210 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



JuLv 9, 1910. 



that is where the interests of the piirticiiUr colony, and 

 the funds at the disposal of its Permanent E.\hibition 

 Committee, are such as to justify the preparation of 

 two exhibits. Canada is a country of large distances; 

 and although communication and transport are easy, 

 Toronto has its special use as an exhibition centre for 

 the country on the borders of the Great Lakes, including 

 the City of Ottawa, and Montreal and Quebec, while 

 St. John is more sjiecially useful in the same way to 

 the province of which it is the capital, and to Nova 

 Scotia, Prince Edward Island, with Halifax and Char- 

 lottetown. The scope of the latter exhibition will, 

 however, be much wider than this, more particularly 

 on account of its national nature. 



At both of these exhibitions, space will be provided 

 free to West Indian exhibitors, and the exhibits will be 

 placed under capable supervision, without any charge 

 being made for this. As before, Mr. Charles Pickford, 

 of the firm of Pickford and Black, has undertaken to 

 receive and arrange exhibits from the West Indies, at 

 both exhibitions, and the steamers of this firm will con- 

 vey all material for them free of cost. 



As regards the dates of despatch of this material, 

 non-perishable exhibits for Toronto should he ready for 

 shipment by the steamer which leaves British Guiana 

 on July 21, and arrives at Halifax on or about August 

 10. Perishable articles for Toronto should be shipped by 

 the boat which leaves British Guiana on August -l, and 

 reaches Halifax on August 22. 



In continuation, as regards St. John, non-perish- 

 able articles should be ready to be sent by the boat 

 which leaves British Guiana on August 4, and arrives 

 at St. John on August 22. The similar dates in con- 

 nexion with the despatch of perishable articles for St. 

 John are August 14 and September o. It is evident 

 from this, that the perishable articles for the exhibition 

 at Toronto should be shipped by the same steamer as 

 the non-perishable material intended for St. John. 



Information in connexion with the packing and 

 forwarding of exhibits is given in the Agricultural 

 News, Vol. VII, pp. 145-6. This may be summarized, 

 as follows: (1) the specimens forwarded should be gen- 

 uinely commercial samples: (2) liquids, fine powders 

 such as starch preparations, and sugars, should be put 

 up in tightly closed glass jars and bottles: (3) samples 

 of dried products are best enclosed in neat boxes with 

 sliding, glazed lids; (4) information, as complete as poss- 

 ible, which may be of use to buyers, should be forwarded 

 with the samples: (5) decorative material should be sent- 

 (6) just before they are packed, all bottles, jars, etc., 



containing specimens and samples should be carefully 

 examined, to see that there is no leakage from them; 

 (7) all glass containing vessels should be packed espec- 

 ially carefullyr(8) the labels descriptive of the contents 

 of the bottles and jars should be placed near the bottom 

 of them, so that the sample which each contains may 

 be seen clearly: (9) each package and vessel should be 

 numbered, and a list should be forwarded to Messrs. 

 Pickford and Black, giving the numbers and correspond- 

 ing contents: (10) where fresh fruits, etc., to be displayed 

 in glass bottles, are forwarded, they should be placed in 

 a 4-per cent, solution of formalin: (11) where possible, 

 handbooks descriptive of the colony from which the 

 exhibits are being sent should be forwarded, as well as 

 pictures and postcards of the colony and its chief indus- 

 tries; (12) all correspondence concerning exhibits and 

 exhibiting should be addressed to Messrs. Pickford and 

 Black, Halifax, Nova Scotia. 



Up to the present, arrangements are being made 

 to send exhibits to Canada from Trinidad (showing 

 methods of production and manufacture), Barbados 

 St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Dominica, Montserrat, Antigua, 

 St. Kitts, the Virgin Islands, and British Guinna. 

 Material will be sent to both exhibitions from Barba- 

 dos, and this will be done in Antigua, as well. 



A revised edition of the illustrated booklet entitled 

 ' The West Indies in Canada', which has been issued 

 annually by this Department since 1907 for use at the 

 Canadian exhibitions, is at present being prepared. 

 This is descriptive of the conditions and circumstances 

 of production in the West Indies, and is intended to 

 assist in arousing further interest in these colonies, on 

 the part of Canada, as well as to present some idea as to 

 their resources, and thus to help in giving the abundant 

 available proofs that the West Indies and Canada are 

 especially and naturally fitted to provide one another 

 with commercial products. 



Experiments have been carried out recently at the Wa'uh- 

 ington (United States) Experiment Station, for the purpo.se 

 of determining the effect of shading, in regard to various 

 plants. As a general rule, it was found that, except in the 

 case of plants that become very dry on maturing, the presence 

 of shade greatly increases the moisture content, as well as the 

 percentage of ash and crude protein. 



In its broad effect, .shading increases the percentage of 

 moisture, mineral matter and nitrogenous matter in the plant, 

 and there is an accompanying decrease in the percentage of 

 carbohydrates (sugars and starch). This decrease is not 

 however, proportionate to the increase of the other constitu- 

 ents, and is not thought to be due to the smaller amount of 

 the carbon assimilation, in the shade, but to other physioloo-i- 

 cal causes. 



