Vol. XIII. No. 31 ^ 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



197 



REPORT ON THE WORKISG OF THE REUN- 

 ION LAND SETTLEMENT AND EXPERIMENT 

 yPATION, ST. LUCIA, FOR THE YEAR ENDING 

 AtARCH-U, ir<l/,. 



Communications including the report of Mr. A. Brooks, 

 the Otiicerin- Charge of the Government Estate (Reunion) 

 St. Lucia have been received at this office from the Admin- 

 istrator, and the following review deals briefly with the 

 establishment of the estate and more fully with the progress 

 that has been made in the working of it during the past year. 



It may be remembered that the estate of RiHinioii, with 

 the four small neighbouring estates in the Choiseul district 

 were purchased by the Government of St Lucia on February 

 22, 1913, at a cost of £1,928, the purchase money to be paid 

 in five equal annual instalments with interest. The acquire- 

 ment of this land was made, as has beer stated in the report 

 of the Local Agricultural Department, with a view to trans- 

 ferring thereto the Experiment Station formerly at Union; 

 the extension of the village of Choiseul: a: I for the .sale of 

 small holdings to the peasantry. In jfunherance of this 

 latter object the Crown Lands Ordinance, 187S, Amendment 

 Ordinance, 1913, was passed by the Council in December 

 1913, and regulations under the Ordinance were subsequently 

 made for the di.'posal to small holders of the land in question. 



A survey of the whole estate has now been made and 

 the value of the several allotments approved under the regu- 

 lations. As regards the Land Settlement (which constitutes 

 the larger part of the estate), there are forty-seven allotments 

 varying from 2 to 6 acres in area, at an appraised value of 

 about £7 per acre. According to Jlr Brooks' report, these 

 forty-seven lots occupy 1G5 acres, and roads are being laid 

 throughout this area to give each allottee a right of way. 

 Mr. Brooks further points out that the close proximity of the 

 new Experiment Station and Plant Nurseries, situated on the 

 remainder of the estate, should be of practical assistance to 

 the land settlement holders. Moreover the Lind t)flicer, 

 residing on the estate, is available at all times to render 

 assistance and advice. 



Turning more particularly to the observations made in the 

 report concerning the Experiment Station, it is stated that 

 the present buildings contain sugar machinery ( worked by 

 water power) which is in excellent working condition, but 

 the buildings themselves require careful attention to bring 

 them into proper order. To undertake the whole of this 

 work at one time would entail a somewhat heavy expendi- 

 ture which the present sugar crop would hardly justify. 

 It is therefore suggested that the work be done gradually. 



In considering the improvement of the buildings on the 

 estate, Mr. Brooks further calls attention to the possible 

 development of lime cultivation in the Choiseul district, the 

 rainfall of which (about 60 inches) is quite sufficient for 

 successful cultivation of this crop provided that care and 

 attention be given to the question of wind belts. Already on 

 the estate an example is being set in this connexion b)- the 

 planting of bamboo and Eucalyptus. 



In view of the existence of the sugar mill on the estate, 

 a'^sistance is being given to encourage the cultivation of 

 good varieties of sugar-cane and seven {-acre plots have 



been laid out and planted up with the following varieties: 

 D.109, D.62.5, D.116, B.147, B.376, B.208 and White 

 Transparent. Records are being kepi carefully as to the 

 suitability of these varieties for local conditions, and later on 

 cuttings will be distributed to Land Settlement holders. 



In view of the fact that many months would have to 

 elapse before the necessary legal arrangements could be 

 made for the disposal of the land under the Land Settlement 

 Scheme, arrangements were made at the beginning of 1913 

 to rent out as much of the land as possible to peasants for 

 the cultivation of ground provisions, at a rental of 18s. 

 per acre. Other land near the Choiseul River and village 

 boundary, being unsuitable for general cultivation, has been 

 reserved for house sites, at a monthly rental of Is. Twelve 

 sites have already been taken up and others are likely te 

 follow. There have as well been several land sales which 

 have helped or rather have been the principal source of 

 revenue during the year under review. 



At the time of writing, and indeed for several months 

 previous, the principal requirement of the estate has been an 

 adequate water su[)ply. The execution of the scheme where- 

 by the nurseries are to be irrigated with water elevated by 

 means of a hydraulic ram from the river which drives the 

 sugar-rnill, has been in progress for a considerable time, and 

 as soon as this scheme has been brought to a successful 

 conclusion it may be expected that the Experiment Station 

 will he well equipped for the raising of seedling plants for 

 the supply of the different estates, and for obtaining informa- 

 tion concerning the local suitability of crops, that should be 

 of the greatest assistance to the larger estates near by, as well 

 as to the pea.^ant owners on the Land Settlement. 



In conclusion it may be of interest to record that a map 

 of the estate has been received at this office. This shows od 

 a scale of 4 chains to the inch the arrangement and areas of 

 the allotments and the extent of the reserve and the position 

 of the roads and the river. 



Report on Agricultural Education, South 

 Africa. 1912-13.— In the letter of transmittal of the 

 Secretary for Agriculture covering this lengthy report, which 

 runs into 184 pages, it is stated that hitherto votes for 

 agriculture and agricultural education in the Union, although 

 appearing separately on the estimates, had been dealt with as 

 one vote, but in order to ensure better supervision and for 

 other reasons it has been decided to deal with them 

 separately, and to place each in charge of an Under Secretary. 

 It is claimed that no country in the world is less understood 

 from an agricultural point of view and therefore has greater 

 need of a sound educational policy than South xVfrica. The 

 country is vexed with more numerous, virulent pests and 

 diseases of live stock and crops than any other, and the recent 

 occupiers of the greater portion of the country are Europeans, 

 and the methods of farming pursued, makes a knowledge 

 of agriculture of an up-to-date kind difficult to acquire. 

 Until quite recently, very Kttle was done in South Africa in 

 the way of agricultural education or research by the Govern- 

 men's and practically nothing by private enterprise. At the 

 date of Union, the only research conducted was thaf, 

 undertaken by the Departments of Agriculture. When 

 Union took place it becanje necessary to concentrate the 

 threads of administration in the hands of a single Minister. 

 This led to the centralization and association of education 

 and research, the various local agricultural colleges whioh 

 had previously existed being maintained and further 

 strengthened by co-operation These colleges, situated in 

 various parts of the country, po.ssess farms which are repre- 

 sentative of the agricultural conditions of the Union. 



