ToL. VIII. No. 200. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



415 



Arrangements are being made by the Live Stock Com- 

 mittee of the Board for the importation of a bull immune to 

 Texas fever. A bull of this kind has already been imported 

 from the United States, together with three rams. A report 

 of the Exhibition Committee shows that interest in ground 

 provisions is wanting, to a great extent on the part of grow- 

 ers. Statistics issued by the Sugar-canes Experiment 

 ■Committee show that the area planted with new varieties of 

 cane constituted 52-9 per cent, of the total under sugar 

 cultivation in the colony; the greatest increases have 

 been made by D.62.5 and B.'^GS. On the part of the 

 Subsidiary Products Committee, 13, -500 lb. of seed paddy 

 of the best varieties of rice were distributed free of cost to 

 cultivators. The work of this committee with rubber trees 

 has shown that, under the conditions existing on the coast 

 of Demerara, Herea bi-ajilliendx and Sapiam Jenriumi require 

 shelter from wind and exposure to the sun, if they are to 

 make satisfactory growth. 



MANUPJAL EXPERIMENTS WITH ONIONS. 



Investigations were commenced at the Experiment 

 Station, Nassau, Bahamas Islands, in October 1908, for the 

 purpose of gaining information as to the manurial require- 

 ments of onions, under the conditions of the experiment. 

 According to an account in the Jtulh'lin of the Department 

 of Agriculture, Bahamas, Vol. JV, No. 3, three sections of 

 land were prepared for the purpose in the following way: 

 First of all, the weeds were taken out and removed. Then 

 the land was forked to a -depth of 9 inches, and the manures 

 applied broadcast; for pulverizing the soil and covering the 

 manures, the draw-hoe was used. Next, drills 1 inch deep 

 and 9 inches apart were made, and seeds of red and white 

 Bermuda onions were .sown, and covered in evenly by means 

 of the rake. Lastly, the soil was made firm by the pressure 

 of the feet, and the plots were given a liberal c[uantity of 

 water. As the w^atering was done by hand, the labour 

 expenses were higher than if a modern system of irrigation 

 had been employed. 



The results obtained are summarized in the following 

 table, in which the figures are given for 1 acre. As the 

 plots themselves each had an area of only a small fraction of 

 an acre, and as they were not all equal in size, the results 

 must be taken as being broadly indicative of the actual 

 manurial reijuirements of the onion, under the conditions of 

 the experiment. The value of the yield was arrived at by 

 taking the retail price of the onions at \fl. per lb. 



Manurial treatment. 



Cost of 

 labour. 

 £ s. d. 



Cost of 

 manure. 

 £ s, d. 



Value of 

 produce, 

 s. d. 



Profit. 



4G0 10 



£ 

 129 



10 



£ s. d. 

 73 10 



6 6 107 ly 4 .5.5 12 i 



107 

 43 



18 4 



3 4- 



1 a. ISA cwt. blood) 



and bone I 



1 b. 18i cwt. pulver-) 



ized sheep manure I 

 1 c. 18i cwt. cotton I 



seed meal j 



1 d. No manure 



2. 36 cwt. cow manure 



3. 18 cwt. cotton seed"! 

 meal J 



In plot Ic, the cotton seed meal was applied before 

 planting; in plot 3, it was broadcasted and lightly covered 

 in, after the plants had been thinned out. In all cases, the 

 thinning out was to the extent of leaving the seedlings 2 

 inches ajiart in the row. The sections were in soils of dif- 

 ferent fertility. No. 1 (containing plots la, lb, Icand Id) 



800 



.5 

 8 



67 10 

 .56 



.53 IS 4 



(2 1 6 8) 

 16 10 



2 



was in a soil of what may be termed intermediate fertility. 

 In section 2, the soil was poor, and in section 3 very poor. 

 It appears that, owing to the smallness of the plots, the extra 

 cost of labour in manuring (over the unnianured plot) \va.s 

 negligible. 



In considering these results, it must be remembered 

 that the experiments were carried out on an intensive scale. 

 By this is meant that minute pains were taken in the matter 

 of the cultivation, manuring, and care of small plots, in order 

 that a large yield may be obtained from them. Similar work 

 would be difficult in the case of very large areas. 



It seems tliat these experiments are worth repeating, the 

 conditions as regards soil being made similar in every case. 



WILD IPECACUANHA AND STOCK. 



On page 222 of the current volume of the Agri- 

 cultural N'cws, it is stated that the question as to the 

 poisonous effect on cattle of the wild ipecacuanha 

 (xi.fclt'piafi curassaoUu) had recently been raised. 

 Since then, i:otes in connexion with this have appeared 

 on pages 2(jl and 363. An interesting practical inves- 

 tigation of the subject has recently been made by the 

 St. Kitts Agrictdttiral and Commercial Society, the 

 particulars of which are given below, from a report 

 furnished by the Honorary Secretary (Mr. F. R. 

 Shepherd): — 



At a meeting of the Agricultural and Commercial Society, 

 St. Kitts, it was decided that a sum of £5 should be placed 

 at the disposal of the Secretary for the purpose of conducting 

 experiments with a young ox, in order to find out if it would 

 eat the plant, and if any evil consequences to the animal 

 followed its administration. The trials were carried out in 

 the following manner: — 



(1) Attempts were made to cause the ox to eat the bu.sh 

 of its own accord, by concealing the ]ilant in the fodder given 

 it at night, and by covering the plant with molasses and 

 offering it in this state to the animal. In both cases the ox 

 refused to taste the bush. 



(2) The whole bush was then finely cut up, ami well 

 mixed with oilmeal and molasses, in balls, on which the 

 animal was fed every day for seven days, by their being 

 forced down its throat. No ill effects resulted from this. 



(3) A strong infusion of the plant was made by boiling 

 it in water. Two large bottles of this were given to the ox, 

 when, as before, there were no ill effects ; on the contrary, 

 the animal seemed to improve imder the treatment. 



The committee which was appointed to conduct these 

 ex]ieriments came to the following conclusions, as the result 

 of its observations: that cattle will not eat the plant when it 

 is growing on pastures: that when the plant is given to them 

 in the crude state, or as an infusion, against their will, no ill 

 ettects take place: finally, as following what has just been 

 stated, that this plant is not poisonous to cattle. 



Such are the results of a very interesting practical 

 enquiry into this question. The Department has already 

 asked for information on the subject, and is indebted 

 to those who have so far complied with its request. 

 This request is now repeated, and it is hoped that those 

 who have made any actual, practical observations in 

 the matter will communicate them, in order to provide 

 material which may aid further in the inquiry. 



