Vol. XIV. No. 354. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS 



181 



ft£Po7?/$y 



GRENADA: REPORT ON THE AGRICULTURAL 

 DEPARTMENT, 1914 to. 



Under cover of this publication ippear the general 



adminstration report of Mr. J. < '. \l e, die Superinti i 



of the Department, a report by the sal fficer on the 



Botanic Gardens, and special reports on Land Si 



and Agricultural. Instruction, compiled by the Agricultural 



Instructor, are also included. 



Owing to staff changes, the greater part ofthe infor- 

 mation put forward has been collected from such records 

 as hare been filed in the office. The reports therefore 

 to some extent lack continuity and freshness, which 

 in the following year will no doubt be remedied 

 as a resull of the fuller treatment of matters but 

 briefly referred to in the present publication, and by the 

 introduction of information concerning new lines ofactivity 

 that have been recently introduced. 



It will be noted with satisfaction that in spite of i- 



siderable disorganization, the useful work in the nurseries 

 has been i 'I. Plant distribution, on the whole, 



compares favourably with that of previous years, and their 



are indications that the de id for lime 'and coco-nut plants 



is increasing. The report which appeared in last year's 

 edition of the present publication on chemical work is absent 

 in the present publication, Arrangements are being made 



however, to appoint an agricultural chemist, and as - i 



as this ha- been effected, the useful work started bj 

 Mr. Auchinleck will be continued. 



In connexion with plant pests and disca-os, reference 

 is made to the valuable results which accrued from the visit 

 to Grenada by the Entomologist an. I Mycologist of the 

 Imperial Department in February 1915. A condensed 

 account, of the information obtained on these visits appi 

 in the Agricultural News (Vol. \1V, pp. .".It and 330) 

 under Insect Notes, and Plant Diseases, respectively. 



The report on Land Settlement in the present publica- 

 tion shows that ih.' older settlen satisfactorily 



occupied and that the year's crops were good. Reference is 

 made to the new St. Cyr .Mountain settlement, and to iinpor 

 tant road improvements that have been effected. For several 

 years considerable energy lias been displayed in connexion 

 with the Grenada Prize-Holdings Competition. Such a 

 competition was again held this year, ami it appears from 

 the report that many of the holdings, which are owned by 

 the peasant.-, show very satisfactory signs of improvement. 



In connexion with progress in the chief industries it is 

 stated that the season of L914was not a favourable on.- in 

 Grenada for cacao. High winds and dry weather during the 

 first six months resulted in a reduction of the 1913-1 ( crop, 

 which was 65,510 bags, and delayed tie- flowering for tl 

 •of 1914-15. It is satisfactory to not.- the great pi 



that is b.-ing made in n nut cultivate n. for will 



oi land are -nil available, and it is w 

 in- increase has occurred in the - I inder 



i- ii ci 'I here nv indications that in the o< 



■ he cultivat ton ol limes m i in industi 



importance in < Irenada, bul W i o 



ceming which more \yall be written in next year 



VARIETIES OF SOUR GRASS. 



There has been some occasion for suspecting that the 

 Forms of sour grass known botanically under the name of 



pogon pntusus, Willd., occurring in Barbados, \ 

 and Nevis, may not be identical. For example, the Antigua 



is known to be more aromatic and less lik 



cattle than is the ca-e with that of Barbados. On account 



of th tonomic importance of the matter apart from its 



botanical interest sets oi specimens of these three kinds 



of grass were caused to be collected by the Commissioner 



;riculture, and forwarded by him to the Royal B 

 Gardens, Kew, for the purpose of having it definitely 



ascertained whether they are pecifica ' tl or not. 



A letter lias now been received from Kew in answei to 

 the enquiry. In this it is stated that the specimens have 

 been examined, and that no morphological differences can be 

 found to distinguish them from each other. It is pointed 

 ■ •in that the amount cf aromatic oil is known to vary in other 

 specie- of Andropogoneae without the variation being accom- 

 panied by morphological differentiation, and this may 

 the case in A. pertusus. Whether such variations rep' 

 stable physiological race-, ..r are merely fluctuations, due 

 perhaps to conditions of habitat, is not known. [n order to 

 arrive at a decision, it, would be necessary to unde 

 a -eric- of experiments in the field and laboratory. 



A Continuous Press. — Messrs. Toulouse & Delo 

 rieux, of San Francisco, CaL, have supplied this Office with 

 information in regard to presses manufactured by them for 

 extracting juice from pine-apples and other fruits. The 



machines are interesting. The general principle is that well 

 known in the case of the domestic mincing machine, and is 

 to be seen in the oil expeller now working in St. Vincent 

 with cotton seed. It appears, however, from the makers' 

 catalogue, that the presses they manufacture are larger than 

 anything likely to be required in the West Indies. It may 

 be added that this type of machine is used principally in the 

 wine industry for extracting the juice from grapes. 



Vanilla Supports in St. Vincent. — In the 

 Agricultural News, Vol. XIV, No. 352, it was sugg I 

 that trials with Madura (Gliricidia maculata) might be under- 

 taken to ascertain if live posts of this plant could be used 

 as supports for vanilla. It appears that this has already been 



tried, and with success, by Mr. W. X. Sands, Agricultural 

 Superintendent in St. Vincent. Vanilla has grown well on 

 Madura in St. Vincent, and some caii be -ecu o the present 

 time fruiting freely. 



