■Vol. XL No. 258. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS, 



91 



ST. KITTS NEVIS : REPORTS ON THE BOT- 

 ANIC STATION, ECONOMIC EXPERIMENTS AND 

 AGRICULTURAL INSTRUCTION: ALSO ON AGRI- 

 CULTURAL EDUCATION, 19VI II. 



It is shown, among the first matters dealt with in this re- 

 port, that the condition of the Botanic Garden in St Kitts has 

 been maintained, and that efforts have been made for its 

 improvement. Hedges of bread-and-cheese {PithtcoMiium 

 I'liguis-cati) have made good progress, except where they have 

 suffered from attacks of what is apparently a root disease. 

 The letting of the lawn for recreation ^nd games continues 

 to be appreciated. In regard to economic plants, success has 

 been obtained with onions; but the want of an e.Tternal 

 market prevents an onionrgrowing industry from extending. 

 There has been no increase in cacao-growing during the 

 year, though success has been obtained on experimental 

 estate areas, in the island of St. Kitts. Jhe area in rubber 

 cultivation remains the same as it was in the previous year; 

 it is occupied by CastUlou eltutira, Funtuviia elastica and 

 Hevea brasdiensis. The lime industry has been retarded by 

 attacks of scale insects, particularly by the purple scale 

 {Lepidosapltes Iteikii), and material bearing fungus parasites 

 has been introduced from Dominica: no definite results as to 

 the effects of the introduction are yet apparent, but these are 

 awaited with interest. A succeeding section of the report 

 gives information concerning the agricultural show held 

 during the year under review, and regarding the work of the 

 Permanent Exhibition Committee, ohietly in connexion with 

 the Canadian Exhibitions. 



The experiments of an economic nature deal mainly with 

 ftood plants, green dressings, tobacco, cotton, limes and sugar- 

 -cane, and the work of this kind is closely connected with the 

 distribution of planting material, of which a fairly large and 

 tftried quantity was sent out. Trials with yams gave, among 

 <:lther matters, inconclusive results as to the effects of staking. 

 With cassava, a test of the variety Clack Stick did not 

 support its reputation as a heavy producer. No definite 

 (fesnits were obtained as to the value of liming lands for 

 growing ground nuts; among the exotic v£lrieties of ground 

 nuts, the Spanish is mostly in demand, on account of its 

 small marketable size, early maturity and easy and cheap 

 harvesting. A trial was made of the Bambarra ground nut 

 ■{VixiH-heia sulittrranea), and this work will be continued. 



On the averages of eight -years' experiments, Caroline 

 Lee, Spooner, White Gilkes and lied Bourbon have shown 

 themselves the four best varieties of sweet potatoes, as 

 regards return. Mazzagua Guinea corn was tried, and its 

 prolificness has caused it to receive much attention from 

 growers. Among other plants in relation tjo which the chief 

 nterest exists are pine-apples, onions, tobacco and Tephrosia 

 ■Candida. 



Manurial experiments with cotton have continued to 

 -aLow the value of good cultivation, with smill applications of 

 farmyard manure. Lint from selected plants was sent to 

 Mr. A. H. Dixon, of the Fine Spinners' and Doublers' Asso- 



ciation, Limited, who kindly made a report on it, which Ji; 

 reproduced. The usual cotton selection work has been con- 

 tinued, and hybrids have been made between Sea Island an? 

 native St. Eustatius. The estimated area of cotton in the 

 Presidency, during the season under report, was 3,800 acres, 

 made up as follows: St. Kitts 1,500 acres, Nevis 1,300, 

 Angullla 1,000 acres; the return of lint, as far as could be 

 ascertained at the time of the writing of the report, was: 

 St. Kitts 323,894 tt.., Nevis 331,757 B>., Anguilla 123,695 lb., 

 making a total of 779,346 ft. Finally, with respect to 

 St. Kitts, as regards sugarcane experiments, the total num- 

 ber of plots rea|)ed during the season was 530; 290 of these 

 were concerned with varieties, plants and ratoons, and 

 240 with manurial experiments with ratoons. 



A list of the plant distribution, at the Experiment 

 Station in Nevis, shows that this has comprised a large part 

 of its work. The experiments were chiefly concerned with 

 food crops, cotton, limes, broom corn and green dressings. 

 As regards economic plants, comparatively new to Nevis in 

 any quantity, the chief success is expected with limes and 

 onions; the results with cacao are, up to the present, some- 

 what disappointing. A scheme of experiments with sugar- 

 cane, similar to that in Antigua and St. Kitts, is being 

 followed, on a smaller scale, in Nevis. The cotton .selection 

 carried out for providing peasant growers with good seed, has 

 been successful, particularly in that the returns of cotton 

 raised by small cultivators compare favourably with those 

 from estates. 



The report on agricultural teaching at the Grammar 

 School, St. Kitts, .shows that the work has been carried on 

 according to the usual scheme, except that an alteration has 

 been made in the time-table whereby all the pupils in th« 

 school study Iwtany as well as chemistry. The information 

 concerning this work is amplified by the inclusion of a special 

 section describing, in more detail than is usual, the science 

 instruction at the St. Kitts-Nevis Grammar School. 



VITALITY OF PARA RUBBER SEEDS. 



An account of obser\ations on the duration of the 

 vitality of Para rubber seeds is given, as follows, in the 

 Agricultural Bulletin of the Straits and Federated 

 Malay States for December 1911 : — 



On January 31, a box of 600 Para rubber seeds was 

 packed for a German planter to go to German New Guinea. 

 The seeds were paeked as usual in a tin box 12 inches long, 

 8 inches wide and 5 inches deep, in layers of burnt rice hmi, 

 and the box was covered with canvas stitched over it. The 

 planter, however, omitted to leave any address or instntcti-^as 

 for shipping the box, as he intended to do. The parcel .e- 

 mained unopened until July 13 (a period of five month.* and 

 thirteen days), when the lid was taken off and the box loft 

 open by a window. By the end of the month fifty three sf 

 the seeds had germinated and thrown up strong stems. 



A hundred of the others were removed and put in a pan 

 and of these, three germinated. 



No particular care was taken of these seeds and it is 

 probable that if they had been carefully treated more wc.;ld 

 have germinated. The duration of the vitalitj- of these seeds 

 for nearly six months, enclosed in a box, shows that the Pira. 

 rubber seed has greater lasting powers if properly packed 

 than would be expected. I believe this is the longest record 

 of duration for this seed. 



