188 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



Juxi-: 12, 1909. 



GLEANINGS. 



Dui-ing the year ended !Maic-li 31 last, 14,277,30(1 

 bunches of bananas were exported fnim Jamaica, as t-ciniiiared 

 with 13,950,767 bundles in 1907-S. 



A letter from Mr. .1. Afaginley ai)peared in the Colonizer 

 for May last, in which attention is drawn to the opportunity 

 that exists at Antigua for the establishment of one or two 

 central sugar factories. 



The ( kivernor of the f!old (.'oast has reported to the 

 Colonial Office that the cacao crop of the colony tor 1908 

 amounted to 28,545,910 Ih., as compared with 21,744,000 lb. 

 iu 1907. [Itdiird ot Tnidc Joiirnnl.) 



The British Cotton Growing Association recently made 

 a donation of i;15 t" the .lamaica Agricultural Siociety in 

 order to supplement the grant of £10 lately allotted by the 

 Sosiety for cotton exi)eriments this \eir. 



The Acting Agricultural Puperintendent. (irenada, 

 report.s that four Para rubber trees (Heri<i l/i-<ixl/>euxis) at 

 the Botanic Station are likely to yield a fair ipiantity of seed 



in the near future. 

 at Grenada. 



There is a good demand fur this seed 



From the commencement of the season up to .Tune 4, 

 there have been ship[)ed from Barbados 5,258 tons of sugar, 

 and 42,242 [)uncheons of mola.sses, as against 1(5,492 tons of 

 sugar, and 32,040 ])un<-heoiLS of molasses exported to the 

 sjime date last year. 



The Lnininl hliiiiiW dir.rltr cif May 2'.l last cdntainril 

 a notice to the ertect that up to .lune .30 next, a sum of \tl. 

 ■would be paid for the dead liody of each male numgoose, and 

 3i/. for the body of each fcmali' ninngoo>r, ilrli\ ru'd at the 

 Police Station, Antiirua. 



Tlu" sugar returns from .Java show a consider.iblo increa.se 

 in tlie output. In 1908, there were pioduccd 1,. 3,3.^,455 tons 

 of .sugiir, as compared with l,2f<2,705 tons in 1907, and 

 1,133,525 tons in 190(1. During the past year, some 170 

 sugar mills have Ih'cu in opcr.itioii. (/'. .V. (\,iixiil<n- Rc/iortx.) 



Tlie rci>ort for 19()S on the Sugar Ivvpcriment Station 

 at Audubon Bark, Louisiana, menl'ii>ns that a number of 

 cane loaders of which publii' trials were made in past years 

 at the Station have for the past two seasons been actively 

 employed in the cane fields of the State. They have been 

 of great assistance, and h ive effected considerable economy. 



Me.s.srs. Bo.se iS; Co., of Dominica, are now oflfering 3.<. 

 per barrel for lime.S and old. per gallon for raw lime juice. 

 A shipment of clo.se upon 4,000 barrels of green limes was 

 despatched from Roseau for Xew York on ilay 28 last, by 

 the Quebec liner ' Korona.' {Dominira (!u(u-di(ta.) 



The total sum realized at the animal sale of live stock 

 held by the British Guiana Board of Agriculture in February 

 last was 8972"50, the expenses being 897"t^5. A jmre-bred 

 Shorthorn bull, two years old, was lately imported from th? 

 United States by the Board. This promisf.s to be a very 

 satisfactory- animal. Its total co.st (including iniportatiou 

 expenses) was |!303'19. 



According to a paper recently- read before the Society 

 of Arts by Mr. John Ferguson, the cacao area of Cejdon has- 

 increased from 300 acres in 1878 to some 29,000 acres at 

 the present time. The districts in which the cacao is grown 

 are chiefly around and north of Kandy. The area under 

 spices (cliietly cardamoms), which was 1,200 acres in 1880, 

 was now 8,500 acres. 



A new record in butter-fat production was lately 

 created by the achievement at the Cornell ' diversity 

 Ex]ieriment Station of a Holstein cow ' 2nd's Homstead.' 

 This animal gave a yield of 2844 lb. of butter-fat, ecjual to- 

 35 '55 lb. of commercial butter, in seven days. The milk of 

 Holstein cows does not contain a large percentage of fat, so 

 that this represents a Tery high milk-yielding capacity. 



A writer in Farm Lite deprecates the general u.se of 

 tonics and spices for poultry. AVhcn tlie birds are 

 moulting, or at other times when a tonic is needed, a little 

 iron is the best thing to give. This .should be prejiared by 

 adding .',-lb. f)f .sulphate of iron and three drops of sulphuric- 

 acid to a ipiart of water. The mixture should be kept in 

 a glass or wooden ves.sel, and about a tables|ioonful given iu 

 each (juart of drinking-water. 



Reports from .Tamaica state that American capitalists are 

 interesting themselves in the [iroject of extending the ca.ssava 

 starch industry in the island. Investigations and enquiries 

 have lately been made in two parishes at Jamaica with 

 a view to establishing factories for the treatment of the cassava 

 roots, and it is suggested that a considerable proportion of 

 the starch recpiired in the textile industries of the Unitcil 

 States iiKiy ultimately be imported fmm Jamaica. 



Attention is diawti by the United States Consul at 

 I'ort-au-l'rince to the great capacity of extensive area.s of 

 land in Haiti for the production of such crops as fruit, 

 cotfee, sugar, and cacao. An average Haitian cotfee crop is 

 about 50,000,000 to 60,000,0(-l0 It)."^, and the product is of 

 high cpiality. It is stated that this yield could be greatly 

 augmented if proper attention were given to the transplanting 

 and care of the trees. 



All article in the A'iriiidtiind llnllcfiii of the Federated 

 Malay States (April 1909) briefly di.scusses the ipiestion of 

 clean weeding reraiix the growth of weeds under permanent 

 crops such as rubber, cacao and limes. A plant which is- 

 stated to have been fouud suitable for growing uiulcr rubber 

 is Tejihroaia jxir/iiireit. This belongs to the Leguiuiiio.sae. 

 When full-grown this jdant is from 5 to (i feet high, and of 

 a s|u-eadiiig habit, ^^ll,uy species of Teplirosia occur ia 

 Jamaica and other West Indian islands. 



