Vol. XI. No. 272 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



309 



The trees bear fruits from the third year, from the fifth 

 they each give fifty and from the si.xth 150. At the age of 

 ten years the trees yield 300 to 600 fruits, the oldest as has 

 Leen indicated probably approaching 1,000. In ordinary 

 cases eighty trees are planted to the acre. 



The cultivation of oranges in I)utch Guiana has been 

 taken up Feriousiy, and the note concludes by repeating that 

 the matter is of much interest for French Guiana although 

 it v.iay not be possible to profit from the example for several 

 reasons, notably that of the very poor labour-suj>i)ly. 



ST. 



KITTS AGRIOULTURAL AND 

 COMMERCIAL SOCIETY. 



A meeting of this society was held on August 10, 1912, 

 at which there were present His Honour the Acting 

 Administrator, Captain Roger, and 1 »r. Francis Watts, the 

 Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture, who were welcomed 

 at the opening of the meeting by ihe President of the 

 Society, the Hon. S. L. Hnrsford. After suitable acknowledg- 

 ment had been made by Captain lioger and Dr Watts, the 

 latter referred to the proposal that had come before the 

 tneeting to appoint a Veterinary Surgeon in the Presidency, 

 making suggestions in regard to the puttirig of the matter 

 into the form of a definite undertaking, and saying that 

 although he could not make the appointment he was willing 

 to sufiply recommendations. 



After some short discussion of the matter ju.st 

 mentioned, the Secretary read the report of Mr. H. A. 

 Ballou, M.Sc, Entomologist to this Department, on his 

 recent visit to St. Kitts-Nevis (this was summarized in the 

 last tw(> issues of the Aijricxdtural News) After the report 

 tad been read it was decided that thi.s, as well as the report 

 on sugar-cane diseases in St. Kitts, by .VI r. F. W. South, it. A., 

 Mycologist to this Department, should be printed and 

 circulated. 



I »r. Watts next provided a review of the reports, givint; 

 the opinion that they are extremely valuable records. In the 

 former there was much new and useful information 

 regarding root borers and root trimmers. He referred to the 

 rC'Ot borer in Barb<.do.s (Diaprepes ahl^reviatus) which is not 

 known in St. Kitts, and to the beetle the grub of which 

 Mr. P.allou considers to be doing some damage to the 

 roots of the sugar-cane in the latter island; this beetle was 

 known in Montserrat, where it is found to eat the leaves 

 of citrus plants, and had never before been connected with 

 sugar cane. The Commissioner then made reference to the 

 existence of another beetle both in Mauritius and Barbados, 

 in the former as a pest, in the latter as an insect doing little 

 harm. 



Proceeding, Dr. Watts referred to Mr. South's report on 

 cane disease in St. Kitts, stating that he thought the 

 disease was the rind fungus, and that an abnormal season, 

 over ripeness of the canes, and constant cultivation of one 

 variety on the same land, were probably responsible for the 

 recent outbreak. The circumstances that more was known 

 about the disease than formerly and that easily applicable 

 remedies, such as the employment of new cane varieties and 

 the cultivation of cotton, were near at hand, made it evident 

 that there was no cause for alarm. 



Dr. Watta also drew attention to the Pamphlet recently 

 issued by the Imperial Department of Agriculture, treating 



of Insect Pests in the Lesser Antilles, by Mr. H. A. 

 Ballou, M.Sc , which he thought should be in the hands of 

 every planter. 



The Commissioner of Agriculture then referred to the 

 subject of the selling of West Indian cotton, bringing forward 

 matters that were dealt with recently in an article on page 

 246 of the issue of the A'pieultural Kftcs, for August 3, 

 1912. This, it will be remembered, contained several 

 suggestions made by Mr. .J. A. Hutton, Chairman of the Brit- 

 ish Cotton Growing Association. As regards types of cotton, 

 advice was given by Dr. Watts that the selected kinds now- 

 grown in St. Kitts should continue to be planted. In relation 

 to matters connected with this, he referred to a paper by 

 Mr. J. W. McConnel on the different lengths of staple in 

 a sample of lint (this paper was summarized on page 247 of 

 the issue of the A(/ricultutal Xeu's Just mentioned). 



Referring to silkworm culture, the speaker mentioned 

 Mr. Maxwell Lefroy's recent paper on the subject, and stated 

 further that, although it may not seem that the Eri silkworm 

 industry will succeed in the West Indies, he was obtaining 

 cocoons of this worm, which feeds on castor leaves; material for 

 growing the mulberry silkworm would be obtained by him 

 as soon as the mulberry trees introduced recently by the 

 Imperial Department of Agriculture had been planted out 

 and were available for feeding the worm. In any ca.se there 

 were many ditticulties in the way of such work, and Mr. H. A. 

 Ballou feared danger from the attacks of parasitic insects. 



The subject of coco-nuts then received attention from 

 Dr. Watt.s, who reviewed the general conditions as regards 

 coco- nut cultivation and gave as an instance in a more par- 

 ticular way the useful progress that is being made at Pinneys 

 Estate Nevis. The matter of disease was of the greatest 

 importance, with respect to this crop, and a great increase of 

 knowledge concerning this should be brought about by 

 the harmonious co-operation of the different agricultural 

 departments. 



A vote of thanks, proposed by the President and 

 seconded by Mr. J. R. Yearwood, was accorded to I)r. Watts 

 for his interesting and instructive remarks, and after this^ 

 had been acknowledged the meeting was adjourned. 



Mangrove Bark. — The results of the examination of 

 the barks of several species of mangrove from German East 

 Africa are given in Collegium (1912, No. 504, p. 130). It is 

 concluded that the tannin content of the bark is not 

 influenced by the age or by the part of the tree from which 

 it is stripped, or by the time of the year it is collected. 



Tanning trials were also made, which showed that tark 

 collected at the end of the year gives a leather which is of 

 yellow-brown colour and does not redden on exposure to 

 light. This improvement in colour is believed to be due tC' 

 better drying of the bark at this season, and it is recom- 

 mended that the bark should be collected only at the end of 

 the year. 



Trials on a small scale have been made recently in 

 (Queensland in the manufacture of cutch from mangrove 

 bark, and the results show that, with proper care and with 

 up-to date machinery, good quality cutch containing 60 per 

 cent, of tannin can be obtained {Journal of tlie Society of 

 Chemical /mliisfry, 1912, 31, 212). It is estimated that, on 

 a manufacturing scale, Queensland mangrove bark should 

 yield about i>0 per cent of cutch. (The Bulletin of the 

 Im/K-rinl Institute, July 1912.) 



