Vol. XV. No 369. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS 



201 



Hints for Raising Onions. 



The grovving of unions has assumed large propor- 

 tions as an industry in the Leeward Islands. One of 

 the diflieiilties experienced in some places, especially 

 Montserrat, is the bad germination and development 

 •of the young seedlings. This appears to be due to 

 -a fungus disease known as 'damping off; the organism 

 ■attacks the young plantlets at the level of the soil, and 

 the aerial portions quickly fall over and die. Recently 

 ■a leaflet has been circulated in Montserrat containing 

 practical hints for raising onions, with a view to avoid- 

 ing this trouble. Importance is attached to the site and 

 the soil of the plots. The plot should be in close 

 proximity to water, but should be well drained and 

 not in a wet locality. Great importance is attached 

 to the method of making the seed bed, and to the 

 •amount of seed distributed. Generally speaking, the 

 fewer the seeds the better, and they should be well 

 scattered over the drill. Good results have been 

 •obtained by using 1 lb. of seed to 24'0 running feet of 

 drill formed with an onion hoe, the base of the drill 

 being at least 2 inches wide, and the seeds well 

 ■scattered: but this is considered to be a maximum 

 .amount to use. The seed should not be covered 

 deeply, .say, j-tojj-inch on most soils. 



While the preparation of the plot and the manner 

 of planting have an important indirect bearing on the 

 ■question of 'damping off', and are probably the best 

 means of avoiding the trouble, it is still worth remem- 

 bering that 'damping off' can be lessened by sterilization 

 ■of the soil. This is done by baking the surface 

 soil by fire. A section of the onion seed beds in the 

 Montserrat Experiment Station was treated in this way 

 in 191.5 with apparently good results, and it is worth 

 trying on estates where 'damping off' is prevalent. 

 Another useful measure of control is the provision of 

 shade for the beds. Coco-nut leaves are used for this 

 purpose. 



Fish Meal as Food for Pigs. 



More and more attention is being paid in England 

 to the question of economizing the food supply and 

 xitilization of by-products. Some conclusive experi- 

 ■ments conducted by Dr. Crowther at the Institution for 

 Research in Animal Nutrition, University of Leeds, 

 ■have brought out the fact that fish meal is a cheap and 

 useful food for pigs. On the average, an extra 1%3.5 tb. 

 of live-weight was obtained weekly for twelve weeks at 

 a trifling cost of barely Ul. per week. The meal was 

 used as a partial substitute for 'sharps', a more expen.sive 

 wheat product. 



Although the gains obtained were satisfactory, it 

 ■was thought that perhaps the meal might have nuparted 

 an objectionable taint to the carcasses of the animals. 

 In order to see if this was the case, two pigs one of 

 ■which had consumed 1 lb. of fish meal daily for eleven 

 ■weeks were killed, but no exception could be taken to the 

 general appearence, colour, or smell of the carcass, nor 

 did cooking tests or curing indicate any disagreeable 

 characterisiics. Fish meal may therefore be regarded 

 as a valuable adjunct in pig feeding. 



Agricultural Credit in the West Indies. 



It has not yet been placed on record in this 

 Journal that a Co-operative Credit Bank Ordinance 

 (No. 9) was passed during 1914 in British Guiana to 

 provide for the granting of State-aid to co-operative 

 credit banks and for the proper supervision of the 

 same by a central committee. The end aimed at is the 

 promotion of thrift and united action among the 

 agricultural population of the Colony and the further- 

 ance of agricultural prosperity. 



The general position therefore in the West Indies, 

 as regards agricultilral credit, is as follows. In Jamaica, 

 there exists a system of loan banks run on the princi- 

 ples of limited liability but which are partly financed 

 by the Government under a special loans Ordinance; in 

 St. Vincent, St. Lucia and Trinidad legislation for 

 the registration, encouragement and financial assistance 

 of unlimited agricultural credit societies on the 

 Raiffeisen system exists; and lastly, mention may be 

 made of the Barbados Agricultural Bank which success- 

 fully furnishes working capital for the use of estates. 



Experiment Station Work in Florida. 



There has recently been issued the Annual Report 

 of the LTniversity of Florida Agricultural Experiment 

 Station, for 1914. It appears from this that of the 

 many lines of work undertaken during the year, plant 

 intioduction received considerable attention and was 

 continued throughout the year. The number of different 

 kinds that have been brought to the Experiment 

 Station in the last six years now exceeds 1,.324. 

 Special attention has been given to the introduction 

 of field and forage crops. New grasses, new forage 

 crops, and new legumes have been tested in large 

 numbers. Fifty-one kinds of Canavalias (horse bean) 

 have been tried. The Canavalias seemed to give 

 promise of usefulness as a cover crop for a large portion 

 of the State; but as a result of tests conducted, the 

 opinion is expi'essed that they are not likely to make 

 a profitable forage or vegetable crop in Florida. 



Another line of work lay in the direction of experi- 

 ments which were carried out to ascertain the amount of 

 velvet beans that can be profitably fed to hogs for pork: 

 production. The results indicate that the largest 

 increase in weight will be made when the ration is 

 composed of 8 parts of corn to 1 part of cracked velvet 

 beans by weight. 



A considerable amount of data also, is said to have 

 been se^fured as to the effect of different chemicals 

 upon the growth of citrus trees under exactly controlled 

 conditions. These trees were planted in a greenhouse 

 to protect them against the variations due to weather 

 conditions. These experiments also avoided the difficul- 

 ties encountered iti the field from variations in soil, 

 and in a large measure go to complement and supple- 

 ment the work being done in the citrus experiment 

 grove at Tavares. The data thus collected are said to 

 give important fundamental information, especially as 

 to the effect of different fertilizers in introducing the 

 conditions known as 'fn-nching' and 'mottled leaf in 

 the grove. 



