Vol. XI. No. 256 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



.59 



EXPORTS FROM DOMINICA. 



The following are the exports from Dominica, 

 from January 1 to December 81, 1910 and 1911, as 



given in the Oj§icial Gazette for January 26 ,1912 : — 



1911. 1910. 



Bay leaves, cwt. ... ... ... 590 519 



Cacao, cwt 10,053 11,272 



Coffee, „ 78 26 



Citrate of lime, cwt. ... ... 5^926 5,194 



Essential oils : — 



Lime, ecuelled, gals 892 1,018 



„ distilled, „ ... ... 5,471 5,761 



Orange, gals. ... ... ... 65 119 



Firewood, cords ... ... ,., 252 235 



Fruit, fresh : — ^ 



Bananas, bunches ... ... 3,713 4,719 



Cocoa-nuts 402.622 391,044 



Limes, barrels 34,995 26,269 



„ boxes 3,177 2,315 



Oranges, barrels ... ... 983 760 



„ boxes ... ... 1,641 2,4>>7 



Fruit Juices : — 



Lime, conc'd., gallons ... ... 131,683 162,878 



„ raw, „ 310,077 203,792 



Hardwood, feet 3L272 23,439 



Lime juice cordial, gals. ... 10,600 6,100 



Limes, pickled, barrels ... ... 711 779 



ENCOURAGEMENT OF RUBBER CULTI 



VATION IN PARA. 



The information below, concerning the making of 

 laws in the State of Para for the encouragement of 

 rubber-planting, is taken from the Board of Trade 

 Journal, for December 28, 1911: — 



Adverting to the notice on p. 635 of the Board of Trade 

 Journal of June 22, 1911, relative to Laws in the State of 

 Para for the protection and extension of the rubber industry, 

 H. M. Con.sul at Pani (Mr. G. A Pogson) reports the enact- 

 ment of a further Law (Xo. 1,214, dated November 4), pro- 

 viding for the grint of concessions to national and foreign 

 companies registered in the State for the cultivation of rub- 

 ber (Hevea /jrasitiensis), cacao, nuts, etc. 



The privileges offered include grants of public lands up 

 to'200,000 hectares (about 494,000 acres); redfiction of the ex- 

 port duties and State dues upon the rubber, etc., produced, by 

 50 per cent, during the first ten years from the date of the 

 first shipment, decreasing by 10 per cent, for each ten-yearly 

 period up to fifty years, reduction of State railway rates and 

 of the freight charges of .steamship lines subventioned by the 

 State; waiving for ten years of the industrial and profes-sional 

 State .and municipal imposts upon the company's premises. 



The concessionaire companies will be obliged, among 

 other things, to plant not less than 50,000 rubber trees 

 during the first five years of the concession, and 20,000 trees 

 annually after that period; to comply, as regards their pro- 

 duce, with the instructions of the Department of Agriculture; 

 and to concede to the Government the supervision of the 

 whole activity of the companies. In case of failure to plant 

 a minimum of 50,000 rubber trees within 'i»e five years, the 

 concession will become void. 



The State Government will try to obtain from the 

 Federal Government, on behalf of the concessionaires, a sus- 

 pension of taxation as regards the importation of machinery 



and anything else required for the preparation and cultiva- 

 tion of the soil. 



H.M. Consul suggests that British investors proposing 

 to interest themselves in companies fortned to obtain con- 

 cessions under this Law might first of all put themselves in 

 communication with the British Consulate at Pani. 



The text and a translation of the Law may be seen by 

 British traders at the Commercial Intelligence Branch of the 

 Board of Trade, 73 Basinghall Street, London E.C. 



HALF YEARLY EXAMINATION OF THE 

 AGRICULTURAL PUPILS. DOMINICA. 



The following is the general report of the Exam- 

 iner, Mr. F. W. South, B.A., on the half-yearly examin- 

 ation of the Agricultural Pupils, Dominica, held in 

 December last : — 



In continuation of the course pursued at the previous 

 examinations, two papers were set on the part of the syllabus 

 laid down for Preliminary Candidates in the Reading Courses 

 Esaminatiun, commencing: Seeds — their .structure and germi- 

 nation, and concluding with pollination and fertilization. 

 The ijuestions were of a practical character, or had reference 

 to points requiring the use of simple powers of observation 

 only. 



Six boys sat for the examination. The best answers 

 were written by P. Denis who obtained 82"5 per cent, of the 

 total marks procurable. The average percentage of marks 

 obtained by all the pupils was 72'1. 



The answers to the questions were, on the whole good, 

 and the standard of knowledge was remarkably uniform. 

 The boys appear to have a good practical knowledge of agri- 

 cultural methods, so far as they were exemplified in the 

 questions, and also a sound understanding of the objects of 

 these methods. A few points requiring comment are dealt 

 with in the special reports on each paper. 



The results obtained reflect very creditably on the teach- 

 ing which the boj's have received. 



Sugar from Shredded Cane, — A bill prohibiting 

 the exportation of sugar-cane in any form has been intro- 

 duced into the Cuban Senate, according to advices received at 

 the State Department on January 9, at Washington. 



This is of course aimed at the process for shredding cane 

 which has been carried on with more or less success for the 

 last two years at a factory built on the lands of the Nipe Bay 

 Company at Preston, Oriente Province. Full details of the 

 work with illustrations of the mill built for shredding the 

 cane, and of the pith and fibre were printed in the Cufxi 

 Review for May 1911. At that time the mill was under- 

 going alterations to pursue greater efficiency results. Not 

 having reached the standard required for permanent and 

 profitable work, shipments of the product had previously been 

 sent to Madison, Wisconsin, and chemists from the Preston 

 mill, who had gone north to witness the extraction of the 

 sugar from the dried cane, came back somewhat enthusiastic. 



Since then nothing much has been done, but within the 

 last month much discussion of the process has arisen in ( 'uba, 

 which has resulted in action by the Senate. 



Havana despatches stated that planters were alarmed 

 and that foreign consuls were investigating in order to report 

 to their home offices. Some planters said it was difficult to 

 estimate results by the new process, but that if successful, 

 Cuba would become one vast cane field. (The Cuha Review, 

 .January 1912, p. 7.) 



