Vol. XIII. No. 307. 



THK AGRICULTURAL XEWS. 



?.d 



ST. AITTSNEVIS: REPORT ON THE AGRI- 

 CULTURAL DEPARTMENT, 19V;-1!. 



The weather in St. Kitts during early months of 1912 

 was generally unfavourable for plant growth, particularly on 

 the Leeward side of the island where the Botanic Station is 

 situated. (Ireat difficulty was experienced, therefore, in 

 maintaining the good appearance of the Gardens and a large 

 amount of effort was required in certain cases to keep the 

 plants alive. 



The section of this report dealing with work in the 

 nurseries shows that there has been very litde demand for 

 economic plants such as limes or cacao since the cultivation 

 of these crops is not being extended. The principal plants 

 distributed were mulberry trees (.l/oc/'s aVin) and various 

 palms and ornamental plants. It is worthy of note that 

 conditions in St. Kitts are probably suitable for the growth 

 of AlcM-ites I'ordii the useful and ornamental wood oil tree 

 of the Central Provinces of China. 



EM'ERI.MENTS WITH FCONOMIC PL.\NTS. 



The economic plot experiments at La Gucrite have 

 included the usual trials with provision crops, and an impor- 

 tant feature of this work has been the large number of 

 cuttings and seed distributed for planting purposes. In 

 connexion with these experiment?, special attention may be 

 called to the results obtained with varieties of sweet potatoes 

 and yams. These experiments have been carried on for 

 a number of .vear.-, and figures indicate a great variation in 

 the yield of the different varieties. In continuation, it is 

 worthy of notice that the variety of ground nut known as 

 Carolina Running seems best suited to local conditions, and 

 attention may be called to the important demonstration with 

 onions, which showed that even in the face of bad weather 

 conditions, amounts per acre of this produce can be raised 

 worth £37 on the local market. It is hoped that an 

 attempt will be made in St. Kitts to extend onion cultivation 

 in connexion with etlbrts that are being exerted to establish 

 a AVest Indian market in Canada for this vegetable. The 

 manurial experiments with pine-apples, which are considered 

 next, seem to indicate that proper nitrogenous manuring will 

 pay. The diseased condition of this fruit known as 'black 

 heart' appears to be a so called 'ripe rot' which develops only 

 after the fruits have reached maturity. 



WEU .MANUl;l.\L RE.SULT.S WITH TOTTOX. 



The work done with cotton during the year has been 

 interesting. For the first time for nine years are increases 

 recorded from the application of manures, and it would 

 appear that the soil at La Guerite is now arriving at a stage 

 at which fertilizers will exert on cotton a beneficial rather 

 than an adverse effect. Selection work wj^h cotton has been 

 continued along the same lines as in fomvpr years, and seed 

 has been raised for planting purposes on the estates. The 

 importance of this work, ensuring, as it does, a requisite 

 degree of uniformity in the lint produced, cannot be over- 

 estimated. Hybridization work has beep continued, and 

 there are indications that the cross, Barbados x St. Eustatius 

 Native F, will lead to the establishment of a useful type. 



PL.VNT PKST.S .^Nn DISE.\.SES. 



Work connected with insect pests and plant diseases 

 have been conducted principally by the scientific officers of 

 the Imperial Department, in regard to the sugar-cane. The 

 Entomologist conducted during the year important experi- 

 ments in regard to soil inhabiting grubs, and considerable 

 attention was given to the red rot disease of the sugar-cane 

 by Messrs. South and Dunlop. 



The results of this work have already been described ia 

 detail in the Ai/rkultural Nei''S. 



GENERAL PROGEESS. 



Progress in the chief industries depends very largely 

 upon the climatic conditions. Hence it is not surprising to 

 find the exports of sugar some 2,000 tons below the average. 

 In the case of cotton, too, the dry weather aflfected the 

 yield; but the two circumstances that cotton can be grown 

 as a catch crop with sugar-cane, and can command, by 

 reason of its great fineness, a high price on the market, have 

 helped to counterbalance the general difficulties experienced 

 by estates during the year under review. 



In connexion with cotton cultivation in general, appre- 

 ciation may be expressed in the matter of the good work 

 which continues to be carried out in Anguilla. 



Ai,RICULTUr>AL AFFAIRS IN NEVIS. 



The publication under review includes a report by the 

 Agricultural Instructor, Nevis. Experiments with provision 

 crops continue to be carried on at the Nevis station, but the 

 most important work of this nature is the selection of cotton. 

 As in the case of St. Kitts, Nevis also has suffered from the 

 effects of drought. The trouble was accentuated, unfortu- 

 nately, by an exhaustion of the supply of Paris green and 

 the consequent inability to control the later attacks of cotton 

 worm. Provision has been made by the Government to 

 prevent any reoccurrence of this untoward circumstance. 



In both Nevis and St. Kitts the annual agricultural 

 shows proved a great .success, a result which arose principally 

 owing to the activities of the agricultural officers and to the 

 co-operation of the planters. 



DEPARTMENT NEWS. 



Mr. W. Xowell, 1). I. C , returned to Barbados hy 

 the S.S. 'Farima' on January 24, 1914, from a visit to 

 St. Lucia where con.siderable attention was given to the 

 root disease of cacao, which is prevalent in certain 

 districts of that island. Several important observations 

 on minor mycologioal matters were also made. 



The Annual Keport on the Forest Administration of 

 Southern Nigeria for the year 1912 shows that the following 

 timber was exported during the year: 15,565 logs of 

 mahogany valued at £78,007; 37 tons of ebony valued at 

 £103; 277 cwt. of camwood valued at £46. This gives 

 a total value of £78,156. The report also shows that useful 

 ecenomic experiments have been made in regard to the 

 tapping of Funtumia and other rubber trees. Three 

 thousand four hundred and thirty-five pounds of first quality 

 sold at 3v. 10'/. per Bb., realizing £658 7s., whilst 66 Bb. of 

 scrap fetched £i 19s., giving a total of £663 6s. The total 

 cost of the tapping operations, not including supervision, 

 was £200 7^-. 6(1., thus showing a net profit on the whole 

 transaction of £462 19s. 



