Vol. IV. No. 92. 



THE AGEICULTUKAL NEWS. 



327 



Only 4,204 lb. of seed were sent to be disintegrated, 

 wliiuh gave 4,114 lb. of crushed seed. The tot;i.l receipts 

 for ginning and baling cotton and disintegrating cotton 

 seed amounted to £325 19s. The working expenses v.-ero 

 £320 14s. 9rf., leaving a small credit balance of £o 4s. 3d. 



Considering the delays which occurred during the 

 period of working, and the low price charged for ginning 

 and baling, this result may be regarded as satisfactory. 

 Then again, the large sum of £83 6.s. 4d. is included in 

 working expenses for bale bags, 41-5 of the 750 received 

 being on hand and in good order. 



SELECTION AN!) DISIXFECTION OF COTTON SEED FOE PLANTING 

 PURPOSES. 



Owing to the high price obtained — Is. 5d. per lb. — for 

 the best local-grown cotton, and as it was not possible to 

 obtain a further supply of seed for planting purposes from 

 the Sea Islands, the local growers decided, on the advice of 

 the Imperial Department of Agriculture, to plant seed 

 obtained from the best marks of local-grown cotton. The 

 seed required was sent to the factory and selected and 

 disinfected at cost price. This work was commenced on 

 April 13 and finished on September 23. 



Besides the seed dealt with for local growers, large 

 orders were received from officers of the Department in other 

 West India Islands. These orders were dealt with during 

 the same period. The amount of seed treated for local 

 growers was 15,387 lb., which gave 11,860 1b.* of selected 

 and disinfected seed. The proportion of selected to unselected 

 seed was therefore 77"07 per cent. For export and local sale 

 16,717 lb. of unselected seed were purchased from local 

 growers whose cotton was especially good and had realized 

 l.s. 5(7. to Is. 6(7. per lb. This seed after selection and 

 disinfection gave 13,990 lb., the bulk of which was exported. 



The working expenses incurred in selecting, disinfecting, 

 and exporting all of the seed dealt with amounted to 

 £136 15s. 7(7. Of this amount £80 6s. 5(/. was expended on 

 the purchase and selection of seed for export, packing and 

 shipping charges. The actual cost of selection and disinfection 

 only was 95c., or 3s. llitZ. per 100 lb. of seed. This is 

 therefore the rate charged local growers. 



The price charged for seed sold and exported from the 

 factory was 2hd. per lb. This included all charges to 

 destination. 



To date a few accounts are unpaid, but when paid there 

 will be a credit balance of £31 15s. 10(7. This is 

 therefore the profit on the seed sold and exported. 



GUANGO OR RAIN TREE. 



The Monthly Weather Review of the' U. S. 

 Department of Agriculture contains the following 

 interesting note on the guango or .saman or rain tree 

 {PWieeolohlam >S(iman), a native of lro])ical America, 

 in reference to its effect on climatic conditions : — 



Jlr. Fred Turner, F.L.S., comumnicatos to the Dailij 

 Telerjrapk, Sydne}', N.S.W., of Jlay 27, a short article on 

 the rain tree or guango in Australia. He says that during 

 the past thirty years few trees have received more attention 

 than this from both scientific and practical men. At one 

 time and another, writers have recommended its extensive 

 cultivation in the drier parts of the world in order to provide 

 moisture and make the desert blossom as the rose. Its 

 botanical name is I' Uhecolohiuni Saman, Benth.; it is 



* 200 ft. transferred to export account. 



indigenous to Brazil and Central America, but is now raised 

 successfully in many other regions, and is a beautiful, 

 umbrageous tree of remai-kably quick growth. !Mr. Turner 

 states that he has raised more than 300 seedlings in the 

 Botanic Gardens of Brisbane, Queensland. As the latitude 

 of Brisbane is about 27° 30' S., on the north-east coast 

 of Australia, it would seem, at first thought, as though this 

 tree would flourish in the analogous climates that we have on 

 the south-east coast of the United States, especially the 

 coasts of Georgia, Florida, and Texas, but ilr. David 

 Fairchild, of the B.ureau of Plant Industry, states that 

 several experiments at introduction have not met with 

 decided success. Turner states that he has planted the 

 guango in various soils and situations and they made 

 remarkable growth during the summer months, especially 

 after the January rains, but the leaves fell oft' at the 

 approach of the winter and the plants died clown to within 

 2 inches of the ground. Southern Queensland was too cold, 

 but Northern Queensland, corresponding to our Florida, was 

 fairly well adapted. The fruit consists of four to eight 

 seeds, embedded in a saccharine pulpy matter very pleasant 

 to the taste ; the mature seed-pods are largely used as feed 

 for stock. They are about a j inch thick, and from 6 to 10 

 inches long. 



Of course the readers of the Review do not need to be 

 told that trees will not provide moisture or bring rain, 

 but, on the one hand, such trees as the guango may be 

 helpful in draining wet lands, and, on the other hand, the 

 cool moist air settling down from their leaves during the 

 night-time may provide a local condition that will make it 

 possible for certain plants to grow in their neighbourhood, 

 that would otherwise be killed by the heat and the dry air. 



COLONIAL EXHIBITION AWARDS. 



The West India Committee Circidar of Septem- 

 ber 29 contains a list of further awards made for 

 rum.s and spirits at the Colonial Exhibition. It is 

 gratifying to note that a Grand Prize was awarded to 

 the Government Laborator}', Jamaica, for the best 

 collection of well-made, high-flavoured rums. The list 

 of awards may be summarized as follows: — ■ 



BARBADOS. 



4 Gold Medals. 



3 Silver Medals. 



4 Bronze Medals. 



TRINIDAD. 



2 Gold Medals. 



3 Silver Medals. 



4 Bronze Medals. 



1 Grand Prize. 

 1 Gold Medal. 

 4 Silver Medals. 

 8 Bronze Medals. 



The following is an extract from an article in the 

 St. Vincent Senti-y of September 29 : — 



We are very pleased to note that, although the colony 

 of St. Vincent occupied no special court at the Exhibition, 

 the enterprising proprietor of ' Three Rivers ' arrowroot 

 did not miss the opportunity of advertising that excellent 

 product of this island at the Crystal Palace. Mr. Porter's 

 enterprise has been crowned with success, he having been 

 awarded a silver medal for his exhibit. As the success of 

 his efforts to stimulate the demand for ' Three Rivers ' 

 arrowroot means increased trade for St. Vincent, we wish 

 the business continued progress. 



