Vol. IX. No. 210. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



149 



grow and the radicle or first root pierces the 'shell' of the seed, 

 it leaves an aperture which allows of the entrance of mould 

 fungi while drying, and thus lowers t!ie valiicof'the sample. 

 The facility with which pods hang for a time upon the trees 

 without hazarding ijuality assists generally the economy of 

 the harvest work. 1 ■ 



Yield clearly deiiend.s, first, upon thp kind of tree cultiv- 

 ated: secondly, upon the richne.ss of the soil or the natural 

 amount of plant food available: thirdly, upon the artificial 

 supply which may be applied: and last, bfct by no means least, 

 the amount of skill which is brought to bear by the cultivator 

 in maintaining conditions suitable for the production of large 

 crops. 



There are diverse opinions as to metho<ls to be adopted 

 for securing this result, among which are first, the abolition 

 of the use of shade; second, the adoption of seminal selection: 

 both of which have been recently advocated (1910) in Trinidad. 

 These points and othei-s more advanced have been fully 

 discussed in preceding pages, but our suggestions may be 

 again stated briefly: — 



(1) The selecrion and standardization of certain types of 

 cacao, and the propagation of these by budding or grafting 

 as in fruit orchards. 



(2) The abandonment of propagation by seid, on account 

 of the excessive variation that occurs under any method of 

 seminal or seed selection; that is, the trees cannot be made to 

 come true from seed. 



(3) By better systems of cultivation and preparation. 



district and grafting them on to hardy stocks. The trees used 

 for wind belts are Pois-don.\- (/«-/,, " /nnriiia), galba {Ctdo- 

 .phyllam Calala), Bois d'Inde (/'iinenta acris), as. well as 

 other native trees. It "is intended to introduce the Nicarag.ia 

 shade tree (GUrkidia maonlata) into those parts of the 

 district where it will be useful. 



The prizes gained are as foUow.s : in Class I. one first, 

 one second, one third and three fourth prizes: eight persons 

 shared in them on account of the fact that there were 

 two pairs of co-owners. h\ Class II, there were five prize 

 winners, one in each of the degrees first second and third, and 

 two in the fourth. 



The names of the prizewinners were:- -Class I, first 

 prize, Sadoc Laronde; second prize (divided) J. B. Bertrand 

 and F. W. Bertrand: third prize (divided), Camille Barry and 

 Duke Barry: fourth prizes, A Stedman, A. Lawrence, E. 

 Laudat. Class 11, first prize, Emile LaAvrence: second prize, 

 Ernest Eloir: third prize, Kobinia Didier; fourth prizes, 

 William Laronde and Octave Oscar. 



It may be mentioned that the object of the competition 

 is to bring about imiirovemonts in the planting and manage- 

 ment of cacao trees at La Plains, which is a district occuiiied 

 entirely by small land owners whose chief crop is cacao. 



PRIZE-HOLDINGS COMPETITION IN 

 DOMINICA. 



In 1908 9, a Prize- holdings Competition Scheme was 

 commenced in the La Plaine District of Dominica, when 

 seven peasant proprietors competed, and three prizes 

 were awarded. According to a report by the Curator 

 of the Botanic Garden and Experiment Station, Domin- 

 ica, this has been followed by a competition in 1909-10. 

 In this, the number of plots entered was twenty-two, fourteen 

 being in Class I, which consists of holdings containing 

 between one and 4 acres of bearing cacao, and eight in 

 Class II, Avhicli includes holdings containing between 

 100 trees, and such numbers as will occupy an area of 

 1 acre, planted at proper distances aj)art. The scheme had 

 been carried out through the assistance of Mr. Alexander 

 Robinson who had consented to undertake the duties of 

 local instructor, and the improvements that have been 

 ett'ected in cacao cultivation in this district are largely due 

 to Mr. Robinson's influence, especially in the matter of 

 bringing about the employment of better methods of plant- 

 ing, and caring for the trees. The result has been that, at 

 the present time, pruning is done carefully, attention is 

 given to drainage, and adequate manuring and mulching are 

 ett'ected. 



The varieties of cacao grown are Forastero and Calaba- 

 cillo, with various kinds intervening, which have ari.sen from 

 the cross breeding of these types. The trees were found to 

 be lemarkably free from disease: there was only an uncertain 

 trace of ' canker ' or ' die-back'; pod diseases were rare, and 

 there was only one case of root disease. This absence of 

 disease is due largely to the hardiness of the cacao grown, 

 and it is suggested that no attempts to improve the quality 

 of the product by the introduction nf Criollo and Alligator 

 cacao should be made, but that improvements .should bo 

 effected by selecting the best kinds now growing in the 



USES OF THE TONKA BEAN. 



A short account of the Tonka, Tonj/a, or Tonquin 

 bean ( Dipteri/j: odorata) appeared in the AgricuUitnil 

 ..Ye <cs. Vol. 'V, p. 212. The information which follows 

 as to its uses is taken from J.'Ayrieulfwre Pratunui 

 lies Pays Chaiuh for December 1909 : — 



The Tonka bean is employed in considerable quantity in 

 the United States by makers of tobacco and snuif. The 

 beans are ground to powder and mixed with ordinary tobacjo. 

 As this operation is not legal, it is performed secretly, and in 

 such a way as to iirevent the proportions in which the mix- 

 ture is made from being found out. The makers of vanilla 

 extract also use it. It is mixed by them with vanilla to 

 a proportion of 5 to 10 per cent. This mixture, however, is of 

 mediocre quality, because the odour of the bean almost 

 disguises the perfume of the vanilla. On account of the Pure 

 Food Law, the name of this mixture is placed on the market 

 under the name of 'Vanilla Compound'. Makers of perfume 

 also use the Tonka bean in mixtures of which they alone possess 

 the .secret. It is employed especially in the manufacture of 

 soaps and perfumes known under the name ' d'Heliotrope 

 Blanc '. The bean, made into ' Tincture of Tonka', finds an 

 outlet among pastry cooks and confectioners on a large scale, 

 as a substitute for vanilla, but it is not permissible to apply 

 the name ' vanilla ' to such products. Finally, the Tonka 

 bean, mixed with other ingredients, apparently enters into 

 the composition of certain whiskies. 



As a matter of fact, the use of the Tonka bean, as 

 a substitute for vanilla, has become illegal in the United 

 States. Manufacturers are therefore bound to make mention 

 of its presence in those products which they sold former- 

 ly under the name of vanilla products in order to attract 

 custom. In 1907, imports of the bean took place to the 

 value of $1 16,102: in 1908 they were worth -"glOjSig. This 

 diminution in the imports corrcspond.s exactly to the time of 

 application of the Pure Food Law. 



