124 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



Ai'uiL 17, 1909, 



GLEANINGS. 



Sugar planters in British (iuiana Iiavt- arnuiged for the 

 iin|;]ortatioii of 2, 525 iiidentiu-ediSbonrcrs during the coming 

 year. (Demerara Air/os//.) 



Onion growing would ap|iear to lie regarded with in- 

 (!reasing favour at -Moutserrat, since 1.30 Ui. of seed have lieen 

 ordered from Teneriti'e for this season's planting, as compared 

 with 110 lb. ordered last year. 



Eiits are reported to be giving trouble frc>ni time to 

 time in cotton fields at Montserrat. These pests are apt to 

 damage the return l>y dragging the cotton from the bolls for 

 the sake of the see<l. 



Mr. A. I). Hall, M.A., Director of the Kothamsted 

 Experiment Station, England, hi»* been elected a Fellow of 

 tlic Royal Society, in recognition of his valuable investigations 

 in Aifricultural Science. 



It has recently been enacted at Grenada, by an Order in 

 Coun.,'il, that .substances or preparations intended for use in 

 agriculture as insecticides or fungicides, and for no other 

 jmrpo.se, shall be imported into the. island duty free. 



'I'hc Agricultural Instructor at Nevis reports that onions 

 are doing remarkably well in that island, ai\d that a large crop 

 V'ill be reaped this .season. With a more extended market, 

 it .seems that onion growing would be the most prohtable of 

 the minor industries of Nevis. 



A note in tlie St. Ijucia Ojliri'il d'awtli- draws .ittention 

 to the fact that the price of giafted mango plant.s at the 

 Botanic Station has been rednci <1 to 2s. (.■ach, on condition 

 that they are purchased for planting <inly in the island. 

 A few plants are now rea<ly bir distributum. 



Owing to the siijall crop that has resulted from the 

 drought of last year, many of the smaller mills at Barbados 

 will not be worked this season, but t!ie canes will be ground 

 at some larger neigliboliring mill. Pcsant-grown canes ar& 

 being purchased at 10s. G(/. per ton by one or two of the 

 larger factories in the island. 



The t'ohune palm {Afla/i-<i"C(i/niiir), which occurs in 

 liritish Honduras in enormous numbers, bears heavy crops of 

 nuts which yield a useful oil. The Belize Colonial Giinrdi'in 

 refers to the profitable industry that might be created, if 

 proper machinery for extracting this oil were established in 

 tlic colony. 



It was stated at a nieeting of the .'^l. Lucia .Agricultural 

 »S<i<;fty that, apart fron\ the cotton grown by Messrs. Mac- 

 farliine, .Junior i^i: Co., at Baleml;i(i»uche. only some 2,000 lb. 

 of .seed-cotton had been offered for purchase at the ginnery 

 in the ]iast season. The pea.santry of the island were shy of 

 ;i new industrj'. The Agricultural Society decided to import 

 300 lb. of cotton seed from St. \'incent for distribution. 



The Ceylon (Jamlioge tree {ddrrinia Jforrlla)^ the resiil 

 of which forms gamboge, flowered and fruited in the Dominica 

 Botanic Oardens during the year 1907-S. It is hoped to 

 raise seedling plants of this strong-growing Garcinia, with 

 the object of utilizing them as stocks on which to graft the 

 delicate mangosteen. 



The Curator of the Montserrat Botanic Station reports 

 that about 100 sweet potato plants have lately been 

 raised from seed, and are now growing in the nursery at the 

 .station. In this connexion it may be mentioned that the 

 well-known and heavy-cropping ' Hen-and-Chickcns," and 

 ' Spooner ' sweet potat6s are seedling varieties. 



A recent number of the Indian Trade Jonrnal mentions 

 that ground nut cultivation has, of late, increased rapidly in 

 Burma. For the year'gnding .Jane 30, ] 908, the total area 

 phuited with this crop reA(>iied 1-12,051 acres, compared with 

 78,74.') acres in the previous season. In order to fo.ster the 

 industry, the Government are distrilmting seed nuts, whicli 

 are repaid at harvest time. 



According to the Loudon '/'initx. the well known F.nglish 

 firms of Messrs. Cadbury, .Messrs. Fry, and ilessr.s. Kowntree, 

 have decideil, after careful investigation of the matter, not to 

 make any more purchases of cacao from the Portuguese islands 

 of St. Thome and Principe, on account of the slave-like 

 labour conditions in tho.se i:-luuds. West Indian cacao sliould 

 therefore fiml a more extensive market in Great Britaiu. 



Tobacco is grown- fairly extensively in Italy, and in 

 190(i-7 the value of the home-grown jiroduct shi[iped from 

 the country was .£107,92-1. This was exported chielly for 

 the use of Italian conin(]itnitics in other lands, Buenos Ayres 

 taking by far the largest ipiantity, viz., tobacco to the value 

 of £95,004. In 190(i, a sum of £7,720 was expended on 

 the E.\periment Station for the growth and manufacture of 

 tobacco at Salerno. (Ilritixh (Janxnlar Ilipoii.) 



Divi-divi ]iods (the produce of Ciicsnl/^iiiia Coi-iario), 

 forwarded to the lnn)erial Institute, from trees planted by 

 the Botanical l)epartn!9#t, Gold Coast, West Africa, were 

 found to contain ;5:?10 per cent, of taimin, as compared with 

 45 per cent, in the ordinary divi-divi of commerce. Tlie 

 .sample was not well jirepared, and was valued at i!5 per ton, 

 as against a current value of £9 to £1 1 for West Indian and 

 South .\n>erican divi-divi. 



.\ note in Xaliii-i draws attention to the fact that the 

 Ke.search Defence Society, of 70, Ilarley St., London, which 

 has for its object the dissemination of trustworthy iidormatiou 

 on the aims and achievements of research in medicine and 

 ])hysiology, has lately prepared material for a .series of 

 illustrated le(-tures on such diseases as malaria, yellow fever, 

 Malta fever, sleeping sickness, etc. The materials, together 

 with lantern slides, etft'., can be obtained on loan from the 

 Society by accredited persons. 



