 

 wilting. The young coconut fields have withstood the dry 

 months satisfactorily. Amongst the meetings of agricultural 

 interest was a large gathering in connexion with inaugurating 

 an Onion Growers' Association, which has since been finally 

 established, as reported in the last issue of the Agricultural 



fft U s 



It is recorded in Nature for September 30. 1915, that 

 the results of the measurements of the deviation of the 

 magnetic compass from true north mule on the magnetic 

 survey ship 'Carnegie', during lur voyage from Brooklyn to 

 Honolulu via the Panama (and. show that iii the nieghbour- 

 hood of the passage between Dominica and Porto Bico, the 

 present British Admiralty Chart give- the westerly deviation 

 more than a degree too small. This should be of importance 

 to navigators in these waters. 



The fanning train is now a regular feature oi agricul- 

 tural demonstration work in Canada and the United Slates. 

 It is stated iii the Agricultural Gazette of Canada 

 (September 1915) that this year both the Canadian Pacific 

 ami North. in Railways provided trains for the use 

 of the Department of Agriculture. The trains con- 

 sisted of section- devoted to live-stock, crop production, 

 and household science. In connexion with the ! 

 a class of women Students is Carried on the train, and ill 

 cases where there is a family to he looked after, the children 

 are also conveye I on the train and carefully attended to and 



entertained in a special nursery, while their mothers em 



lectures and demonstrations. 



