92 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



March 14, 1914. 



During January, the Assistant Superintendent, 

 St. Vincent, visited the Grenadines to report on the prospects 

 of establishing a lime industry in these places. During the 

 same month in St. Lucia, the Assistant Agricultural Super- 

 intendent there was occupied with considerable travelling in 

 connexion with the survey work of the Land Settlement 

 plots and the recent tour of the Mycologist of this 

 Department. 



GLEANINGS. 



Reference is made in the Porl-of-Spain Gazette to the 

 success which has attended tobacco growing in Tobago during 

 the past year or two. It is stated that from 100 plants 

 one grower is known to have made '"JS (£1 13s. id.) within 

 three months. 



A copy has just been received of the new book 

 on maize: its history, cultivation, handling and uses, by 

 Joseph BruttDavie, F.L.S., Government Agrostologist 

 and Botanist, Department of Agriculture of the Union of 

 South Africa. 



The Antigua Sim (February 2, 1914) reports that 

 a meeting of the Antigua Horticultural Society took place 

 on January 30. At this it was decided that the rules of the 

 society should be printed, and in regard to the matter 

 of seed importation, that seed should be obtained under the 

 auspices of the society. 



According to the Journal of the Royal Society oj Arts 

 (January 30, 1914) a committee has just been formed in Paris 

 for the purpose of organizing an International Exhibition of 

 living insects, fish and birds for the aviary. The exhibition 

 will be held this year in the grounds of the Jardin d' 

 AcclimatatioD, in the Bois de Boulogne. 



Considerable activity is being shown in the Virgin 

 Lslands in regard to coconut demonstration plots and the 

 establishment of coco-nut nurseries. Another useful line of 

 work is that of cotton selection, the idea being to raise high- 

 grade seed so as to obviate the necessity of importing plant- 

 ing material from the neighbouring island of St. Kitta. 



Losses to the cotton crop are recorded from Montserrat 

 as the result of boll dropping and a discolouration of lint 

 evidently caused by a fungus. It is to be feared that the 

 second crop of cotton is likely to be unsatisfactory. Some 

 loss from boll dropping has occurred in Antigua also. 



It is stated in the Colonial Reports — Annual, No. 788, 

 that the weight and value of the Mauritius sugar crop for 

 the last five years in tons and millions of rupees respectively, 

 Js a.« follows: 1908-9, 191,491. value 28-7; 1909-10, 246,560, 

 value, 41-9; 191011, 214,372, value, 30-4; 1911-12, 165,806, 

 value, 320; 191213, 206,677, value, 28-9 (10 78 

 rupees = £1). 



The Zambesia Company in Portuguese East Africa, have, 

 for some years, according to The Board of Trade Journal 

 (January 1-5, 1914) been conducting experiments with cotton, 

 and good results are stated to have been obtained from 

 Nyasaland Upland seed. A great deal of trouble has been 

 caused in the field by a plague of rats, which destroyed nine- 

 tenths of the 1913 crop. 



A circular has just been received from the Superintendent 

 of Agriculture for the Leeward Islands, which contains advice 

 in regard to the control of leaf-blister mite, for the benefit of 

 cotton cultivators in the Virgin Islands. The importance of 

 keeping a sharp lookout for the first appearance of the 

 disease and of quickly destrosing infested material is 

 emphasized. The information is plainly worded, and the 

 circular should serve a very useful purpose. 



From references that have been made in regard to the 

 matter in this journal from time to time, it will be realized 

 that considerable attention is being given by the Agricultural 

 Department in Antigua to the extension of vegetable growing 

 in that island. An interesting feature of the work is that 

 efforts are being made to increase the amount and quality of 

 vegetables of temperate countries, like English potatoes, 

 tomatoes and onions. It has been proposed to grow English 

 potatoes along the banks in the cane fields. 



According to The Board of Trade Journal (February 5, 

 1914) the following are the reduced export duties in aid of agri- 

 culture in Trinidad and Tobago for 1914. The rates of duty 

 on cacao (100 lb.) has been reduced from \d. to ft/.; sugar 

 (1,000 ft.) from 3^,1 to Id.; coco-nuts (1,000 nuts) 2hd. to 

 \hd.; copra (1,000 lb.) 7|ti to Zd. Even greater reductions 

 have been made in aid of emigration, on articles produced'in 

 Trinidad. For details, reference should be made to the 

 source from which this information has been taken. 



Considerable correspondence has taken place recently in 

 the Malaya papers, in regard to the reduction of coolie wages, 

 and the general opinion seems to be that the present rate 

 should be lowered. Already on one estate free Javanese 

 tappers, who were previously paid 50c. per day for a task 

 of 300 trees have had their wages reduced to the rate of 40c. 

 for a task of 401) trees. This reduction will affect 1,000 

 workmen and mean a saving, even ignoring the gain as regards 

 increased task, of £4,200 per annum. (Planters' Chronicle, 

 January 3, 1914.) 



An interesting note appears in Nature (February 5, 

 1914) in regard to a method of obtaining permanent prepa- 

 rations of protozoa in the state in which they are found 

 living in the soil. The best fixative for clay soils is: satu- 

 rated aqueous solution of mercuric chloride, 1 pint; methy- 

 lated spirit, 1 pint. The soil should be crumbled into this 

 fluid, and mixing is best accomplished by gently shaking the 

 containing vessel, care being taken to avoid making the clay 

 of the soil pass into suspension. A delicate film containing 

 protozoa will appear on the surface of the liquid, and this 

 can be removed by floating covers lips over it and stained by 

 the usual methods. 



