Vol. VIII. No. 197. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



359 



Alrciulj- in the We.5t Indies, .suiticient Sea Island cotton 

 has been grown to prevent the 'cornering' of this ijuality 

 of cotton, iloreover, the cotton ,i;rown is superior to the 

 American variety, and some bales liave been sold to America. 

 Something like £200,000 sterling lias been spent in wages to 

 the natives. Some of the ishmds whose adniinis-tration 

 formerly required grants from the Imperial Treasury are now 

 able to support themselves, and, indeed, have a surplus. 



In West Africa the c^uantity of cotton grown has rapidly 

 risen from 500 to 12,000 bales, of a value of £120,000. All 

 this cotton has been grown by the native.s, and their spend- 

 ing [lower has been increased by this amount. They are 

 •consequently able to buy imported goods from this country, so 

 that the work of the Association is two-fold — that of growing 

 the raw material, and that of finding new outlets for the 

 manufactures of this country. 



The Government benefits through the duty levied on 

 these goods and the railway freight paid on cotton and 

 •cotton seed. In fact, the Colony of Southern Nigeria will 

 ■benefit by some £30,000 from the 12,000 bales this year. 

 To open up the African cotton fields, .several million pounds 

 are being spent on railways, and here again, of course, the 

 iron founders and engineers will benefit. 



Cotton in Barbados, 1908-O— The area of 

 ■cotton in Barbados during the season 1908-9 was .5,76S acres. 

 From this there have been e.xported 1,713 bales, weighing 

 838,749 lb., and of the estimated value of £41,937. During 

 the season, the yield per acre has been at the rate of 14.") lb. 

 of lint, as compared with 137 It), for the season 1907-8, 

 and 170 11). for that of 190fi-7. 



Area of Cotton in Antigua.— The area that has 

 been j)lanted in cotton in Antigua during the present season 

 is 2.j2i acres. All this was reported to be in a promising and 

 healthy condition at the middle of last month, but 

 rain was beginning to be required in the southern and 

 v/estern districts. 



THE GERMINATION OF GEARA RUBBER 

 SEEDS. 



Tlie following hints on a method of germinating 

 the seeds of the Ceara rubber plant {Ma7ii!i(it (xlazlovii) 

 are given in the Pldlipp'ine Agricultural Eevieiv. 

 The method should be applicable to the seeds of the 

 .Teipiio Maniroba and Kemanso jMani(;oba {MdJiiliot 

 dichotoiiia and 21. i)Ui uJii/cnsi'<), as well. The descrip- 

 tion of the procedure applies to the conditions where 

 planting out takes place almost immediately after the 

 seeds have sprouted ; but it seems to be capable of 

 modification to suit those of the nursery: — 



Select a moist, but not too wet, spot in the field where 

 the rubber seeds are to be planted; dig a hole about 3 or 4 

 feet in diameter and aboitt 2 feet deep: take out all the dirt 

 and make the bottom smooth: then scatter about 1 inch of 

 dirt evenly over the bottom. Take the rubber seeds and scatter 

 them thickly all over the loose dirt in the hole, then take 

 a basket, or a box with a perforated bottom, and place it 

 over the seeds, bottom upward: take an empty sack and place 

 this over the basket or box, whichever the case may be; when 

 this has been done, cover the basket or box with the dirt that 

 ■was taken out of the hole, so that there is about 12 

 inches of dirt all over and around the basket. The seeds 

 must be filed, and it is a good plan to soak them in water for 

 about twenty-four hours before sowing them in the hole. 



After three days, uncover the basket or box, beinff 

 careful to remove all dirt before taking it away. You 

 will find that a large percentage of the seeds has sprouted; 

 that is, the .sprouts are just coming through the seeds: some 

 of them may have already taken root. Vou can then pick 

 out all those that have sptouted', and plant them in their 

 permanent place in the field; the ants will not harm them 

 after they have reached this stage. The seeds that have not 

 sprouted must be covereil up again, and after twenty-four 

 hours repeat the operation, and so on until all the seeds have 

 been planted. The field should be previou.sly prepared, the 

 hole should be dug, that is, the soil should be loosened up 

 3 or 4 inches deep, and a stick placed at each hole where the 

 seeds are to be planted. The planting of the sprouted seeds 

 is very simple. Make a hole about 1 inch deep in the 

 loosened earth, put the seed in with the sprout down, cover 

 lightl)', being careful not to step on or press down on the 

 newly planted .seed with your hand; the first rain will do that 

 much better, and without injury to the sprout. If the above- 

 described method of sprouting and planting the seeds i.s 

 followed, three or four men can plant a large field in a day, 

 and every seed will grow. 



WORKERS IN SCIENCE AND THE 

 PRACTICAL FARMER. 



During the absence of the Connnissioner of Agri- 

 culture in England, an address was given by him before 

 the Buckinghamshire Chamber of Agriculture, on the 

 relationship that exists between workers in science and 

 the practical farmer. 



Dr. Watts first drew attention to the keen competition 

 that exists between diflferent countries in relation to the 

 supply of agricultural [iroducts, and to the fact that, if the 

 English farmer is to hold his own, he must be supplied with 

 what he is already demanding — that is, advice and education 

 in agricultural matters. He thej gave an outline of the work 

 that is being conducted in the West Indies by the Imperial 

 Department of Agriculture, with special reference to its 

 relation to the planters and to agricultural education, showing 

 how many of the matters of his experience had their parallel 

 in Enollsh conditions. The chief efforts of scientific adviser.? 

 were directed into two channels: that of the presentation of 

 facts of interest in a form to attract and appeal to the older 

 men, and the direction of agricultural education of such 

 a kind as to gain the attention of those who are younger. In 

 the first, the observations of tlie farmer were of the greatest 

 value, and it was the business of the scientist to classify 

 these and collate them with his own experience and knowl- 

 edge in such a way as to identify himself with all that is 

 best and most advanceil : he should not content himself with 

 merely elementary matters and trivialities. After reviewing 

 the problems that woitld have to be attacked in consequence 

 of the adoption of this attitude. Dr. Watts went on to show 

 how its natural corollary would be the formation of research 

 and cooperative experiment stations, a central advisory 

 department and agricultural societies, and the appointment 

 of agricultural inspectors. 



Finally, in dcalint'; with the second direction in which 

 the ettbrts of the scientist would bo made. Dr. Watts showetl 

 how agricultural education for the younger men should 

 accompany the other wnrk, but should not be confused with 

 it. It would entail the arrangement of knowledge in an 

 orderly form, the maintenance of classes for the purpo.se o£ 

 imparting it, and the liokling of examinations for indicating 

 the rate at which progress was being made. 



