Vol. XIV. No. 340. 



THE AGKICULTUKAL NEWS 



151 



TRADE AND AGRICULTURE OF JAMAICA. 



The Report on the Blue B Inn. lira for th 



1913-14 is issued as a supplement to tli>' Ja ; < "• 



of January 28, L915. From this, the following interesting 



m ition as regards the 1 1 A the 



i J ,].iu\ during the period re\ h 



The total e 



!0;207. Of this sum. i! irtion attributable to 



island produce was £2,216,211, gains! £2,572,275 in 



1912, or .i decrease of £356,064 This decrease in the 



of island prod , pared with 19 1 3 is 

 made up principally of bananas, £252,95] o, £25,095; 

 coffee, £16,152 £1 1,400; honey, £3, j iins, 



S; log« ! £5,240. The growth oi 



export trade of the Colony in the fort] 1872, 



given in periods ol ten years, is show 



1873 year en ling September 30 £1,22 >,01 1 



1883 „ „ ~ „ „ 1,469,446 



1S93 „ „ Manh:;i 1,759,806 



! „ „ .. ,. 2,29 



1913 .. „ *i 3] 2,430,207 



In this connexion figures also are given showing the 

 trend of trade; the markets accepting the island's exports in 



each of the years specified, and the percentages falling to 

 each, being as follows: — 



ls7:i. 1883. L893. 1903. L913. 



7 7 



United Kingdom 51-5 54-5 29-1 19 17-5 



United States 8"4 19 8 54'3 68'0 '>, 4 



Canada 3 L6"7 2'6 :M 37 



Other Countries 9*8 9-0 140 10-6 _' 1 t 



Turning to agriculture it is found that the acreage 

 in 1912-13, grouped under the four principal 

 nid sei against an if four 



ibits the following: — 



1913-14. 1912-13. 1911-12. Average 



'it four 



Acres. 



Acres 



Acres. 



years. 



Acres. 



Tilled lands 264,656 267,276 280,286 270,058 



rasa 153,718 152,527 143,592 144,144 



Commi 521,754 502,830 517,830 507,242 



W 1 ,v rumate 1,730,120 1,222,699 1,230,001 1,232,024 



Total 2,113,248 2,1 15,332 2,171,709 2,153,468 



\- compared with 1911-12 the tilled lands show a 



e of 13,010, acres in 1912 13 and 2,620 in 1913 1 I, 



and the commons and Guinea grass net increa A 3,924 



and 9,126 acres, respectively. Thus the droughts have 



d in a restriction of cultivation and an incn 

 grazing. A classification of the tilled lauds as far as possible 

 under description of cultivation shows the crops and areas 

 for 1913-14 were as follows: sugar-cane, 31,160 acres; 

 20,023 acres; coco-nuts, 19,995; bananas, S5,468; 

 cacao, 10,849 ground provisioi 61,834; mixed culti 

 vation, 31,238; minor items, 1,129 Compared with those 



for 1911-12 and with an ;> of four years ' 



given in the report,) the figures show thai the 



cultivation oi bananas, coco-nul and minor items is 



increasing at the expense of -ill other staples, and th. 



try are rapidlj abandoning the production of native 

 uffs. The general increa i tilled lands within the 

 ortj years is said to havi been very considerable, 



having risen from 123,428 acres 1873-74 to 264,656 in 



1913 II; while the pastoral industry has il 

 progress, the numl Guii 



• -.I from 1 19,6 i2 to 153,7 1 8, and it i 



312,693 to 521,754 in tl suit of this 



dustry o is that the 



exports have increa ally 100 pei cent. 



The work of | eve progn I 



: the year, and the appointment oi - sj I field 



; \ out the treatment of diseasei 

 under the I liseases c Lai I 



tlture to maintain n close supervision of the at 

 e had been found I' 1 .. ■ I 

 been controlled by the drastic measures win i I 



out by the Department, and only a few sporadic ire 



id in hav i unci during the ; I 



sites where it was first discovered in January 1912. 

 break of the disease how rred in an isolated 



Hanover and was dealt with dun S -iking 



generally, the Colony it is added ma atulated 



health and promise of its ban un j 



moment. 



It i rei Mie work of plant distribution has 



recem ' ed by the establ 



in Portland, St. Thomas, Clarendon, and St.James, 

 direction of the Agricultural Instructors of the Jamaica 

 Agricultural Society. 



The Rearing of Poultry on Coco-nut 

 Estates. — An interesting article in l'i <pical Lift fot March 

 1915 advocates the rearing of poultry oi 



The bulk of these being near the sea 



distinct advantages as centres for the retiring of poultry, 



namely, the means they offer to give the birds the class of 



g Is they require: ( I ) given food: ('-') animal food: (3) e i, 



i.e., maize as well as . I) grit I shell The 



around as well as some green-meal [does, 



etc., yield the first class, whilst in- than 



ogether with any animals that it is not des 

 to e.it, give the second; class three speak- for itself, and 

 four can generally be secured at an insignificant i 

 several points around, especially if there i- white coral in the 

 soil. 



Poultry, especially in the Tropics, need shelters to pr ■' 



them from rain, sun and wind, also as a receptacle in which 

 to lay. These, it is suggested, could i idly be providi 

 the use of wire netting fastened from tree to tree, and I 



be moved from one plot of ground to often a.s is 



low the land to I"' plough, -d up as i i 

 as the birds have been > i\ to co 



their droppings, and secondly to enable a green 

 crop to he planted before the birds are brought 

 Emphasis is laid on the undesirability of placing shelters 

 very far afield from the house of the keeper. If lots 

 of 5 acres were utilized at a time, that is supposing 



a wire fencing is 'i id, this by means of the 



nut palms could be partitioned off into ten or I 

 lots of .', or J act ued. The quantity of manure 



dropped l>y poultry is quite a valuable item. The Board 

 of Agriculture leafllet (quoted in the article) calculates the 

 total output of moist manure per 100 birds in twelve months 

 and value,, it at Is. Id. per bird per year, whilst tl 



Agriculture, Victoria, Australia (November L0, 1914) 

 estimates that 190 birds would deposit 1 ton of manure 

 annually. It would bi interesting, therefore, to coi 



the value per bird with the value per tree on 



estate. 



