14 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



January 9, 1909". 



ANTIGUA AGRICULTURAL AND 

 COMMERCIAL SOCIETY. 



At a meeting of thu above society held on 

 November 20 last, Mr. H. A. Tenipany, B. Sc, (acting 

 Hon. Secretary), read a paper brieHy outlining the 

 results achieved during the past year in the work of 

 cotton seed selection in Antigua. 



At the .same meeting the Hon. Dr. F. Watts, O.M.G., 

 drew attention to the prevalance of eohvorm.-* attacking crop.s 

 in the Presidency, and pointed out that attacks of tins pest 

 on sugar-cane roots were by no means unknown. He further 

 stated that, in the case of the sugar-cane, the diagnosis of the 

 j»est from external characters woidd prol)ably be a matter of 

 .some ditticulty, since it would appear likely that tlie swellings 

 cliaracteristic of its presence when attacking dicotyledonous 

 plants would not be developed on the sugar-cane. 



Microscopic preparations were exhibited showing the fippear- 

 ance of the pest when attacking okras {J/i'iixrii.t I'scn/i-itfiis). 



A meeting of the Society was also held on 

 December IS last, under the presidency of Dr. Francis 

 Watts, C.M.( !. 



A resolution, proposed by Mr. A. 1'. Cowley, and seconded 

 l»y Mv. J. I). Harper, was carried unanimously, by which the 

 Society placed on record its deep sense of regret at the death 

 of the Hon. T. 1). Fopte, senior planting attorney of the 

 island, and Chairman of the Antigua Agricultural and 

 Commercial Society .since its inception. 



A second resolution, projiosed by ^Ir. A. G. Spooner, 

 seconded liy Mr. S. L. Cranstoun, and also carried luiani- 

 mously, was in '-egard to the retirement of Sir Daidel ilorris, 

 K.('..M.(!. In this resolution the Society expressed its api)re- 

 <:iation of the energy and ability of the Conunissioner, and 

 the valuable work carried out by him in the West 

 Indies during the past ten years. 



Several members spoke in support of the above resoUi- 

 iion, among them being Mr. A. P. Cowley. Mr. Cowley 

 mentioned that he was a delegate to the second West Indian 

 Agricultural Conference held at Rarbado.s in 1900, at whii h 

 lie was requested to advocate the a[)pointnient of a Science 

 Master for the Antigua firanunar School. Thanks to the 

 Imperial 1 lepartmi'iit of Agriculture, a Science Master had 

 been provided. Another matter he miglit mention in which 

 Antigua had benetited through the Department was that 

 a regular supply of good oinon seed had been obtained for 

 the i.sland, and Antigua now ])i'oduced splendid crojis of onions. 



On putting the matter before the Society, it was de(Mded 

 to hold an Agricultural Show towards the end of 1909. The 

 Secretary was instru('ted to apply for the usual financial help 

 for this purpose from the Colonial Secretary at Antigua, and 

 from the Imperial De])artment of Agricultiu-c. 



Dr. Francis Watts brought before the notice of the 

 meeting the fact that the ' flower-bud maggot ' (.see A(/iu-iil- 

 liiral Niii-n, Viil. ^ n, page If)!), which was responsibly for 

 considerable destruction on some cotton estates at Antigua 

 last year, had again inade its appearance. Dr. Watts pointed 

 out that while in the case of early iilanted cotton, which had 

 already .set its bolls, little apprehension need be cntertairie<l, 

 in the case of late planted cotton, the Howers of which were 

 but then forming, the consequence of the attack nnght be 

 very serious indeed. 



EAST INDIAN IMMIGRANTS IN BRITISH! 

 GUIANA. 



Some interesting particulars in relation to the- 

 immigration of East Indians into British Guiana, and 

 the qonditions of labour in that colony are contained in 

 the report for 1907-8 of the Immigration Agent General 

 at Georgetown. 



During the year ended March 31, 1908, a total of 

 1,8.5.5 imnngrants fnim Calcutta arrived in the' colony. OF 

 the.se, seventy-two had previollsiy resided in British Guiana, 

 and four in other colonie.s. 



The total East Indian population of British Guiana- 

 is returned as 132,8.50. Gf these, G9,149 are resident on 

 estates, 9,784 being indentured. 



The following notes are quoted from the report: — 



Work generally has been plentiful daring the period 

 under review, and the rates of payment have been verv fair. 

 It is satisfactory to note that in view of the increasing incli- 

 nation of the labourer to cultivate rice on his own account, 

 and of the fact that the crop time for rice and for sugar-cane 

 takes place at the same time, planters are endeavouring to 

 obviate the ditticulty by re-arranging their times of grindinir, 

 and trying to avail themselves of that part of the year now 

 known as the 'slack season.' In this way it is hoped to 

 make the employment of labour more even throughout the 

 year. 



The District Immigration Agent at Rerbice [who.sc 

 rejiort is similar in substance to those of agents in several 

 other districts] states that in his area there has been plentv 

 of work, and no complaints have been made to him of 

 inability to obtain employment. The rates paid for the- 

 different kinds of work appear to have been fair throughout 

 the district. Some of the estate matiagers experienced great 

 difhculty in obUiining labour during the grinding sea.son. 

 This may be attributed to the fact that the harvesting and 

 nulling of the rice takes jilace during the same months as the 

 cane grinding operations are in progress, and uidess a change 

 of the seasons can be brought aliout, the present state of 

 affairs is almost sure to continue. The innnigrants resident 

 in the vdlages prefer working in the rice fields, as they allege 

 ttiat they can earn higher wages in this way than \\heh. 

 enqdoyed on sugar estates. 



Dealing with the characteristics of the coolie immi- 

 grants, and their value as settlers in the colon}', the 

 Agent General writes : — 



Originally introduced to .satisfy the requirements of 

 the planting body, these immigrants and their descendants- 

 have gradually s|iread themselves over the country, reclaim- 

 ing places formerly lying waste, and ojiening up new tracts, 

 of land on the creeks and rivers from the Corentyne to the 

 North-West District. With their thrifty, industrious habits 

 and unflagging perseverance in the face of lo.ss by drought 

 and Hood, they form the very ideal of settlers for a tropical 

 country such as British Ciuiana. In view of this, it seems a 

 pity that the prnportion of the innnigrants who return to- 

 India should continue to be .so large. I do not think it too 

 much to say that with some slight encouragement, greater 

 numbers nught easily be induced to settle down in the 

 colony. This seems tlie more probable, seeing that during 

 the past twelve months, no less than 101 individuals voluntari- 

 ly gave up their right to the return passage to India, which 

 apjiears to indicate that they do not now value the privilege ot 

 repatriation so highly as they once did. 



