Vol. IV. No. 91. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



311 



ST. VINCENT COTTON CROP. 



Mr. W. N. Sands, Agricultural Superintendent at 

 St. Vincent, reports on the prospects of the cotton cro2J 

 as follows : — ■ 



I have now visited all the chief cotton cultivations, and 

 at the present time the outlook for the industry is very 

 hopeful. As far as I can see the young plants are growing 

 much sturdier than last year; to date very little disease 

 has been noted. 



Orders for cotton seed for planting are still coming to 

 hand, but chiefly for small lots for supplying purposes. It 

 may be of interest to add that, so far, the amount of seed 

 .selected, disinfected, and distributed from the Cotton Factory 

 amounts to 25,844 lb., of which 13,984 Bb. have been 

 e.xported and 11,860 fc. sent out to local growers. 



BARBADOS CO-OPERATIVE COTTON 

 FACTORY. 



The Barbados Co-operative Cotton Factory, 

 Limited, was registered at Barbados on August 16 last, 

 under the Companies Act, 1892. 



The capital of the company' is £1,000 divided 

 into 2,000 shares of 10s. each. 



The objects for which the company is established 

 have already been outlined in the Atjricidtiiral News 

 (Vol. IV, p. 209). The main objects,' briefly stated, are 

 as follows : — 



(1) To purchase the cotton factory and equipment; 



(2) to carry on in Barbados the business of cotton growers, 

 cotton ginuers, and dealers in cotton and cotton seed ; 



(3) to make advances to cotton growers on account of cotton 

 grown by them, and to purchase such or other cotton or its 

 products. 



VANILLA IN TAHITI. 



The following note on the vanilla industry of 

 Tahiti is extracted from the Consular Report on the 

 Society Islands for 1904: — 



While it must be conceded that Tahiti vanilla is inferior 

 in quality to that of other countries, probably on account of 

 the deterioration of the vine since its first introduction into 

 this island from Mexico some thirty years ago, yet it is a fact 

 that during the years 1897-1902 its e.xports and prices were 

 sufficiently elevated to aid this colony in the maintenance of 

 a fairly high state of commercial and financial prosperity. 

 In the years 1897-9 its price varied from 9.s. bhd. to 5s. 2f/. 

 per lb.; decreased to 3s. Wld. per lb. in 1900 ;"'advanc8d to 

 4s. id. per lb. in 1901, and" fell to 2s. lid per lb. in 1902, 

 since which date it has gradually declined to 1 s. 0-Jd per ft. 

 in^ 1904. It is generally admitted that this state of 

 affairs has arisen in consequence of foreign markets havin" 

 been flooded with an imperfectly cured and sometimes 

 fraudulently packed article, forwarded hence by Chinese 

 shopkeepers, who have procured the green beans from native 

 growers and prepared them with insufficient skill and with 

 undue haste for shipment. However this may be, it is true 

 that the exports of Tahitian vanilla in 1902 amounted to 

 144f tons, valued at £47,417, and that in 1904 it had 

 decreased to 1341- tons, of the value of £15,969, a difference 

 in the space of two years of lOj- tons in weight and of 

 £31,448 in value. Recently some new vines from Mexico 

 have been introduced into Tahiti, which may in time replace 

 those at present in use. 



COLONIAL PRODUCTS EXHIBITION AT 

 LIVERPOOL. 



The following information is extracted from the 

 official publication issued by the promoters of the 

 Colonial Products Exhibition to be held at Liverpool 

 from January 30 to February 8, 1906 : — 



Judging from the cordial support extended to, and the 

 amount of enthusiasm aroused by, the last two e.xhibitions — 

 the first undertakings of the kind ever organized in Great 

 Britain outside the Metropolis — it is a reasonable presump- 

 tion that another, even on a still more extended scale, 

 offering a greater diversity and larger number of colonial 

 products, will achieve a still larger measure of success, and so 

 promote the furtherance of a greater amount of commercial 

 reciprocity between the colonies and the Mother Country. 

 It might be said, m imsmnt, that on all sides it has been 

 agreed that the increase of business through the Liverpool 

 Colonial Products Exhibition has been enormous, and no 

 doubt H. R. H. the Prince of Wales recognized this fact when 

 he graciously became a patron. 



The resources of our colonies, mineral, agricultural, and 

 manufacturing, increase rapidly as the time goes on, and no 

 j-ear passes but finds the over-sea portions of the empire in 

 a better position to help to the attainment of that object, 

 which it is the desire of every citizen to see realized — the 

 establishment of the empire on a self-contained and self- 

 supporting basis, independent of supplies from alien lands, 

 and powerful to hold its own by the aid of its own people 

 and by that aid alone. 



That this aim can be accomplished there is little room 

 for doubt, provided there be unanimity of feeling and mutual 

 interests between the peoples of our colonies and ourselves; 

 and it is difficult to discover any action on our part more 

 valuable, helpful, and effective than endeavouring, as far as 

 possible, to offer to the people of this country opportunities 

 of realizing by jjersonal inspection the vast commercial 

 wealth of our colonies, as illustrated by the number and 

 extent of the commodities with which they are able to 

 supply us. 



With this object in view it is intended to hold the third 

 Colonial Products Exhibition from January 30 to February 8, 

 190G, which shall be more extended in its scope than the 

 last, and for this purpose every effort will be made to obtain 

 direct from each separate colony samples of each and every 

 product it is able to supply. 



With many months available for organization, prepara- 

 tion, and connnunication with the various colonial authorities, 

 whose co-operation may be safely reckoned on, the President 

 and Managers entertain sanguine hopes of producing 

 a collection of colonial products, which, for extent and 

 diversity, has never before been gathered together in one 

 place on any previous occasion. 



Those colonies and firms desirous of obtaining space in 

 this forthcoming important exhibition should send in their 

 applications as soon as possible to the Joint Managers at 

 9, Chapel Street, or 21, Water Street, Liverpool, where 

 a plan of the hall can be seen and all information obtained. 



It may be mentioned that the Secretary of the 

 West India Committee has expressed to the Imperial 

 Commissioner of Agriculture his readiness to do 

 anything in his power to assist in securing the 

 representation of the West Indies at the Liverpool 

 Colonial Products Exhibition. 



