Vol. IX. No. 224. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS 



375 



AGRICULTURAL PROSPECTS IN PANAMA. 



The following information concerning some of the 

 agricultural resources and industries of Panama is taken 

 from Diplomatic and Consular Reports, No. 4571 

 Annual Series: — 



NATURAL RESOURCES. The development of ibe country's 

 natural resources is a subject to which much attention is 

 being given, as it is recognized that, as tlie labour employed 

 is withdrawn from the canal, the ecfinomic condition of the 

 country will suffer a radical and adverse change, unless in 

 the meantime increased production from the soil takes place, 

 to compensate for the cessation of the wages stream from the 

 United States to pay for constructing the canal. The Republic 

 of Panama would appear to otfer many advantages as a Held 

 for investment. Its freedom from revolutions and internal 

 disturbances is assured by the interests of the United States 

 in the canal; it has a stable currency, and large areas suitable, 

 from climate and soil, for the cultivation of nearly all 

 tropical products and for cattle-raising, and is said to possess 

 rich mineral and forest wealth. On the other hand, there is 

 a scarcity of native labour, and the standard rate of wages 

 for common labour paid by the Canal Commission, viz., about 

 4.S. a day, is higher than that which could be paid liy other 

 employers. Other disadvantages are the difficulty of obtain 

 ing a secure title to land, and the absence of means of com- 

 munication and transportation. It is thus evident that the 

 opportunities for settlement on a small scale are limited, and 

 that it is to enterprises which will invest a large amount of 

 capital in machinery, roads and the importation of labour 

 that the country must look for profitable development. The 

 Government is keenly alive to the necessity of furthering 

 agricultural and mining development, and is ready to welcome 

 and facilitate the introduction of foreign capital. 



CATTLE-RAISING. CattleraisiDg is the principal industry 

 of the country, and the animals are all .sent to Panama to be 

 killed for consumption. It is often recommended that pedigree 

 animals from abroad should be introduced to improve the local 

 stock, and the improvement in Argentine stock by the intro- 

 duction of British breeds is pointed to, 1 ait few cattle-raisers 

 are affluent or far-sighted enough to follow this course. In 

 1906, the sum of £2,000 was voted by the Xational Assembly 

 for the introduction of foreign pedigree stock. The stock 

 liought was sold at public auction, and the money used to 

 procure more. At present about £800 is in hand for the 

 purpose. In connexion with the proposed agricultural experi- 

 mental station, it has been suggested that the Government 

 should import high-class animals from abroad and allow 

 stock-owners their services against a nominal fee. An agri- 

 cultural fair, the first to be held in the country, will be held 

 in 1911 at Anton, a town with a population of about -5, .500. 



TIMBER RESOURCES. — An American company is making 

 preparations to develop the timber resources of the Bayano 

 River district. It has secured some 70,000 acres on the 

 Pacific side of the Cordillera Divide, to which easy access is 

 given by the Bayano liiver, the mouth of which is some 28 

 miles east of the city of Panama. The company has survey- 

 ed their property, fixed a site for a sawmill town, and 

 a double-liand sawmill of 75,000 feet daily capacity in hard- 

 woods with the necessary machinery, has been shipped from 

 the United States, and is now awaiting transportation to the 

 .site. The most important and extensive of the hardwoods 

 is the espave, and next to that the Spanish cedar. It has 

 not yet been established whether the native timbers can be 

 cured for lumber purposes locally, or whether artificial drying 

 •will have to be resorted to. 



COCOA-NUTS. The export of cocoa-nuts is growing, and 

 will probalily continue to form one of the country's staple 

 exports. The nuts are at present collected only on the Atlantic 

 coast, but there is no rea.son why their cultivation should not 

 be developed on the Pacific coast also. The cocoa-nuts grow 

 principally on the San Bias coast, about ISO miles east of 

 Colon, and are shipped to Xew York and Philadelphia, where 

 they are shelled by machinery. The production of copra has 

 not so far attained any importance, as the nuts are of luoce 

 value for confectionery and other edible purposes, but cocoa- 

 nut oil is made by the natives for cooking puri>oses. 



AGRICULTURAL EXAMINATIONS. 



The third Preliminary Examination, in connexion with 

 the scheme of (!ovirses of Reading established by the Imperial 

 Department of Agriculture, was held on October 10, in 

 Antigua, Barl)ados, Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia and 

 Montserrat, and on October 17, in St. Kitts. Seventeen 

 candidates, altogether, presented themselves for examination: 

 three in Antigua, four in Barbados, one in Dominica, two in 

 Grenada, four in St. Kitts, two in St. I.ueia and one in 

 Montserrat. Of the whole number, four failed to satisfy 

 the examiners. 



The names of the successful candidates are as follows : — 



FIRST CLASS. 



C. A. Gomes (Antigua) 

 C. A. Field (Barbados) 

 E. H. Barrow (Barbados) 



SECOND CLA,S.S. 



W. H. Hagley (Grenada) 



A. L. Stamers (Antigua) 



G. A. Thomas (St. Lucia) 



P. Webster (St. Kitts) 



S. W. Howes (Montserrat) 



A. L. Woodley (St. Kitts) 



THIRD CLASS. 



D. O. Cleghorn (St. Kitts) 

 B. F. Cuffy (Dominica) 

 B. N. Monrose (St. Lucia) 

 M. S. Goodman (Barbados) 



The oral examination in the different islands was con- 

 ducted by: — 



Mr. Y. M. Weil, B.Sc. \ 



„ T. Jackson 



„ J. R. Bovell, I.S.O., F.L.S., F.C.S. 1 



Antigua 



Dr. Longfield Smith 

 Mr. .J. Jones 



,, G. A. Jones 



„ G. G. Auchinleck, B.Sc. 



,, J. Harbin 



,, W. Rol(Son 



„ J. I. C. Howard, B.A. 



„ F. R. Shepherd 



„ W. R. Dunlop 



„ J. C. Moore 



„ C. F. Condell, B.A. 



Barbados 



r 



Dominica 

 ■Grenada 



Montserrat 

 I St. Kitts 



St. Lucia 



A proclamation contained in the Grenada Government 

 Gazette for October 1-5, 1910, shows that the Forestry Ordi- 

 nance, 1006, Grenada, will come iuto operation, and have 

 the force and effect of law, on and from the first day of 

 December 1910. The purpose of the Ordinance is to protect 

 and conserve the forest and water sources of the colony. 



