Vol. XIII. No. 32G. 



THE AGEICULTUKAL NEWS. 



:U9 



made when planting begins next .June. The same attitude 

 is ado|)ted in the other cotton growing islands. 



ST. LUCIA. Mr. .J. C. Moore, formerly Agricultural 

 Superintendent, visited this island on his return from England 

 ])reviou.s to proceeding to Grenada to take up his new post as 

 Superintendent <;if Agriculture of that Colony. A report from 

 tlie British Cotton Growing Associatio)! .states that a shipment 

 of St. Lucia lime juice has recently sold at the high price of 

 £^r2 10s. per ]jipe. From all reports it seems that the 

 ))r(ispects before lime juice are e.xceedingly good. In this 

 connexion it may be added that the future before cotton is 

 not as gloomy as was tlicnight in some quarters soon after 

 the outbreak of \vai-. 



The monthly report of the Assistant Agricultural 

 Superintendent for September states that there are over 

 seventy families working free grants of land adjoining the 

 Experiment Station at Reunion, and their gardens are becom- 

 ing well stocked. A similar effort was made at Union but 

 only seven people took land, and ouiy one of these has com- 

 menced to work it. During September, the cacao crop was 

 promising and the second crop of limes that was then coming 

 in ijroniised to be a gooil one. The sugar crop is reported to 

 be very promising except in the district where the drought 

 has been severe. An extension of the area under sugar has 

 been made wherever ixjssible, owing to the active state of the 

 market. During the month, + casks of concentrated lime juice 

 were shipped from the Government Lime -Juice Factory. 

 This completed the lirst crop of the present schshii nnd 

 totalled ()38Ji gallons or li) casks. 



lioMiNjcA. The Curator, Mr. .Joseph Jones, re.jjorts 

 that the lime cro|) is coming in slowly and is likely to 

 continue up to .lanuary or later. The latest cable (juotations 

 for concentrated lime juice were £4.3 to £4-5 per pijie. Local 

 ])rices are as follows: green limes Hs. per barrel; ripe limes 

 7s. (ill. per barrel: raw lime juice Is. 2|rf. to Is. 4rf. per 

 gallon. In Dominica some trouble has been caused of late 

 by fungus diseases of the roots of limes and ot cacao. As 

 leported in the last issue of the Agricultural .N'ews, the 

 Mycologist to the Imperial Department of Agriculture is at 

 present in Dominica investigating these outbreaks. Mr. F. 1!. 

 Shepherd, acting Superintendent of Agricultm-e for the 

 Leeward Islands, visited Dominica for a few days during 

 September. An interesting and im])ortant development has 

 been the installation of steam conc'entration plants on three 

 lime estates in Dominica. On four properties there are 

 already citrate plants. 



MONTSKRRAT. There is little news to report from this 

 island with the exception that the cotton growers cijntinue to 

 contemplate the present economic position philosophically. 

 During September, an address on the agricultural prospects of 

 Montserrat was delivered by the Imperial Conniiissioner of 

 Agriculture at the request of His Honour the Commissioner 

 of the Presidency. This address is published in the present 

 and last issue of the Agricultural News. There is some like- 

 lihood that the area under Indian corn will extend in this 

 ■ and other islands within the next six months. In this con 

 nexion it may be mentioned that a pamphlet on Indian corn 

 is now being published by the Imperial Department. This 

 institution will also have issued by the time this is read 

 a valuable pamphlet on cotton growing, a companion to the 

 well-known pamphlet on lime cultivation which met with such 

 a favourable reception in the West Indies, and in other parts 

 of the world. 



ANTIGUA. As reported in the last issue of the Agricul- 

 tural News, Mr. H. A. Tempany, Superintendent of Agri- 

 • culture, returned from leave in England. By the mail leaving 

 Barbados on September 30, Mr. V. M. Weil, B.Sc, A.ssistant 



Government Chemist, left for home, having completed his 

 term of engagement under the Government of the Leeward 

 Islands. 



ST. KiTTs. It is reported that the low rainfall during 

 September has adversely affected the cane crop in the Basse- 

 terre valley district. In the northern [larts rain is also in/Uch 

 needed Init several showers have fallen during the latter part 

 of the mouth. The earlier planted cotton is nearly all picked; 

 the returns have been fair but the younger bolls have dried 

 up from drought. The later planted cotton is green and 

 gives promise of lietter yields. The possibility of a second 

 picking from the earlier cotton should be good if t lie rains 

 come in soon. 



NEVIS. The report of the Agricultural Instructor for tlie 

 quarter ended SeptemJier 30, 1914, states that an experimental 

 plot has been planted with seeds of superfine cotton obtained 

 from St. Kitts, to which island the original seed was sent 

 by Mr. E. L. Oliver. Cotton cultivation as a whole, 

 and in fact most of the crops of the island have suffered 

 a good deal during the quarter from the dry weather 

 experienced. Certain pe-sts like the cotton worm have 

 given trouble, but remedies have been apijliad in good time. 

 A large number of plants received were distributed during the 

 quarter, including 4,-500 sweet potato cuttings and 1,068 11). 

 of selected cotton seed. Thirteen pounds of white, and 

 71 IT), of red Bermuda onion seed were imported by the 

 Agricultural Department and supj)lied to growers at cost price. 

 Considerable amount of attention has been given to planting 

 ' if provision crops, 



viRiilN ISLANDS. It is interesting to note in a recent 

 report that the harvesting of the lime crop is being ccjnducted 

 .satisfactorily. During August, 300 barrels of limes were 

 purchased at the Station. One estate has started the 

 crushing of limes and the concenti-ation of lime juice ok 

 its own account, showing a tendency for the industry tf) 

 advance. At Parraijuita Bay estate, 20 acres of land have 

 been cleared for i/oco-nut cultivation. Tlie weather during 

 August in the Virgin Islands was ideal for the cfitton crop. 



DRUGS AND SPICES IN THE LONDON 

 MARKET. 



The outlireak of the European war lias caused not only 

 a dislocation of business, but in the first few weeks almost 

 a stagnation, especially in the drug market in which Germany 

 has hitherto held a very large part, imn-e (larticularly in 

 synthetic productions. One of the results of the war will 

 be, no doubt, transference of these manufactures to English 

 proprietors, but with these as well as with raw products, it 

 will be some time before the markets assume anything like 

 a normal condition; but, (pioting from a recent article in the 

 Lancet, 'the effect of the war is not felt solely in the 

 sphere of manufactured drugs. In Belgium, Germany and 

 France are produced many of the most important of the 

 vegetable drugs, and new crops of some of them were await- 

 ing harvest when the call to arms removed labourers from the 

 fields. Aconite, arnica, camomile, belladonna, digitalis, 

 colchicum, gentian, valerian, lavender, conium and other 

 vegetable drugs are grown in the jiarts of Europe which are 

 in, or near the zone of hostilities, and consec|ueiitly there is 

 bound to be a scarcity in the supply of all of them ' It may 

 be that some of the deficiencies may in the future be supplied 

 by our West Indian po8.sessions. As the drug auctions in 

 Mincing Lane have been held at irregular intervals during 

 September, quantities, and prices asked and paid have beea 

 very erratic. 



