Vol. XV^. No. 357. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



& 



German and Portugnese Cacao. 



The trade of Samoa (formerly German) and that of 

 San Thome, a Portuguese jiossetsion, is reviewed in 

 Diplomatic avd Gonniihir Rrpinis for the years 191o 

 and 1914, respectivel\'. Both these places are renowned 

 for their cacao, atid in this respect, are of interest from 

 a West Indian point of view. Those who have st' died 

 the matter arc of opinion that cacao planting in Samoa 

 is a good investment, and that it is preferable to rubber, 

 and equal, if not superior, to coco-nut planting. It 

 appears, however, that cacao planting in Samoa is 

 greatly affected by the presence of canker disease. 



The exports of cacao and coffee from the Portuguese 

 colony of San Thome showed a considerable reduction 

 during 1914, but the most interesting fact concerning 

 the main products of these islands is that there arc 

 heavy protective export duties, which render prohibitive 

 the export of these products to foreign countries in 

 foreign vessels All the cacao and coffee produced on 

 the island is carried to Lisbon in Portuguese ships. 



Revolution and Distress. 



1' wo Central American Republics of great natural 

 wealth are Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic, and 

 are described in Diplomatic avd Considar Reports.'Sos. 

 5477 and .5427. These places have, however, been the 

 scenes of recent revolutions of unusual intensity, which 

 have enormously interfered with their commercial pros- 

 perity. In regard to the Dominican Republic, it is 

 satisfactory to record that in December of 1914, a per- 

 manent tiovernment was elected, which gives rise to 

 the hope that this country is about to enjoy a long 

 period of peace. It is evident, however, that the 

 revolutions of recent years have not inflicted any per- 

 manent damage on the productive industries of the 

 country, and a steady increase of exports may be 

 expected as communications gratlually improve. It is 

 interesting to note that 80 per cent, of the exports 

 from this country are credited in the statistics to the 

 T^niteci States. This is somewhat misleading, the fact 

 being that the greater part of the sugar and cacao 

 finds its way, via New York, to the United Kingdom 

 a^.d Canada. 



The unstable conditions of the last three years 

 in Nicaragua have left that country in an ex- 

 hausted state, and business is at -a standstill. An 

 excessive amount of paper money has been thrown 

 on the market without any reserve, though an 

 attempt is now being made to reform the monetary 

 system on a gold basis. Coffee is by far the most 

 important article exported, the greater part being 

 shipped to Havre, and a small quantity to the United 

 Kingdom. The cultivation of bananas is controlled bj- 

 an American Company, pi-esumably the United Fruit 

 Company: and the number of CMCO-nut plantations on 

 the Atlantic Coasi is rapidly- exteijifling. As in the 

 case of the Dominican Republic, if the political situ- 

 ation could be rendered stable, this country has m-Qnt 

 natural resources, which wo\;ld make it, for fts size, one 

 of the wealthiest Republics of Central America, 



Trade and Commerce of Hawaii in 1913-14. 



In Diplomatic aiul Consular Reports — No. 545f^ 

 Annual Series, ther-e is presented the Report for the 

 year 191.S-14 on the trade and commerce of the 

 Territory of Hawaii. From this the following infor- 

 mation is gleaned. The trade proved less satisf;ictory 

 than during the previous year, the total imports falling 

 by £9:3,270, and exports by £317,193 The cause of 

 the fall was due to over-production in the two principal 

 articles of production — sugar and pine-apples. Though 

 the total value of tke sugar exported fell from 

 £7,621,078 in 1913 to £6,844,312 in 1914, the quantity- 

 increased by 12,699 tons. There was a record crop of 

 (117,038 tons, an increase of 177,000 tons during the 

 past seven years. The normal Hawaiian sugar crop 

 maybe taken now at between .550,000 and" 600 000 

 tons. (_)ne factor which contributed to the increased 

 2:)roduction on the mechanical side is the changes in 

 mill grooving and mill setting that have been effected. 

 Although there are no figures available, j-et it is known 

 that nine- roller mills, heretofore rendering an extraction, 

 of 93-5 per cent., have improved their efficiency as much 

 as 3 per cent., and an appreciable gain is said to have 

 been made in every mill where the Maesschaert 

 grooving has been adopted. 



As regards pine-apples, of the total exports of 

 fruits and nuts, valued at £1,045,615, £986,306 worth 

 went to the United States, and of this amount 

 £959,312 represented the value of shipments of pine- 

 apples. The great strides made in this industry are 

 shown by the advance of the number of cases canned 

 during the past twelve years, the figures being 2,000 in 

 1901 and 1,()00,000 cases in 1913. There are now 

 some 12,300 acres planted with pine-apples, and the- 

 yield runs from 10 to 18 tons per acre. At present the- 

 increase has been too sudden and great, with the 

 result that prices are hardly remunerative to the- 

 grower; but local conditions are said to be so 

 favourable to the product that the industry recpiires 

 only more extended markets to assure a steady growth. 

 A new factory has been erected close to Honolulu with 

 a daily capacity of 250,000 cans, and a yearly output of 

 .5.50,000 cases. "^ 



Exports of coffee also show an increase of 

 2,578,352 lb. in quantity, and £68,378 in value. 



^ I ^ — — 



The Domestic Value of the Kapok Tree. 



At a recent meeting of the British Guiana Board 

 of Agriculture, Professor Harrison made some remarks 

 concerning the kapok tree in that colony. He said 

 that seed had been planted in the garden and the 

 resulting plants had attained a height of 15 feet irt 

 eighteen months, at which age they flowered for the 

 first time. Seeds had been got from them to the 

 number of 1,000, from which 250 plants had been 

 obtained. There were now 200 plants on hand 

 waiting foi' ajjplicants. His Excellency the Governor 

 suggested that it would be a good thing if the peasants 

 planted a kapok tree in their gardens, since the fibre 

 formed the best material for stuffing pillows and 

 matresses. In Southern Asia it is a usual thing for 

 the peasantry to employ the fibres of this plant for 

 such domestic purposes. 



