Vol. XIV. No. 348. 



TIIF. AGRICULTURAL XI'.WS. 



BRITISH 9UIA X.I ■ REPOR T OX THE ONDER- 

 NEEMING INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL, FOR 19U-15. 



The agricultural work i m the farm attached 



to this school bas yielded duriug > it interestirt 



results. Apart from I h the farm has 



be a finam The total expenditure 



on the whole farm for the year under review was $1,491*60, 

 while the revenue from farm pr ild, amounted to 



$3,801*36. The i. yi it's working was 



$2,506'42>s 11 :d with $1,166*10 in the previous year 



925 i L912-13. 



During the year increases in the area under coco-nuts 

 and limes have taken place, and experimental plots of < luinea 

 oil have b ed. A few hundred 



Arica nut palms and some Abais palms (Elaeis guineensis) 

 planted out. The coffee cultivation which 

 had suffered from the 1911 12 drought appears to have 

 recovered its productivity, the yield for the year under report 

 having been 20 per cent, higher than in any previous year. 

 A portion of the yield, however, rightly belongs to the 

 previous year when the crop was very late. The cacao fields 



are reported I i : in s I order and free from disease of any 



description. Like coffee, the yield of cured ear. in was much 

 higher than in the previous yen. 



The Para rubber trees lia ontinued to make fair 

 growth. The tapping experiments have been continued, and 

 during the year reviewed, the yield per tree was slightly over 

 4 lb. Two hundred younger treeson the farm have now been 

 selected and are about to be experimentally tapped. 



One of the most interesting sections in the report under 

 notice is that devoted to the subject of lime cultivation. At 

 the annual session of the < lombined Court of British Guiana 

 in March last, a vote of $3,100 was obtained for the erection 

 of a small factor} at Onderneeining for concentrated lime 

 juice on similar lines to those obtaining at the Government 

 Factory in St. Lucia, which has proved a great success. The 



idea of obtaining a factory is said to 1 f some years standing, 



and satisfaction is expressed at a prospect of its early 

 erection. The guarantee that there is to be a factory 

 ha- also caused increased activity in lime cultivation. 

 At Onderneeming every -are is being taken of the lime 

 cultivation, and the area i- being gradually extended. 

 During the last quarter of the year 349 barrels of limes were 

 sold, bringing a revenue of $212, while Seedlings and stumps 

 sold from the Onderneeming nursery totalled 2,575 valued 

 at $23*94. 



The coconut cultivation is being gradually extended, 



"t neu land having been planted during the year 



bringing the area under coc it cultivation up to 27 acres. 



The tree- have made satisfactory progress and have been 



free from disease. The palms grown from nuts imported 

 from the Strait- Settlements, ' leylon, and some of the West 

 Indian islands, are now coming into bearing and records of 

 yields, varieties, etc. are being kept. 



Miscellaneous plants on which appear in this 



report include the Souari nut trei i < nucii'eruni), the 

 Brazil nut tree (Bertholletia md Tonka bean 



(Dipteryx od-zrata). All these have grown satisfactorily. 



The Tonka bean and the Souari nul lerabla 



ibilities. 



In connexion witl . the number of plants 



sold during the year wa 3,83 y lime 



and coffee seedl 



finally, the I Ind 

 - iii regard to i 

 thriven well during the year under report, while from 

 a monetary point of arm 1 done better than in 



any previous year. The account shows expenditure for the 



$1,004*94, i ne ..i si. 105*55. A nel 



on the stock farm was $640*50 inst $20*2*24 in the 



previous year. It may !"■ added that pig- continue to pro\ i 

 remunerative. A boar and -i\ sows comprised the herd, 

 and sucking pigs and pork bred from them idealized during 

 the year $103*69. 



UTILIZATION OF TROPICAL FEEDING- 

 STUFFS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM. 



In continuation of efforts to encourage the feeding of 

 i.\ products of certain tropical crops to live-stock in (.; 

 Britain, the Board of Agriculture publishes further notes 



on coco-nut. palm nut cakes and ground nut cakes, in the; 

 Journal of the Hoard for duly 1915. 



Il is stated that an average -ample ol COCO-nUt i 

 may contain 22 per cut of albuminoids and 10 percent, of 

 oil; it is thus not so rich in flesh forming substances as 

 linseed cake, but in other respects is not dissimilar to i 

 feeding stuff. On the continent coco-nut cake is favoured 



as a food for dairy stock. It is damped before Use and let 

 in 'plan titles of from 3 BE), to 4 lb. per day. it is said to be eaten 

 readily: sufficient data as to its suitability tor stock feeding 

 in Great Britain have not yet been accumulated. Theoret- 

 ically it should lie about equal to linseed cake, and, at 

 present prices, farmers would be well advised to use it 

 a substitute for more expensive foods in the concentrated 

 rations for dairy cows, md they should certainly give it 

 a 1 1 ial in feeding; for meat production. 



< loco-nut growers will regard the foregoing with interest 

 and satisfaction, for the utilization of the nut On an extensive 

 scale for feeding purposes is likely to cause the niaintenan 

 of prices at a high level. 



Palm-nut kernel cake which is dealt with next in the> 

 journal does not interest the West Indies directly. It i-s 

 worth noting, however, that the experience of foreign stock 

 feeders should appear to indicate that palm-nut kernel cakes 

 would make a very good substitute for linseed cake in feeding 

 dairy cattle. Cows may receive up to 5 ft), per head per day. 



The subject of ground nut cake as a food stuff is dealt 

 with in a special article at considerable length. It may bet 

 noted that both dairy cows and fattening cattle may be fed 

 with this feeding stuff in small quantities. Pigs may be 

 given up to 28). per lead per day. and a firm bacon of good 

 quality is said to result from the feeding. But care must 

 lie taken to begin with very small quantities. For horses, 

 groundnut cake seems to have been found especially suitable 

 and numerous experiments have been made in which this 

 food has satisfactorily replaced part of the oat.- ration for 

 horses. In concluding it i- well to add a note of warning in 



regard to the possible danger from feeding ground nut cake. 



It appears that, while the high protein content is largely 



responsible for the high feeding value of the cake it is also. 



a source of danger, favouring the production of harmful 

 decomposition products, though this can. as a rule, only occur 



when nuts in bad condition are used for making. the cake. 



The nature of this poisoning has been carefully worked oul. 



by different German investigators. 



