Vol. VIII. No. 17(3. 



THE AGKICULTUKAL NEWS. 



Prench Colonial School. 



Further ilrt:iils relating to the French colonial 

 school at Ha\ii-. i icLiit.ly uieiitioned in tliis journal (see 

 Agrlridtaral A'etrfi .4 Dec 2G last, p. 402), have 

 lately come to h.ind, from which' it appears that its 

 ■establishmenr. (bv the French Cotton -growing^ Associa- 

 tion) is one of the results of the efforts now being 

 made to develop cotton growing in Fieiich colonies, 

 the main object of the school l)eing to give a practi- 

 cal trainine to young men seekitig employment on 

 colonial cwLidii plantatrions. 



The institution has been equipped wiijh modern 

 machinery sutRcient to ensure adequate instruction in 

 cotton ginning and baling, and oil-crushing methods. 

 It has been arrattged that pupils shall go through 

 a ten-months' course of study, which will include 

 instruction in the meihods of cultivating and handling 

 ■cotton arid other colonial products, and the preparation 

 of ihe.'-e articlp.s for export. 



The establishment of this school is, at the least, an 

 intere.-iing ex[)eriment, and may have far-reaching 

 results on the development of cotton growing in French 

 colonies. 



Agricultural Banks in Western Australia. 



Among the many systems of agricultural banks 

 which have of late years been established in various 

 countiies, none appear to be more beneficial to the 

 :Bmall settler than the system lately adopted in Western 

 Australia. The Agricultural Banks of that colony are 

 ■Government institutions, but are self-supporting, and 

 have been in existence but a few years. Advances are 

 made on the security of the land for clearing, fencing, 

 •draining, and stock breeding, and that these institutions 

 are for small cultivators only is indicated by the fact 

 that loans to any one person must not exceed a certain 

 stim. The tertns on which money is loaned are 

 ■extremely reasonable : iluring the first five years, interest 

 at 5 per cent, per annum is charged, and after that the 

 principal is repayable by instalments over a period of 

 twenty-five years, with interest on the portion still 

 owing. These banks are already recognized as one 

 of the greatest factors in the agricultural develop- 

 ment of Western Australia. 



Organization in the Cacao Industry. 



The very considerable tiucttiations that have 

 taken yilace in the price of cacao in the past few years 

 have led to a desire among producers to form ati organi- 

 zation for the purpose of controlling the price of the 

 product, and .so arranging the supply that its market 

 value shall not fall to an unduly low figure. 



The United States Consul at Rio de Janeiro states 

 that steps have already been taken in Ecuador, San 

 Thome, San Domingo, and Trinidad to form such an 

 organization as that suggested, and the success of the 

 ■movement must depend ultimately upon the line 

 adopted in Brazil, which is the largest cacao-producing 

 •country in the world. A large proportion of the 



Brazilian cacao growers, however, are producers on 

 only a small scale, somewhat similar to those of 

 Grenada, and could not afford, without outside assistance, 

 to hold their crops for any length of time, as may be 

 requited by the organization. 



The promoters of this organization claitn that 

 their purpose is not one of speculation, but that their 

 object is to resist the efforts of the .speculators, who, 

 they assert, have been responsible for the late violent 

 fluctuations in the price of cacao. 



It may be tnentioned that while the total world's 

 production of cacao is placed at about .340,000,000 th. 

 per annum, Brazil is at present responsible for an out- 

 put of about .54,000,000 lb, per year. 



Tobacco Growing in British Guiana. 



The proposal was brought forward at the late 

 annual meeting of the British (iuiana Board of Agri- 

 culture that an effort shoidd be made to develop 

 tobacco growing in siiaable districts, in the hope that 

 it might later form one of the minor industries of the 

 colony. Certain small areas on the West Coast of 

 Berbice jiave, in the past, been devoted to this culture, 

 and, it is stated, that leaves of a very satisfactory quality 

 have been produced. It was mentioned at the meeting 

 that Virginian tobacco grevv very luxuriantly in the 

 colony, but was subject to attack from a large number of 

 insects. The matter was referred to a committee for 

 consideration. 



Tobacco could no doubt be grown satisfictorily in 

 British Guiana, as in many of the West India islands,, 

 but the experience of the p.ist in Trinidad, St. Kitt's 

 and St. Vincent shows th.it unless an expert is imported, 

 a good deal of investigation work as to methods of 

 curing and fermentation is necessary before an article 

 can be produced on a commercial scale, which will yield 

 a remunerative return. 



Hedges at Antigua. 



Considerable pains have been taken to develop 

 serviceable hedges arounil thi,' Experiment Station 

 at Skerrett's, Antigua, and the efforts mafle have met 

 with such success that the he<lges now established are 

 an object-lesson to est;ite owners in the island, where, 

 as a matter of fact, very few hedges are in existence. 



The bread-and-cheese jilant (Plthpcololy'tuin 

 Unijuis-Cafi) makes a very ornamental fence. It ha.s 

 been found at Antigua that the easiest way to establish 

 a bread-and-cheese hedge is b} sowing seeds in ■■^ita. 

 The Barbados cherry (MalpU/liia ijlahra) is a fast 

 grower and makes a serviceable hedge. It is mention- 

 ed that a fence of cherry plants is best established by 

 sowing seed in a nursery, and transplanting the seed- 

 lings when S inches to 1 foot high. 



The logwood (HueiiiaUixiiUni campeclilanum) is 

 the most impenetrable of all the hedges, and thus the- 

 most serviceable. Like the bread-and-cheese fence, 

 this is best established by sowing seed at the place 

 where the hedge is to be grown. 



