Vol. XIII. No. 315. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



163 



apparent to all that the local corn was thoroughly dried and 

 seemed to be of even better quality thau that which came 

 from America. The third question would be tested by 

 sealing up a sample of the locallj- dried corn and a similar 

 sample of the imported grain; these samples, as stated below, 

 ■would be stored under proper conditions, and a committee 

 would at the end of three months report upon their condition. 

 If, at the end of that time, the Antigua corn proved to be in 

 as good a condition as the American article, it might be taken 

 for granted that the local grain would keep as well as the 

 foreign maize and that it would be worth the same money. 

 A? a further example of the active interest which the Gov- 

 ernment are showing in this matter, it may be noted that 

 convenient storage room for grain has been provided 

 for the local planters in the Antigua gaol. His Excel- 

 lency in continuation reminded his hearers that Antigua 

 annually imported about 15,000 bushels of maize and 14,000 

 barrels of cornmeal. All this meant the expenditure of 

 many thousands of pounds, and he hoped that, in future, 

 instead of sending all the money abroad, it might go into the 

 pockets of the local planters and peasants. 



In a letter recently received from Mr. H. A. Temj'any, 

 15. Sc, Superintendent of Agriculture for the Leeward 

 Islands, under whose direction the f^ictory has been erected, 

 it is stated that the premises are situated in Newgate Street, 

 a convenient location for subsequent developments if they 

 should take place. The plant consists of a No. 1 Hess drier, 

 together with a small sheller, driven by a 6 h.p. steam 

 engine, the boiler to drive which heats also the steam coils of 

 the drier. 



The corn is conveyed from the sheller to the drier in 

 wooden boxes which are hoisted by means of a crane; the 

 cnpacity of the machine working under these conditions is 

 about 60 bushels of shelled grain per day; a higher rate of 

 ■working is limited bj- the capacity of the sheller; the limit of 

 capacity of the drier is about 200 bushels per day. 



The drying is complete in about one hour and is per- 

 formed at a temperature of 150" F.; the initial moisture 

 content of the grain has been found to range from 17.^, to 

 20 per cent, after drying; the moisture content is reduced to 

 11^4 per cent , on the average: the diving is being controlled 

 by moisture determinations on each charge of grain by the 

 Brown 1 )uvel method. 



Storage accommodation is provided for 200 bushels of 

 shelled grain, which quantity it is proposed shall be purchased 

 from planters and stored for a period of about tliree months 

 to test its keeping qualities; the total quantity of grain 

 intended to be handled in the experiment is 1,000 bushels, 

 and no charge is being made for drying in the first instance. 



It is anticipated that the duration of the experiment 

 shall be about three months: should it prove a success it is 

 hoped that operations on a larger scale will be undertaken; 

 it is further proposed to add to the plant in a short time 

 a small meal-making machine. 



According to the Experiment Station Record (January 

 1914) Agronnmia. No. 5 (1913), contains a paper in which 

 a number of wild fruits belonging to the genera Psidiuia, 

 Eugenia, RoUinia and Anona, are described with special 

 reference to their value for cultivation, particularly in 

 Paraguay. The same journal contain.^ a notice of Mr. C, J J. 

 van Hall's fir.^t report on selection tests of Robusta coffee, 

 a large number of plants having been studied with reference 

 to numerous variations. 



MAURITIUS AND AGRICULTURAL 

 BANKS. 



In the Colonial Journal for April 1914, an article gives- 

 consideration to the question of co-operative banks for the 

 Indian small planters of Mauritius, Recently the Govern- 

 ment appointed Mr. Wilberforce, who has had much 

 experience in India, to advise in the matter, and the con- 

 clusions he has arrived at are given in the article under 

 consideration. At the beginning of the enquiry every one 

 pointed out that the circumstances of ths Indian in Mauritius 

 and India were different, that Indians in the colony are of 

 different races and religion, and that not one of them trusted 

 any other; that by becoming civilized they had lost the 

 honesty of a more simple peo[)le; that they are always fight- 

 ing and litigating; that they live in scattered hamlets one or 

 more of which form a village, and that no commune spirit 

 exists in these villages. While admitting the justice of these 

 criticisms to a large extent, Mr. Wilberforce was not 

 disheartened by these difficulties, as they are for prac- 

 tical purposes precisely the same as were met with 

 and successfully overcome in India. Moreover, the 

 colonial Indian is much more inteliigent than the 

 Indian at home. He has seen more of the world, 

 and has acquired new tastes and ambitions. The frugal 

 Indian of simple wants represents an original type which is 

 disappearing in Mauritius. There is therefore no occasion on 

 this ground to doubt that co-operative banks would be less 

 successful in Mauritius than in India: but it would be 

 necessary to educate the people in the matter, and to help 

 them with Government supervision. 



For several reasons which space prevents our going into 

 here, and from experience obtained in India, Mr. Wilberforce 

 advises that banks with share capital but of the RaifFeisen 

 type have the best prospects among Indians in Mauritius. 

 It is proposed that Government should advance to co operative 

 banks sums not larger than Rs. 10,000 at 6 per cent, and that 

 the amount advanced should not be larger than the share 

 capital that is actually subscribed, and the advance to be 

 repayable in instalments spread over ten years. Government 

 should have full power to recover the whole amount at any 

 time, if it considered the bank is mis-managed, or for any other 

 reason. The whole of the profits from the Government loan 

 should be placed in the Reserve. 



It is admitted that these proposals and others which we 

 have not mentioned have the defect that they favour a bank 

 of wealthy members and are of small benefit to a bank of 

 poor members who all wish to borrow and can save little or 

 nothing. But this argument does not apply as strongly in 

 Mauritius as in India, as few Indians in the colony have not 

 some buried money, and after the crop everyone can afford to 

 buj- one or two shares of capital of Us. 10 each with money 

 which otherwise would probably be wasted. 



A copy has just been received of the new (1914) edition 

 of the St. Vincent Handbook, Directory and Almanac, The 

 continued prosperous condition of St. Vincent seems to 

 justify the decision that a revised edition of this handbook 

 should be published every alternate year. After the almanac, 

 the book contains a summary of the events during 1913, which 

 are of considerable local interest. This is followed by 

 historical notes of more general interest. The institutions 

 and civil establishments of the colony are then described, and 

 a special section is devoted to the agriculture of the colony. 

 The chapter on towns has been rewritten. At the end of 

 the book there is a business directory and an index. 



