Vol. IX. No. 206. 



THK AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



89 



Bonuses for Stock Importation, St. Vincent. 



A notice has been issued recently in St. Vincent 

 to the effect that, in order to improve the breed of 

 island ponie.s, the Government will award a bonus of 

 £10 per head to importers of a limited number of 

 suitable brood mares, afcer February 14, 1910. 



The following are the conditions which must be 

 complied with for the granting of the bonus: (1) the 

 mare must pass an inspection, three months after 

 arrival, by the Government Veterinary Surgeon, 

 whose certificate as to its fully meetinsr require- 

 ments must be obtained; (2) the mares must be 14.2 

 hands, or over, not more than si.v years old, and from 

 a thoroughbred stock: (3) the number of mares for 

 which a bonus will be paid is four: no person 

 can obtain a bonus for more than one mare; (■l) those 

 desiring to import a brood mare to compete for the 

 bonus should notify their intention to the Govern- 

 ment Veterinary Surgeon before, and on, the arrival 

 of the animal in the Colony: in the event of the 

 receipt of more than four ajiplications, these will be 

 dealt within order; (.5) the recipient of a bonus must 

 have the animal, on whose account it is paid, vaccinated, 

 and must undertake that it shall not be exported for 

 at least three years. 



' Tackiness ' in Rubber. 



An article appears in Xc Cauo.hhoiic et Gvlta 

 I'errlia, for September 1909, on the tackiness of 

 different kinds of rubber. For the purpose of 

 determining this, an examination was made of a large 

 number of rubbers in the Musee d'Hi.«toire Nature'de, 

 I'Ecole Superieure de Pharmacie de Paris, and the 

 Jardin Coloniale de Nogent-sur-Marne. It was found 

 that the rubbers which were most unlikely to become 

 tacky were Heria hrazilensis and H. galancnifis. 

 In regard to these, specimens collected in 1.SG7, even, 

 were in good condition. ' Sernamby ' rubber, from 

 Peru and (Juiana was quite tacky, especially where it 

 touched the glass vessel in which it was kept. With 

 other rubbers, tackiness was shown as follows: Ceara, 

 all samples tacky, except three; Euphorbia Ivtixy 

 (Madagascar), all except two; Castilloa elastiia, all 

 samples; Ficus cla^tira (balls of scrap), all samples: 

 Flcii^ prolixa (New Caledonia), one sample out of five 

 less tacky than a ball of scrap of F. alhinrrria 

 (Reunion): Cryptontegia inadiKjuscariensis, none 

 tacky: MarscJenia '■rrriicosa a.nd Haniarnia speciosa. 

 both tacky: of the Landolphias, L Hcvddotli was the 

 best of fourteen species which were examined; Maf<car- 

 enhasia l.i'^io iithijfora and ^V. lonnljiora were not 

 tacky; Funtumia elastica, WUlugitlieia J^rma.Ecil;/- 

 santhera, rosea, Micrechites napeensis, Xylinaharia 

 Reynaudi, Farthenium lurjmtafum (Guayule), 

 Lobelia eluvtica and Landolpliia [Vahea] senenalensin 

 were all tacky. 



It is suggested in the article that the tackiness of 

 rubber depends, to a certain degree, on the methods 

 employed for its coagulation. 



Small Holders on Cattle Farms. 



In Nevis, arrangements have been made by 

 Colonel the Hon. R. Stapleton Cotton for work- 

 ing several estates as a cattle farm, and at the 

 same time to provide holdings on those jestates 

 for small proprietors. The area of land available 

 for this is about 50 acres, which will be let in 

 i-acre and 1 acre plots, for growing sugar-cane, pro- 

 visions, or cotton. A rent of lO.'i. per acre is payable 

 in advance, by each holder, on July 1 of every year, 

 and until this rent is paid, no one will be allowed to 

 commence cultivaiioti. Before planting the land, occu- 

 piers must apply pen manure; as much of this as is 

 required may be obtained from the Proprietor's cattle 

 pen. In regard to the growing of sugar-cane, this will 

 not be permitted to ratoon more than twice. Vegetable 

 matter, such as cane tops, trash and vines, must not be 

 removed, but consumed on the land. Finally, room 

 will be provided on the estate for occupiers to tether 

 animals belonging to them, and this privilege is 

 restricted to su'-h occupiers. 



Elementary Agricultural Education in Eastern 



Bengal and Assam. 



A copy of the Report on the Operations of tlie 

 Department of Agriculture of Eastern Bengal and 

 Assam, for the year ending June 30,1909, has been 

 received recently. It states, in regard to schemes for 

 imparting agricultural instruction in elementary schools, 

 that the fJovernment of India has rided that definite 

 agricultural instruction is to form no part of the curri- 

 culm of these schools, but that what is wanted is the 

 encouragement of the pupils to study plant life. After 

 emphasizing the necessity of the possession of a small 

 garden by each elementary school, it goes on to say 

 that such a garden would not be used for the purpose 

 of imparting definite agricultural knowledge, but simply 

 to illustrate the various phenomena of plant life. To 

 this end, the Director of Public Instruction is endeav- 

 ouring -to obtain sites for gardens to be used in connex- 

 ion with both elementary and training schools. One of 

 the duties of the Department of Public Instruction is 

 to provide courses of nature study for the head-masters 

 of training schools, and a preliminary step will be made 

 in this direction by the training of a selected officer 

 so that he may be capable of taking classes in 

 nature study. So far, the scheme is only at its 

 commencement, for the Local Government is in corres- 

 pondence with the Government of India in relation 

 to this subject, and it still remains to be decided what 

 shall be the precise nature of the training that the 

 selected officer shall undergo in order that he may be 

 fitted to give information to others that will enable 

 them to conduct nature study lessons. 



It is interesting to note that in India, as well as 

 in the West Indies, nature study, rather than definite 

 agricultural teaching, is regarded as being most fitted 

 for elementary schools. 



