Vol. XV. No. 373. 



THE AGKICULTURAL NEVTS. 



•271 



Another plant used for poisoning fish is known locally 

 ■as the 'Nivrai'*. Herbarium specimens were obtained and 

 forwarded to the Director of Kew, who kindly furnished the 

 following memorandum: 'The plant received for detevniin- 

 ation is Clib'idium Vargesii, DC. It is described by 

 <5risebach in the Flora of ihe. Jhitkh West Indies as 

 C. Badieri, but the former name is the corrrect one to use. 



'Greshoflf, in Med. s' Lands Plant, IX, p. 91, mentions 

 its use for the purpose of poisoning fish. He calls it 

 ■C. surinamense, Linn., following Baker's nomenclature in the 

 Flora Brasiliensis-. but C mrinanume proves, on a critical 

 examination, to be ijuite diiferent, and it does not seem to 

 have the same properties as C. Vargesii, D.C. {C. Badieri 

 ■Oriseb.). 



'Besides Dominica, the same species occurs in Trinidad, 

 British and French Guiana, Brazil, Venezuela, Bolivia and 

 <I!olumbia, and on the labels of many of the specimens from 

 these countries there is frequent mention of the use of the 

 leaves in poisoning fish.' 



A third plant used as fish poison is known locally as 

 ^Erb-a-Picque.' It was identified by the Kew authorities 

 as Neurolaena lohata, R. Br. It is recorded from Cuba, 

 Jamaica, Martinique, St. Vincent, Grenada, Tobago, Trini- 

 dad, Mexico to Ecuador, and the Guianas. 



In bygone days this plant was also used locally as 

 a remedy for yaws. At the present it is employed in co:ijunc- 

 tion with the bark of the ilammee apple (Mainmea americana) 

 for making a wash for application to animals infested with 

 ticks. 



For the purpose of stupefying fish the soft stems and 

 leaves of the two last named plants are collected in consid- 

 erable quantities and pounded before immersion in the pools. 

 Both the 'Nivrai' and the 'Erb-a-Picque' are mild in their 

 effects, in comparison with the powerful action of the fruits 

 of the Bois Bambarra. 



The killing of fish in rivers either by poisoning, or by 

 the use of explosives is forbidden by law. In spite of the 

 prohibition both means are employed to a considerable 

 extent in the country districts. The use of plants and their 

 fruits for this purpo.se, which involves a considerable amount 

 of labour, will probably cea.se in future and in their place 

 the much too easily obtained dynamite cartridge is likely to 

 become the sole means of effecting this unlawful purpose. 

 (Report on the Agricultural Department, Dominica, 1914-15.) 



THE MANUFACTURE AND STORAGE 

 OF PEN MANURE 



At a meeting of the Antigua Aj^ricultural and Commer- 

 •cial Society held on July 7, the subject entered on the agenda 

 for discussion was that of the manufacture and storage of 

 ■pen manure. 



By way of opening the discussion, a short address was 

 delivered by Dr. Tenipany on certain points connected with 

 this important problem. In his remarks the speaker 

 reminded his hearers th'it about ten years ago the same 

 question was discussed at a meeting of the Society by 

 Dr. Watts, in relation to the results obtained with certain 

 manurial experiments with cane. 



He pointed out that during the intervening period 

 abundant confirmation had been forthcoming from numerous 



♦Probably corruption of French word 'Neuri', meaning to 

 •deaden: to stupefy. 



quarters as to the param^'unt importance of maintaining the 

 humus supply of soil under tropical conditions, and instanced, 

 the statement made by Mr. A. D Hall to the meeting of the 

 agricultural .'section of tli,- British Association in 1914. 



In view of the importance of organic manures, ha 

 therefore made no apology for returning to the subject, 

 since in such an important matter it was essential that 

 planters should endeavour to produce the largest possible 

 amounts of organic material for manurial purposes, in the 

 most economical and different. 



Those anxious to obtain information as to the relative 

 manurial value of pen manures and other organic substances 

 capable of being utilized for manurial purposes, would find in 

 the report on the Experiments on Sugar-cane conducted ia 

 the Leeward Islands during the year 1914-15, and recently 

 pttblished, a tabular summary containing analyses of over 

 fifty representative samples of substances of this description; 

 this had been reproduced with considerable additions and. 

 extensions from an earlier report. 



Examination of some of the typical analyses of pen 

 manure would show the very marked variation in composition 

 exhibited by different samples, and he put it to the meeting, 

 that in view of the importance of the question, more attention 

 might be paid with advantage to this matter, and that the 

 investigation of the lo.sses taking place in the making of pea 

 manure under the ordinary system practi-sed on estates would 

 abundantly repay the expenditure of money and effort. 



He pointed out that under the system of manufacturing 

 pen manure in vogue at the time, inadequate provision often 

 existed for checking losses from the pens by leaching; more- 

 over, in the absence of any mean.s of checking these lo.sses it 

 was in possible to measure their extent. 



He then went on to show how it would be possible defin- 

 itely to measure the lo.sses which are occurring in this way, by 

 building specially constructed pens from which the excreta of 

 the animals kept therein, together with the bedding and the 

 litter were removed daily and stored in a specially constructed 

 covered receptable: the floor of the pen would be .sloped and 

 provided with gutters and a .sumpit for the preservation of 

 liquid manure; this could be pumped from time to time over 

 the heap. If a given number of cattle were kept in this way, 

 and an equal number stored in an adjoining pen taking care 

 that the number of cattle experimented with were sufficient 

 to eliminate errors due to individual idiosyncracy, and also to 

 maintain exact equality in the matter of feeding conditions, 

 at the end of a known period of time it should be possible to 

 ascertain the amount of manure produced in each pen, and by- 

 careful sampling and analysis to determine the relative 

 value of each lot. 



Apart from these considerations, it appeared to him that 

 the health of the cattle would probably improve if they were 

 not required to live over their excrement, as is frequently the 

 case under present conditions. 



He alluded to certain experiments on these lines which 

 were taking place in St. Croix, and asked that planters would 

 give the matter serious consideration with a view to taking 

 similar action in Antigua. 



In the discussion which followed, a number of planters 

 took part, and while divergent opinions were expressed as to 

 the magnitude of the losses which were taking place, it was 

 generally agreed that it would be very advantageous if 

 a series of experiments could be carried out to ascertain their 

 exact characctes. 



