17: 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



:i[AY 29, 1909. 



GLEANINGS. 



The Tobago correspondent of tlie M'txt India Cumin'iHn 

 (jin-vldr draws attention to the fact that a more plentiful 

 and better supply of latex is' yielded by Castilloa rubber 

 trees in periods of di-y weather than during the rainy season. 



i >uring the mouth nf April last, 

 beans, .50 ft), of woolly pyrol, L5 lb. of 

 jjackets of miscellaneous seeds were 

 Antigua Botanic Station. 



100 It., of Barbuda 

 broom corn, and 11 

 sent out from the 



Arrangements have been made at Xevis by the Agri- 

 cultural Department to supply cotton growers in the island 

 with the best locally raised cotton .seed selected and 

 disinfected, at \<L per lb. 



With the object of encouraging the production of fruit 

 of better quality for market purposes, the Trinidad l)e}iart- 

 ment of Agriculture is ottering grafted mango plants foi' sale 

 At 2.5c. each. Plants are only sold at this low figure, 

 however, for cultivation withil^'the colony. 



!Mr. Robson, Curator of the Montserrat Botanic Station, 

 reports that planters in the island are tending to grow green 

 dressing crops on an increased scale. At present Bengal 

 beans are in great demand, and on one estate several ai-res 

 ■of growing limes have been planted thiough with horse beans. 



The seeds and plants distributed from the ^lontserrat 

 Botanic Station for the quarter ending March 31 last, include 

 530 cacao plants, .583 sugar-cane cuttings, 125 Longfoot 

 ■cabbage, 115 bay ])lants, 900 ornameutal cuttings and plants, 

 12 11\ cowpeas, and 4 Iti. horse beans. 



Ecuador exports a considerable quantity of vegetable 

 iviiry nuts — the [jroduct of the \yaXm. Fhi/tileijlKi!' marrocariHi. 

 The average annual production is about 48,000,000 lt>., all 

 'if W'hich is exported. The vegetable ivory is used as 

 I substitute for the more costly genuine article in the nianu- 

 fa';turc of buttons, etc. (f. S. Conxnlar Repdrf.) 



The cultivation of cocoa-nuts is evidently attracting 

 increasing attention in British Guiana. While the area under 

 this crop in 1907-8 was 6,828 acres, it reached 8,315 acres 

 in 1908-9. The cacao area has also incieased from 1,832 to 

 2,181 acres, and that under coffee from 1,097 to 1,431 acres. 



As many as thirty-six varieties of cassava are under 

 cultivation at the Experiment Station, Tortola. Mr. Fishlock 

 rejiorts that some 200 pods were recently gathered from the 

 oacao trees at the station, and that the trees are in fair 

 «'i)ndition. 



The exports of rice from British (iiiiana from .January 1 

 lo Ajiril 28 last were 2,789,352 lb., as compared with 

 3,(142,279 lb. shipped in the corresponding period last year. 

 The distribution this year has been as follows : British West 

 Indies, 2,»!S9,342 lb. ; French Guiana, 56,550 lb. ; and 

 (Germany, 43, 160 lb. 



' Gum di.sease" is very common in phuitations of citrus 

 fruits in California. A panqjhlet (ISulhtia Xo. ,!(llj) has 

 lately been issued by the Kxperiment Station, Berkeley, 

 which deals in a thorough manner with the causes and 

 methods of control of this disease. The pamphlet is well 

 illustrated. 



The report for 1907-f^ of the Forest Otticer for Trinidad 

 has lately Ijeen issued. It is stated that good progi-ess has 

 been made with the demarcation of forest reserves during the 

 year, an additional 361 miles having been marked ott'. The 

 receipts from the sale of timber and other forest produce in 

 1907-8 were =£1,472, or an increa.se of £66 on the average 

 of the past fifteen years. 



The Agricultural Instructor at Xevis reports that fairly 

 good returns are being obtained this season from the sugar- 

 cane crop in the island. In most districts the average yield 

 of sugar is about 1 \ tons per acre, some areas giving slightly 

 more. These lesults are due to the favourable rains which 

 (jccurred from November to I'ebruary last. The canes were 

 planted late, and growth had not stopped when the rains 

 came on. 



Bulletin -i.'^.'f of the Bureau of Entomology, V. S. De- 

 partment of Agriculture, deals — from the farmer's standpoint 

 — with the cotton boll weevil, which does so much damage 

 in the I'nited States each year. The loss caused by tlie 

 weevil, since it invaded the United States, is estimated at 

 .■?! 25,000,000. It is a matter for congratulation that this 

 pest has not appeared in the West Indies. 



Shea butter nuts, the produce of /liit//riis/,frni.hm 

 Fnrl:ii, grow very extensively in many parts of Northern 

 Nigeria, and with the development of better facilities for 

 transjwrt a flourishing trade in this article is likely to grow 

 up. The percentage of fat in the nuts varies from 40 to 5.5. 

 This fat is suitable for candle and .soap manufacture, and at 

 the Imperial Institute it has been valued at £27 to £27 10*. 

 per ton, or about the same iis soft palm oil. {Aanncl 

 R,j,o,i, V.inr-S.) 



An article in the Mirmr, publi>lied at I'ort-of-Spaiii, 

 gives |)articulars as to the extent nf the operations carrieil oi> 

 at the Usine St. .Mad.eleine, Trinidad. Tlie factory mills the 

 canes from .seven estates, and the area covered by the crop 

 for the present year, which began in .lanuaiy, was about 

 6,000 acres. About 1,800 tons of canes can be crushed per 

 day, and this year it has needed about 13 tons of cane to 

 yield a ton of sugar. From this it will ba seen that the 

 factory turns out a|)proximately 1,000 tons of sugar per 

 week. The estimateil output from estate-grown cane this' 

 year is cxiiected lo reach 14,000 tons of sugar. Peasant- 

 grown canes are also bought in large amount, the cpiantity 

 pnrclia.scil last year being ."il.OOO tons. 



