Vol. XI. Xo. 257. 



THE AGRICULTUKAL XEWS, 



69 



cides and hedges. The information coccludes with a report 

 on agricultural education at the Grammar School, to which 

 is appended a special report by the Agricultural and Science 

 Master. 



ANTIGUA : HEFORTS ON THE BOTANIC 

 STATION, EXPERIMENT PLOTS AND AGRICUL- 

 TURAL EDUCATION, lUlO-11. 



Among the adoitions made at the Botanic Station, 

 Antigua, during the period under report, has been a seed 

 house for the reception of seeds and tender seedlings. In 

 spite of the untoward conditions that were experienced, the 

 collection of striking species of plant.s has been maintained, 

 and it has also received several acquisitions. 



Further attempts to raise seedling canes were not 

 successful. Of those produced duiing 1902-3 and 1907-8, 

 nineteen were planted, in the previous year, on one of the 

 sugar estates, and of these again two, designated as A. 95 

 and A. 149, were chosen for the purpose of inclusion in the 

 experiments with varieties. During the year under report, 

 twent3--seven varieties raised in Antigua were planted on 

 t'assada Garden estate. 



The details concerning plant distribution show that the 

 number of plants sent out, not incJuding sugar-cane and 

 onion plants, which vary considerably in amount from year 

 to year, was the largest recorded. It shows that extensive 

 planting of limes took place during the year, the number 

 despatched from the station being over 10,000. The distri- 

 bution of cocoa-nuts was smaller; but this does not indicate 

 any diminution of interest in the cocoa-nut industry, for 

 there was a large number of plants ready for distribution, 

 and a larger number of seeds on order. In the experi- 

 ment plots attached to the Station, there are included 

 cocoa-nuls, lime seedling.s, hybrid cotton, various economic 

 plants and three grasses, namely Atidnipogon annulatun, 

 Pasjitiliim dilatatiim And Pennisetum cenr/iroicles. Successful 

 working of the cadet system is reported; this receives atten- 

 tion, it may be mentioned, in the W's! Indian Ilidldi/i, 

 Vol. XII, p. 20. 



The area planted in cotton, in Antigua, has continued to 

 decrease, until in 1909-10 it was 252 acres. The export for the 

 season, in the island mentioned, was 07,017 ft), of lint; that 

 of seed cotton from Barbuda was 126,3S(i lb., corresponding 

 to an estimated amount of 31,596 lb. of lint. This gives an 

 average return of lint, over the whole area, of 177 B). per 

 acre. An interesting account is presented, of trials of cotton 

 varieties possessing lint of shorter staple than that of Sea 

 Island, on some of the heavier soils in Antigua. The statis- 

 tics given concerning the lime industry show that this is in 

 a healthy condition. The onion industry, first taken up 

 about 1896, is now well established, and of some importance 

 in the island. Attention has been drawn already to the fact 

 that interest is being maintained in the cocoa-nut industry. 

 The lieport presents notes in connexion with possible new 

 subsidiary industries for Antigua. Short mention is made 

 of the sugar-cane experiments, which receive, as usual, treat- 

 ment in a special report. 



The experiments at Skerretts and Scott's Hill have been 

 continued on the lines of previous years, and included trials 

 with cassava, sweet potatoes, cotton, eddoes and tannias. 

 broom corn, yams, sesame, various green dressings and 

 fodders, Indian corn, castor oil, onions, mangoes, insecti- 



TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO: ANNUAL REPORT 

 ON THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, 191011. 



A general summary of this, by Profes.sor P. Carmody, 

 F.I.C, F.C.S., the Director of Agriculture, placed at the be- 

 ginning of the report, shows that additional experiments are 

 now being carried on in different parts of the Colony, and 

 that they include 52 acres of bearing cacao and 35 acres of 

 sugar-cane. The Cacao Prize Competition for 1911 received 

 430 entries, and it is expected that its resul's will eventually 

 be valuable, llubber-tapping experiments have been con- 

 tinued, and the investigations in Tobago, in connexion with 

 cacao and rubber, have been resumed actively. In relation 

 to this island, some of the most interesting work is that which 

 is being done in the hybridization of cotton, by Mr. T. Thorn- 

 ton, A.li.C.S. 



Note is made of the fact that the export of cacao for the 

 year ending December 31, 1910, was above the record at- 

 tained in the previous year, being nearly 58,000,000 ft)., as 

 compared with 51,575,000 lb. Manurial experiments with 

 cacao are commencing to .show that benefit accrues, under the 

 conditions of the trials, by the addition of manure in cacao 

 plantations; although, as is stated, the fact that the investi- 

 gations have only been carried on for a year makes it unwise 

 to draw any positive conclusions from them. Mention is made 

 of small plot cacao manurial experiments, in their second 

 year, the results of which were not ready for pul)Iication. 

 Money has been voted by the Board of Agriculture for the 

 purpose of carrying out manurial experiments with cacao in 

 districts of the island where the conditions differ; this fact 

 has led to the increa.se in the area of cacao experimentation 

 mentioned at the beginning of this review. 



The conditions were unfavourable to the sugar-cane. The 

 work of greatest interest in connexion with this has been 

 carried on in relation to frog-hoppers and Castnia lines, seed- 

 ling canes, and cane farming. The cultivation of cocoa-nuts is 

 extending. With reference to rubber, mention is made of the 

 report made by Mr. H. Smith of Tobago, on his visit to 

 Mexico and Central America, on behalf of the Board of Agri- 

 culture; this was reviewed in the Agricultural News, Vol. X, 

 p. 91. Other matters of chief interest in connexion with 

 rubber include the representation of the Colony at the recent 

 International llubber Exhibition, and the tapping of trees on 

 estates, by the Department. The information given concern- 

 ing cotton relates chiefly to Thornton's hybrid cotton. 



The value of the bananas exported from Trinidad during 

 last year was nearly £20,000; at the present time the space 

 required for fortnightly shipments amounts to about 200 tons 

 of cold storage. 



In regard to agricultural education, there are included: 

 the Cacao Prize Competition scheme, in connexion with which 

 circulars of instruction are being issued; arrangements in con- 

 nexion with agricultural inspection and education in Tobago, 

 and the making of an agricultural reference library at the 

 Director's office. The numbers of circulars and bulletins issued 

 were ten and seven respectively. 



At the conclusion of the general summary, the informa- 

 tion includes the more detailed accounts of the work at the 

 various institutions and places supported in connexion with 

 agriculture, namely, the Botanical Department, the River 

 Estate, the Government Farms, St. Augustine Estate, the 

 Government Laboratory, Manurial Experiments and Rubber 

 Tapping Experiments. 



