Vol. IX. No. 224. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



373 



wise well suited for banana cultivation, which lies at distances 

 of from 10 to 30 miles from the coast-line cannot lie 

 successfully developed for such puipose.s in the manner sim- 

 ilarly situated land is being so cultivated in Surinam. As 

 alread}- pointed out, no part of this colony possesses the excep- 

 tional shipping advantages the banana lands of Surinam enjoy. 



Those in control of banana plantations would have to 

 allow themselves not alone to be guided, but to be autocrat- 

 ically directed and controlled, by the agent of the purchasing 

 company. This, we are certain that, unless under stress of 

 conditions that have not yet occurred in this cplony, the plant- 

 ers and farmers of British Ouiaua would never consent to. 



A banana industry, as has been conclusively proved in 

 Surinam, can only be carried on where efficient labour is avail- 

 able and under complete control, and the establishment of such 

 an industry here would inevitably require extension, according 

 to its scale, of East Indian immigration. 



Banana planters wouhl be completely at the mercy of the 

 United Fruit Company and their purchasing agencies. The 

 experience of Surinam with the Gros Michel variety of bananas, 

 and the fact that the i'anama disease is not unknown in 

 British Guiana, show that they would l>e compelled to fall back 

 on the cultivation of the Congo variety. The United Fruit 

 Company have the monopoly of supplies of suckers of that 

 kind. 



At the outset, we approached the Surinam manager of the 

 United Fruit Company as to whether his Company would be 

 prepared to accept bananas from British Guiana, and were 

 informed that on receipt of letters in May from this delegation 

 in regard to our projected visit he had written his principals 

 in New York who had cabled and subsequently written that 

 the United Fruit Company was not prepared to consider or to 

 undertake any more contracts for bananas, as the demand 

 during the past few years had not been increasing at the same 

 rate as had the supply. The I'nited Fruit Company owned 

 large areas of land in Costa Rica and other Central American 

 llepublics, and we vpere informed by their Surinam manager, 

 that if any extension of land under lianana cultivation was 

 required, the Company would rather i-xtend upon their own 

 lands than make contracts with any other country or associa- 

 tion. That this extension was not likely to take place was 

 impressed upon us, and we were informed .hat the Company 

 had lately changed very large areas of land which they own 

 in Cuba from banana cultivation to that of sugar-cane. 



We next enquired, as fully as possible, into the opera- 

 tions of the United Fruit Com]iany with a view- to ascertain- 

 ing whether it would be possible to commence the shipment 

 of bananas independently of that Company. So impressed 

 were we by the perfectly organized business system of the 

 United Fruit Company for obtaining their bananas, placing 

 them upon the market, and meeting auy rival banana ship- 

 ments, that we are firmly convinced that it would be impossible 

 for this colony to compete against them by an independently 

 established industry. They practically hold a monopoly of 

 the banana industry, handling most of the bananas that find 

 their way into the American and Canadian markets, and con- 

 trolling practically all the Gros Michel bananas that go to the 

 United Kingdom and other European countries. Apart from 

 the consideration of whether bananas could be grown satis- 

 factorily in this colony, it was patent to us that without 

 a contract with the United Fruit Company it would noD be 

 possible to market satisfactorily any bananas that wc might 

 produce, and that they were not prejiared to offer us any 

 hope that .such a contract would be entered into. In fact 

 such a contract would be, as we have already indicated, in 

 direct opposition to the carefully thought out and delib- 

 erately adopted policy of the United Fruit Company. 



The delegation therefore is unable, in the face of the 

 results of the investigations which have led them to the above 

 conclusions, to otfer to the Commission either any hope of, or 

 any inducement for, the establishment of a banana industry 

 in Briti.sh Guiana either at the present time or in the near 

 future — J. B. Harrison, J. \Vood Davis, F. A. Stockdalc. 



OBSERVATIONS ON WILD LEGUMINOUS 



PLANTS. 



In the Agricultural News, Vol. VIII, p. 391, 

 extracts were given fiuui Circular Xo. 31 of the Bureau 

 of Plant Industry of the United States Department of 

 Agriculture, in which observations made in connexion 

 with the growth and distribution of wild leguminous 

 plants are flescribed. Since the publication of this 

 circular, a second one has been issued, which presents 

 a continuation of the observations described in the first. 

 This is Circular No. 70 of the same Bureau, from 

 which, in view of their general interest, the following 

 extracts are taken: — 



In 1909, frequent examinations were made to determine 

 whether all the native legumes were nitrogen-gathering. 

 Practically all the prairie species of the region have been 

 examined, and nodules have been found in abundance on 

 every one, although they seem to be much more abundant on 

 some species than on others. In some cases no nodules were 

 found on some individuals, but this was probably duo to the 

 difficulty in removing the roots from the soil, rather than to 

 lack of nodules. 



In general, there seems to be many more nodules on 

 annual.s, in proportion to the size of the root, than on peren- 

 nials. As to the relative quantities of nitrogen gathered by 

 annuals and perennials, n(j data have yet been obtained. Some 

 cooperative work on this line has been begun, but it has not 

 gone far enough for a report. Some co-operative work was 

 also attempted in reference to cross-inoculation, to determine 

 whether the native legumes are capable of inoculating the 

 soil for clover and alfalfa. This work failed because of bad 

 conditions in the greenhouse. There is no doubt in the 

 writer's mind that several of the native legumes are capable 

 of inoculating our cultivated ones. 



Referring to the special habitat of the chief among 

 the legumes, the circular states: — 



The counts in the ditch by the railroad are in marked 

 contrast to those on the adjoining prairie. These shallow 

 ditches were lines of white for miles, all filled with silver- 

 leaved Psoralea. Whether the dominance of Psoralea in the 

 ditches is due to additional moisture or to the destruction of 

 the grasses, it is impossible to say. There is some evidence, 

 however, that the abundance of these legumes in the ditches 

 is due to the destruction of the grass and the removal of the 

 soil, exposing the subsoil, which contains less nitrogen, and 

 so is less favourable to the growth of non-leguminous plants. 

 In many places on the level land, where the grass has been 

 killed by stock, stacks, or breaking, I^soralea has come in 

 thickly. In nearly all the short-grass country, except 

 where Vicia lineai-is is encountered, the number of legumes 

 is much less than in the long-grass country; but on the slopes 

 where the soil is i)oor, and buffalo grass and grama grass do 

 not thrive, legumes are plentiful. This suggests that it may 

 be more the struggle with the grasses than with drought 

 that keeps down the legumes. 



