ToL. YIII. No. 178. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



57 



Timbers of Cuba. 



Cuba, in common with a number of other West 

 Indian islands pusse.sses large tracts of country which 

 fire well adapted for the production of man}' valuable 

 kinds of hardwood timber. To this, the flourishing 

 condition of the scattered woodlan(]s still remaining in 

 the island bears evidence, although these are almost 

 entirely neglected. The Cuba Rerific of January last 

 refers to this question and enumerates the chief 

 economic trees of the island. Prominent among these 

 are the logwood — valuable for its use in the manu- 

 facture of dyes — cedar, and mahogany. Lignum- vitae, 

 so valuable where extreme hardness and toughness are 

 required, is also fairly abundant. Other important trees 

 which grow readily, are ebony (Bi-ija Ebenas), niHstic 

 ■{Bursera simaruha), and the Jack Fruit {Artocarpus 

 integrifolia). 



other hand, taking the year thro\igh, it is probable 

 that the good effect of the trash in preventing evapora- 

 tion would more than balance losses of moisture 

 brought about in the way suggested. The subject, 

 should form an interesting one for discussion by Agri- 

 cultural Societies in the West Indies. 



Rubber in Tobago. 



Landowners in Tubago who have planted rubber 

 •on their estates in the past now regard the result as 

 very promising, according to the correspondent of the 

 West India ConnnitfecCin-ular in the island. 



The first rubber trees (Castdlo;i,) were planted on 

 Hichmond estate about twenty years ago, and the}' 

 are now fine specimens, ranging up to a girth of 

 7 feet. Plauting has also been carried out on ' Louis 

 D'Or ' est.ate, where tapping operations are now in 

 progress on a commercial scale. Fine rubber is being 

 liurned out, which should fetch the highest price on the 

 London market. Large tracts of land suitable for this 

 ■cultivation are available, and on many estates small 

 plantings are being made, chieHy with the object of 

 providing shade for cacao. Hevea is being planted in 

 small (juantity, but Castilloa does best. Trees can be 

 seen which at three years old are 2.5 feet in height, 

 and have a girth of 12 inches. These reports are very 

 satisfactory. 



■Cane Trash and Soil Moisture. 



An improved system of cultivation in the growth 

 of ratoon canes, which is recommended from the Cuban 

 E.xperiment Station was lately described in the Ai/rl- 

 valtaral JVews (Vol. VIII, p. 3-55). The main 

 features of this sj'stem are that the ' middles ' are 

 alternately double- trashed and planted with such 

 a crop as covvpeas, the cowpea vegetation being later 

 ploughed into th-e land. In the following year (assum- 

 ing ratoons are again grown) this treatment is reversed ; 

 the ' middles ' that were double-trashed in the previous 

 season being now planted with a green crop, and vice 

 ^^ersa. 



In this connexion a letter has been received from 

 a correspondent who raises the point as to whether 

 rain, falling in moderate showers, is not to a large 

 ■e.Ntent lost on land covered with trash — more especially 

 if double-trashed, — being dissipated by sun and wind 

 before reaching the soil. Where the rainfall is 

 ■deficient, this might possibly be a drawback of some 

 moment and should receive c^nisideration. On the 



Agriculture in the Virgin Islands. 



The peasantry of the Virgin Islands are sea-faring 

 rather than agricultural in their habits, yet a perusal 

 of the latest report (1907-8) from the Experiment 

 Station at Tortola shows that increasing interest is 

 being taken in the cultivation of a number of crops, 

 and that with an improved condition of agriculture 

 the material prosperity of the people has lately 

 advanced. 



The rapid expansion of the cotton industry of 

 those islands was described in the last issue of this 

 journal : as mentioned then, the cotton exports 

 increased from a value of £35 in 1904 to £1,800 in 

 1908. 



Attention has also been directed to the possi- 

 bilities of other industries which may prove profitable 

 in a minor <legree It has been shown that cacao will 

 grow in certain carefully selected spots, and some good 

 trees have now come into bearing, the produce of which 

 has been valued at a very satisfactory price on the 

 London market. There is evidence, too, that the 

 efforts of the Agi'icultural Department to establish 

 a local lime indiistry will be attended with at any rate 

 a modicum of success. 



Barbados Monkeys. 



That the few monkeys now found wild in certain 

 parts of Barbados and St. Kitt's are not of native 

 origin, but are descendants of African monkeys, 

 probably introduced by slave ships in the seventeenth 

 century, has long been generally I'ecognized (see A</ri- 

 eulfirral News, Vol,' VI, pp. 201, 238). These 

 animals proved very troublesome pests to planters, in 

 breaking or rooting up sugar-canes, yams, etc.. and in 

 1680 a law was passed at Barbados offering a reward 

 of .5.S'. for every wild moidiey destroyed in the island. 



The Barbados monkry has lately been idriitified 

 at the London Zoological ( iardens as a We.st African 

 species, Cercojnthecus sdha-us. Sir Daniel Morris was 

 recently able to present the skin of one of these animals 

 to the Zoological Gardens, and in acknowledging its 

 receipt, Mr. R. I. Pocock, the Superintendent, writes: 

 ' It is an interesting f ict that the monkey does not seeiii 

 to have become modified in any way since its introduc- 

 tion into the West Indies. The skin might indeed 

 have come from Sierra Leone, the natural home of this 

 species. 



' I am afraid there are no records telling how many 

 specimens were originally taken across the Atlantic, 

 or if they were introduced upon more than one occasion. 

 If it were known that only a few pairs were turned 

 loose, it might throw some interesting light upon the 

 vexed question of in-breeding.' 



