THE AGKIOULTUIIAL NEWS. 



jAsnAKY fi, 1912 . 



-fhr-^X 



FRUITS AND FRUIT TREES. 



TRIAL OF THE LYON BEAN IN 



ST. LUOIA. 



The foUiiuing ;icr-(innt of an ej [)eiimeiit conducted 

 in St. Lucia with the Lyon hsan (Siizolohiumnireiim) 

 has been nctivtd fiuiu Mr. A. J. Brook;*, Atsistaiii 

 Agricultiual Superintendent, through Jlr. J. C. Moore, 

 the Agricultural Superintendent : — 



Seeds of this bean were obtained from the Florida 

 Experiment Station by the Iniptrial Commissioner of Agri- 

 culture and forwarded to St. Lucia lor trial. 



The seed was sown in the field in the usual way, two 

 beans being sown in each hole 4 feet apart both ways, 

 the haldt of growth being like the Bengal bean but not 

 quite so dense. 



Flowers were formed four months after sowing and the 

 seed matured four weeks later. 



At no period did the growth cover in the soil, and Para 

 and .Johnson grass grew through it easily. 



Examination of the roots showed but few nodules. 



The bananas exported in 1910 were shipped as follows:- 

 Destination. Bunches. 



BANANAS AND COFFii'E IN COSTA RICA. 



BANANAS. The total e.xport of bananas during 1910 was 

 9,097,285 bunches, having been a decrease of 2-S6 per cent. 

 from the quantity exported during 1909. 



The exports of bananas during the last five years have 

 been as follows: — 



Bunches. 



1906 ' 8,872,729 



1907 10,16.5,7.59 



1908 10,060,009 



1909 9,36.5,690 



1910 9,097,285 



The total area under bananas at; the end of 1910 was 

 62,500 acres, and new plantations amounting lo .3,000 acres 

 were made during the } ear. 



The United Fruit Company is carrying on extensive 

 improvements in the cultivation of many of their older planta- 

 tions. 



United States 

 United Kingdom 



Total 



8,000,2-19 

 1,097,0.36 



9,097,28.5 



COFFEE. The coffee exported during the cro[) year of 

 1909-10 aniounied to 2.33,093 bags, of which 5941 per cent. 

 was shipped in hu>k. 



The crop was 40,000 baes in excess of that of the 

 previous year, the increase having been in the provinces of 

 Heredia and ."^an .Jose; while the crops in the province of 

 Cartago and on the Atlantic slope were very small. (From 

 Diplumii'.ic and Consular Heports, Xo. 4800 Annual 

 Series, p. 3.) 



THE AROMATIC GRASS OILS. 



The following is giveii a.s an introduction to useful 

 and important; information concerning the aromatic 

 grass oils, presented in the last issue of the Bulletin of 

 the Iinijerial Institute, Vol. IX, No. 3, p. 241. Further 

 f.icts wid be supplied in the next issue of the Bulletin: — 



The designation aromatic grass oils may be conveniently 

 used to group together the several important volatile oils 

 derived from members of the genera Cymbopogon, Andro- 

 pogon and Vetiveria, belonging to the grass order (N.O.Grami- 

 naceae). The group inclutles a number of oils which are not 

 only of very considerable coinmeieial importance, but have 

 presented, and indeed still present, problems of great botani- 

 cal and chemical interest. The principal oils concerned are 

 the following: — 



ciTEONELLA OIL. Produced principally in Ceylon and 

 Java. 



LEMON GRASS OIL. Distilled chiefly in India, though 

 important quantities are now being made in Java, Uganda, 

 the West Indies, and elsewhere. 



PALMARo.SA OIL. Prepared chiefly in India. 



VETIVEU OIL. ]3istilled in Reunion, but probably mostly 

 made from vetiver grass roots imported into Europe from 

 India, Java and elsewhere. 



