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THE AGKICULTURAL NEWS. 



July 9, 1910. 



EDITORIAL NOTICES. 



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Agricultural |lnu!i 



Vol IX. SATURDAY, .JULY 9, 1910. No. 21 +. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Contents of Present Issue. 



The editorial deals with tlie Canadian Exhibitions 

 which will take place at Toronto and St. .John this 

 year, and gives information with regard to forwarding 

 exhibits from the West Indies. 



On page 211 will be found an article dealing with 

 the recent Prize-Holdings Competition in Grenada. On 

 page 216, a similar article concerning that in Jamaica 

 appears. 



An abstr.ict of the latter part of a report on the 

 exportation of fruit, from Natal, to which attention 

 was given in the last number of the Agricultural Nrivs, 

 appears on page 212. 



Some particulars of the preparation of rubber for 

 manufacture will be found on page 21,5. 



The Insect Notes (p. 218) cjntain the second part 

 of a series of articles on the Acarina or Mites. Fig. 33 

 is used by permission of the United States Department 

 of Agriculture. 



A review of the Mycologist's Annual Repoit to 

 the Board of Agricultuie, Trinidad, for 1909-10, is 

 given on page 219. 



The West Indian Agricultural Conference, 



1911. 



\Vit,!i the approv.il of the Right Honourable the 

 Secreta'v of Slate lor ihn C'>lonips, and of his Excel- 

 lency ihe Governor of British Guiana, the next West 

 Inilian Agricultural Conference will be held on January 

 12 to 21, 19!1, at. Georgetown, British Guian.i. 



By the courtesy of the Royal Mail Steam Packet 

 Company, it is probable that a special steamer will be 

 provided for the purpose of taking the delegates from 

 Barbados to Demerara. 



At an eaily date, specific communications will be 

 addres=ed to the various West Indian Governments, 

 with reference-to the delegation of representatives to 

 the Conference. 



This preliminary announcement will give reason- 

 able time for the preparation of papers and items of 

 interest to be laid before the Conference, and work in 

 this direction should be begun early. 



The Fungus Notes, on page 222, deal with the 

 latest work in connexion with cacao canker. 



Prize-Holdinsfs Competition in Jamaica. 



The report on the recent prize-holding competition 

 in the jiarish of Trelawny, Jamaica, appeirs in the 

 .Journal of the Jamaica Agricultural Socictf/ for 

 May 1910. This shows that the number of holdings 

 entered was foriy, thirty-seven of which were judged, 

 the others having withdrawn: twenty-one were new 

 competitors, the others had competed previously. The 

 new competitors were successful in winning four regular 

 prizes and one extra prize. It is stated that, although 

 the number of entries was not large, it was very grati- 

 fying to see the amount of interest that was evinced 

 in the competition. 



A great deal of improvement had been made by 

 all the competitors, in their holdings, several of these 

 being of a permanent nature, and arising from sugges- 

 tions that were made during the occasion of a previous 

 c:mpetiiion. 



It is pointed out that some of the competitors 

 seem to think that jirizes can be won by effecting 

 a large cleaning up of the holdings just before the 

 competition, forgetting that the real value of the work 

 consists in steady progress from year to year. 



In the first class, more attention was re(|uired in 

 regard to the permanent crop, especially in the matter 

 ol pruning, and thinning generally. The general aver- 

 age of marks in the second class was below either of 

 those in the other classes: here, there w.-is a want 

 shown in the matter of catch crops and live stock. 

 A fair average of marks was obtained in the third 

 class, but improvement is required in the growth of 

 catch crops. It is recognized, however, that the sm.-ill 

 area of such holdings is largely responsible for this 

 circumstance, as provisions are naturally" cultivaterl 

 elsewhere. In the result, the competition is stateil to 

 have been an interesting and successful one. 



An account of the Prize-Holdings Competition in 

 the parish of St. John's, Grenada, for 1909, will be found 

 on page 211. 



