Vol. VIII. No. 183. 



THE AGKJCULTURAL NEW.^. 



l.-.l 



THE POSSIBLE DEVELOPMENT 



OF A WEST INDIAN HAY 



INDUSTRY. , 



Mr. U. A. Tenipany, B.Sc, F.I.C.i Aciing Superin- 

 tendent, (if Agriculture and Governuienc Chemist for 

 the Leeward islands, ha.s sent in the lollowing inter- 

 esting uutes on the possibilities of developing a hay 



industry in )iarts of the West Indi-in inlands: — 



•f 



In ceituiu West Indian islands, i.otaUy Dominica and 

 Barbados, there is at the present time a «not inconsiderable 

 importation of hay during the dry months of the year, when 

 green fodder is scarce. This demand is at present met by 

 supplies from America. 



In Antigua there are considerable afeas of fiat pasture 

 covered by the grass known locally' as ' hay grass ' 

 (AjKhv/ioi/uii i-(iricosus), which, when cutmt the right time, 

 makes excellent hay. 



The Victoria Park on the eastern side of St. .John's is 

 taken up by this grass, and the purchrtsrf by the .'St. .John's 

 Citv Commissioners of a mowing niachiiie suitable for the 

 cutting of long grass, offered a favourajilejopportunity for an 

 experiment to decide whether it would bei possible to supply 

 some of the existing demand for hay in other islands with 

 grass reaped from Antigua piastures. 



. Accordingly, in November 1908, a tiaal bale of haj' was 

 made, from this pasture and shipjied ,to Dominica by 

 Dr. Watts, acting in conjunction with Mr. W. .J. Abbott, 

 Clerk to the City Commissioners. 



The bale was exhibited at the JiotaiiM'Station, l)(iniinica, 

 and attracted favourable comment from Ipersons interested 

 locally. As a result, a trial order for a commercial shi[)ment 

 of .5 bales was sent to Antigua. This order was executed 

 in due cour.se and the 5 bales were sold iJt rates v>-hich left 

 a considerable margin of profit for the .shipper, and at the 

 same time enabled them to.be disposed ii^.more cheaply tban 

 American hay. 



This preliminary experiment indicates' that there, is 

 a field for the development of a profitable tftide in hay between 

 islands possessing fiat pastures occupieit by hay grass, and 

 other Islands, where, at certain seasons, fodder is scarce.. 



The initial cost of a suitable mowing machine is compara- 

 tively small. That used in the above e.xperiments cost £11, 

 landed in .\ntigua. The cost of reapiihg and baling the 

 grass is triHing, and, under average conditions, t^\■o or even 

 three cuttings of grass should be obtained, each year. . 



Further, it must be remembered ,|;^?,t in addition to 

 forming a possible valuable export, the hay should have 

 considerable use locally as a fodder. By' .systematic reaping 

 much fodder would be saved which at present is wasted by 

 the dying-back of . the shoots after seeding. Also, if the 

 pasture is kejit clear of . grazing stock,_the growth of grass 

 ■would be more vigorous, since its development would not be 

 hindered by the trampling of the animals,- and the premature 

 feeding down of succulent growing shoots.- 



Hay grass (Androjior/oii caricomis) is an East Indian 

 grass, and in tlie West Indies at present is only foiihd in 

 Antigua. The history of its introduction -is obscure.'- It 

 is readily established, andj once this is done, takes pos-' 

 session of the land to the exclusion of other grasses. This 

 is a valuable feature when deciding the correct time for 

 cutting, since in fields containing mixture*ofigrasses it is not 

 alwaj's easy to select the best time fijr taking off the crop, 

 as different species ripen at different times. After cutting, 

 liay grass pastures are greatly improved by a light .scratching 

 with a cultivator. 



The pro|)er time at which to cut the grass is important. 

 This is when the pollen has fallen from the flower, but before 

 the seeds have swollen. If seedi^lg has taken place the grass 

 is valueless as fodder, since the eon.stituents possessing food 

 value have been, by then, transfeiited to the seed. 



Too little attention is paid/'at the present time to the 

 care of pastures in the West Indies, and to the possible de- 

 velopment of a dry fodder indu.stry locally. It is suggssted 

 that serious consideration should be given to the above facts, 

 that ettbrts slwukl be made to e^t.a,\ilish an .industry, on these 

 lines from existing pastures, and "that suitable areas elsewhere 

 sliould be established in this grass for the purpose. If this 

 were done, it is believed that qbnsiderable benefits would 

 result in the future. rHc' 



In addition to tiie preparation of hay for export, it is 

 believed that much advantage would be derived, were the 

 owners of estates to give attention to their pastures, to put 

 them into fair order, and to cut tlie grass at regular intervals. 

 This grass might be made into -^jiay and stored to meet the 

 re(piirements of a dry season, or it might be fed to the 

 animals of the estate in stable.s or pens. The amount of 

 foilder obtained from a given pasture would probably be 

 greatly increased if this method of cutting were adopted, 

 instead of the over-grazing of -rt'lnch one sees ' -so much at 

 present. A limited amount of grazing might be found per- 

 missible, but the chief attention should be given to cutting. 



With a light mowing machine and a small baling press 

 (such as is commonly used for cotton), the work of making 

 and storing hay becomes a very simjjle inatter, and one which 

 .should engage the attention of estate owners, particularly in 

 Antigua, where ^he conditions for this kind of work are very 

 favourable. 



HEAVY RAINFALL AT DOMINICA. . 



Mr. .Joseph .Tories, Ciihitor of the Dominica 

 Botanic .Station, repoits A's follows on the unusual 

 weather conditions that were ex))ei-ienced in the island 

 in the early |iai t ol April. Mr. .Junes writes : — 



Very heavy rains fell in Doquniea on, April 7 and 8, no 

 less than .5-42 inches of rain being registered at the Botanic 

 Station during a period of thirty hours. ' Yeiy high winds 

 were also experienced, which cau.sed some damage to the lime 

 crop of the island. 



It is very unusual for hea\y rains to fall in Dominica 

 during April. The records at tte Botanic Station which go 

 back for sixteen years show nothing during April approaching 

 tlie rainfall of the 7th and 8th,in-st. April is the driest month 

 of the year, aijd the mean rainfall for this month at the Gar- 

 dens over a period of sixteen -yeafis, 188.3 to 1908, is 1-96 

 inches. Probalily the heavy rainfall will considerably ad- 

 vance the lime crop. The weahliar still continues showery^ 



Papaw trees are usually diiecious (having male and 

 female flowers on separate trees).. A paper in Science, by an 

 officer connected with the Porto Rico Experiment Station, 

 reports a change of sex observed in some papaw trees in 

 Porto Rico, brought about apparently by removing the 

 terminal bud. A tree which had previously borne staminate 

 (male) flowers only, had its terminal bud injured, and shortly 

 afterwards was noticed to bear pistillate (female) flowers also. 

 These flowers set and yielded fruit, and this was repeated 

 in the second year. Further fkttfi-are being collected on the 

 .subject. 



