182 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



Junk 12, 1909. 







WEST INDIAN 



Messrs. Wolstcnholme & ^ 



writing under date of Jlay 24. last, report as fuliows on 

 the sales of West Indian Sea Island cotton : — 



COTTON. 

 Holland, of Liverpool, 



Since last mail from :!()U lo :\7>() Lags of West Indian 

 8ea Island cotton liave been sold at firm jirioes. The sales 

 include Anguilla, 14'/. : Antigua, lohd. and 14'/. ; Moiit- 

 .serrat, 12i'/. and 13irf. ; Nevis and St. Kitt's, 13'/. and 

 13.','/. ; St' Martin, I old. and lid.: Virgin Islands, 13'/. ; 

 and St. Vincent, IQd. 



Although there has been ratlier too much rain in the 

 Carolina district, there is jdcnty of time for the crop to 

 recover, and we expect the ata-eage will be a fair average 

 one. 



PERUVIAN GUANO. 



In reference to the article entitled ' (Juano 

 appearing in the Ai/i'ii-nlfiirdl Xi-iiw of April 3 last 

 (page 103), a correspondent draws attention to the 

 remark contained therein : ' In passing, it may be said 

 that the hcsi Peruvian guano deposics have been 

 exhausted. ' This is strictly correct, having in mind 

 the old Chincas deposits, but our correspondent sug- 

 gests that the sentence is partially misleading, in that 

 it leaves the reader to infer that there are no longer 

 any high-grade guano deposits, whereas stocks of 

 Peruvian guano are now obtainable on the market, 

 which analyse 12 per cent, and over of ammonia. 



ranean catchment in the limestone hill, to the north of the 

 plains. The possibilij;ies of utilizing this water for the 

 irrigation of the Vero lands are now receiving the attention 

 of the leading jiroprietors, and there is no doubt at all that 

 the project is feasiljle and liound to succeed, if the necessary 

 caiiital were forthcoming. 



The results obtained by Mr. T. H. Sharp at Angels 

 estate, in lifting water for irrigation by au American 

 centrifugal pimip show that pumping is far less costly than 

 had been anticipated by experts in Jamaica, and that there 

 are great possibilities for the development of our arid plains 

 by statable systems of [lumiiiiig tlie underflow for i>nrposes 

 of irrigation. 



The factory at Moreland.s is the most complete and 

 etticient yet established in Jamaica. The machinery was 

 made by the Harvey Engineering Company, and the neatnes.s 

 and compactness of the installation reflect great credit on 

 the engineer. 



A distillery has been erected which is a model of cleanli- 

 ness and convenience. An enormous output of clean rum 

 with a light, aromatic flavour can be relied on here with 

 good management. The price of rum lieing now so favour- 

 able, it is very wise to devote great attention to the distillery, 

 and this department should greatly strengthen the industrial 

 position of the factory. 



CENTRAL SUGAR FACTORY AT VERE, 



JAMAICA. 



A new series of the Balli'tin of the .Tani.aica I )epart- 

 iiient of Agriculture has just been started under the 

 editorship of Mr. K H. Cousins, M.A., Director of 

 Agriculture. Part 1 of \'()1. I has just come to hand, 

 and contains the following brief, but interesting 

 uccount of the Central Sugar Factory at Morelaiids, 

 the property of the Vere Estates, Ltd. : — 



The largest sugar enter|irise that has been launched in 

 Jamaica since the I'russels Convention ]jut fresh courage 

 into the hearts of the West Indian sugar planter.s is that of 

 Vere Estates, Ltd. lliilsiilc and Raynjonds estates, together 

 with Morelands, formed the initial basis of the combination, 

 with 1,000 acres of cane in cultivation. 



A total area of 9,.")G0 acres of land, and wharf accommo- 

 dation at Salt Itivcr represent the scope of the concern, and 

 already a large extent of new lands has been jilanted in canes. 



The railway system connects all the fields with the 

 factorv, and this again with thoi wharf on the Salt liiver, 

 from winch the |iro(luce is despatched by boat. 



The upper waters of the Salt liiver are fresh, and 

 evidently result from the overflow of an enormous subtor- 



CACAO PRODUCTION IN BAHIA, BRAZIL. 



The Brazilian State of Baliia possesses extensive 

 areas of some of the most fertile lands in the republic, 

 and it would appear that on those lands the Bahian 

 planters are finding cacao cultivation a very profitable 

 industry. The British Consul ;it Brthia lately furiushed 

 the following particulars: — 



It is estimated that about 40,0U0 acres are tnnler cacao 

 cultivation in the State, and that .some 10,000,000 trees are 

 in bearing. In lOOT'-S the total output of cacao reached 

 2-5,000 metric tons. About 2.")0 trees are planted jier acre, 

 and the average yield per tree may be taken as about ^rb lb. 

 of dried beans. With the exercfso of more intelligent care 

 and attention there is little doubt that this average could be 

 largely increased, since the product of one well known and 

 carefully cultivated plantatinn averages (iver 13 11>. per tree 

 per season. 



During the past few years some attempts have been 

 made to replace the older method of drying the cacao beans 

 in tlie sun bv a .system in which artiflcial heat is used. 

 These ellbils have biJon satisfactory in that the cacao dried 

 by artificial means is .suiierior and more regular in colour, 

 and also fetches a higher price on the market. The introduc- 

 tion of the system is, however, expensive, and so far it has 

 been adopted oidy by a few wealthy ])lanters. 



llra/.il, as a wlinle, l'unii^lie> at the present time some- 

 thing ovev one-lifth of the wnld's supply of cacao. Of that 

 proportion, the State of Hahia contributes over SO per cent. : 

 hence it will be seen that this State o<-cui)ies a position of 

 con.siderable importance in the cacao markets of the world. 

 The output from liahia has increased from 14,000 metric 

 tons in 1901-2, to 2.5,1S2 tons in 1907-t>, and to 27,000 

 tons (estimated) in 1908-9. This cacao is largely exported 

 to the United States, Cermany, and France. The United 

 Kingdom also takes a proportion. 



The advance iii "the Ikhian output of cacao has been 

 especially marked in the i)ast three years, and the Consul 



