14 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



January 8, 1910. 



AGRICULTURAL SHOWS. 



An account is givdn below of three agricultural 

 shows that have recently been held. These were the 

 Antigua Agricultural Show held on December 2, the 

 Lancaster Agricultural Exhibition (Barbados), on 

 December y, and ihe Barbados Annual Agricultural 

 and Industrial Exhibition, on December 22. 



ANTIGUA. 



The Antigua Agricultural Show was held at Buxton 

 Grove grounds on Thursday, December 2. This is the 

 ninth show which has been held in Antigua, the first having 

 taken place in December 1900. It was opened by his 

 E.xcellency Sir E. Bickhani Sweet-Escott, K.C.M.G., who was 

 received by the Committee of the Agricultural Society and 

 the Superintendent of Agriculture. 



His Excellency declared the show open and said that he 

 felt it his duty to congratiilate all who had worked to make 

 it a successful one. The exhibits sent to the show this )"ear 

 were not as numerous as they have been in former years, 

 although the number of entries made was ijuite up to the 

 standard of previous shows; the heavy rains which fell for 

 .some days before December 2, may, in some measure, 

 account for the difficulty experienced in sending exhibits. 



The feature on this occasion was the excellence of the 

 mules and oxen exhibited; there were a greater number of 

 exhibits in the classes fori live stock tlian in any previous 

 show, but the quality of the small stock left something to be 

 desired. 



The school exhibits lyere again well to the front, the 

 display of plants grown in boxes or pots being particularly 

 good. The cup presented by the late Sir C. C. Knollys, for 

 school exhibits, was won this year by Spring Gardens School; 

 seven schools competed for this cup. 



The sugar-cane exhibits were very fair. At the present 

 time the cotton industry in Antigua is suffering from the 

 set-back resulting from the previous unfavourable seasons, and 

 the area under cultivation has been much reduced in conse- 

 quence; moreover, the date of the show prevented exhibits of 

 cotton from being sent by some estates, since it had not come 

 into bearing everywhere. Nevertheless exhibits were sent in 

 from all the estates which possessed bearing cotton, and the 

 samples shown were all of excellent quality. 



The fruit and vegetable section was disappointing, the 

 exhibits being numerically small, though of fair quality. 

 December does not appear to be as suitable for a good 

 display of fruit and vegetables as a month later in the season, 

 such as February. 



The exhibits of the Imperial Department of Agriculture 

 attracted considerable attention. Among these were a collec- 

 tion of green dres.sing plants, showing bush and seeds: stools 

 of different varieties of cane, more especially those which 

 have been newly introduced; specimens of rocks, illustrating 

 the general geological formation of Antigua and the types of 

 soils formed from them. Types of cotton and mounted 

 specimens of the flower bud maggot, and of other plant 

 diseases were shown, each exhibit being provided with 

 a short descriptive label. 



His Excellency Sir Bickham Sweet-Escott has presented 

 a challenge cuj) which will bef'awarded each year for excellence 

 in exhibits of live stock, i 



Financially, the show has been a success, and sincere 

 thanks are tendered to the authorities at Buxton Grove, and 

 to the judges and e.xhibitors who have helped to bring tlie 

 ^Agricultural Show to a successful issue. 



BAEB.\D0S; LANCASTER SHOW. 



The annual local exhibition for produce and .stock of 

 peasant proprietors and tenants on sugar estates was held at 

 Lancaster plantation, St. -James's parish, under the auspices 

 of the Department of Agriculture and the Barbados Agri- 

 cultural Society. For the j)urposes of the show, the yard and 

 boiling-house of tlip plantation were placed at the disposal 

 of the Department , by the proprietor, Mr. J. H. Wilkinson, 

 and the attorney, Mr. G. C. Edghill; the manager, Mr. Man- 

 deville, also rendered valuable assistance. 



The number and variety of the exhibits were not as great 

 8S those of former local shows; this was due to the fact that 

 Lancaster is not situated centrally in respect of the populous 

 villages in the country, so that the exhibits were not as widely 

 representative as is usually the case. Considered, however, 

 from a local point of view, they were generally good. 



Of the cattle, the first prize in this class was gained by 

 a half bred Zebu ox. The sheep and goats formed a good 

 exhibit; most of the latter were of the Toggenburg breed, 

 imported by the Iiliperial Department of Agriculture. The^ 

 exhibits of poultry were, for the greater part, only fair. Of 

 the vegetables, good lots of sweet potatos were shown; the 

 yams and eddos were of fair quality. The fruit made a notice- 

 able display, and its quality compared well with that of former 

 years. A fair staadard was reached by the garden produce; 

 at present this is not allowed to include ornamental plants, 

 so that these were absent from among the exhibits. 



The exhibits from the elementary schools did not by 

 any means compare well with those of former years, though 

 they gave evidence of a creditable amount of care in some 

 few eases. The comparative inferiority appears to have beea 

 due to the difficulty of taking the produce to be .shown to the 

 place of exhibition, and it has been suggested that some 

 assistance should be given in the matter, in future. 



At the close of the exhibition, the prizes were distribu- 

 ted by his Excellency Sir Gilbert Carter, K C.M.G., who- 

 described the show as a very creditable one, urging at the 

 same time, that nevertheless, more care in the preparation 

 and presentation of the products was required, as the readier 

 sale and jjossibly better price obtained would well repay the 

 small amount of extra trouble entailed. Dr. Francis 

 Watts, C.M.tb, on behalf of the Committee, thanked his- 

 Excellency for being present and for distributing the prizes, 

 and also returned thanks to all who had given assistance. 

 In doing so, Dr. Watts pointed out that the dependence on the 

 peasant of those in the West Indies for articles of use in every- 

 day life was by no means completely recognized, and that the 

 holding of agricultural shows had one of its greatest sources of 

 importance in the opportunities that it gave for teaching the 

 peasant how to improve and market his produce. He also^ 

 referred to the use of school gardens in attaining thesfr 

 ends and in fostering the agricultural habit of mind. Dr. 

 Watts gave a special warning in regard to the fruit industry, 

 pointing out the serious results that were likely to accrue 

 from the neglect to adopt measures against the -spread of 

 scale insects. 



BARBAIJOS ANNUAL j;XHIBITION, 1909. 



This is wider in its scope than the ordinary agricultural 

 show, as it includes a large number of industrial exhibits- 

 which are not the outcome of agricultural practice. As, 

 however, space and prizes are given for the produce of the- 

 latter, a short mention of the exhibition is made here. 



The exhibition was held at the old Ordnance Stores 

 kindly placed at the disposal of the Committee by Captain 

 Owen, the Superintendent of the Royal ilail Steam Packet 

 Company. For various reasons, the attendance was not as- 

 good as in former years. 



