Vol. IV. Xo. 90. 



THE AGRICULTURAL XEWS. 



•SO.'J 



ST. VINCENT LAND SETTLEMENT SCHEME. 



Improvement of the Allotments. 



Mr. W. N. Sands, Agricultui-al Supei-intendent at 

 St. Vincent, has forwarded for publication tlie following 

 account of the scheme for the improvement of allot- 

 ments on the Land Settlement estates in that island 

 by means of manurial e.xperiments: — 



The Land Settlement estates at St. Vincent, which were 

 acquired by the Govsrnnient under the Land Settlement 

 Ordinance of 1899, are Richmond Hill, Clare Valley and 

 Questelles, Park Hill, and New Adelphi, and groups of 

 estates in each of the Linley and Cumberland Vallej'S. 



The lands of eacli estate, except such as are reserved for 

 the protection of the sources of streams, exposed ridges, 

 townships, roads, etc., are divided into allotments of areas 

 varying from 1 acre to 7 acres. 



At the end of last year the Agricultural Instructor 

 ■was directed to draw up a full report on the allotments, in 

 order that the progress made might be noted. In the report 

 which he prepared it was shown that there were 689 allot- 

 ments, and the approximate area in cultivation was 2,6.50 

 acres. This area is cultivated by the allottees according to 

 instructions of the officers of the Imperial Department of 

 Agriculture under the authority of Rule 19 (b) of the 

 regulations made under the provisions of the above-named 

 Ordinance. The rule reads as follows ; — 



' Every purchaser of an allotment shall for a period of 

 sixteen years, reckoning from the date of allotment, carry 

 out such instructions as to the clearing of the land, the area 

 in cultivation, the nature of the products to be planted in 

 a oarticular spot, the manner in which the land is to be cultiv- 

 ated, and the products cared for, and the handling of the 

 produce for market, as may from time to time be given to 

 him by the officers of the Imperial Department of Agriculture 

 for the West Indies.' 



In ilay 1904, his Excellency the Governor directed that, 

 in order to prevent the exhaustion of the lands of the 

 allotments, the preparation and keeping up of compost-pits 

 on each allotment should be insisted on under this rule, and 

 further stated that he would be prepared to approve of 

 purchasing artificial manure and giving it in small quantities, 

 as an experiment, to those persons who had kept compost- 

 pits. In this way it was thought that general industry would 

 be encouraged, and the people would see the advantages of 

 manuring their lands. 



V/hen these instructions were received the Agricultural 

 Instructor was directed to proceed with the work, and 

 commenced instructing allottees during the following month. 



On November 2 3, the Agricultural Instructor reported 

 that he had visited all of the estates and instructed allottees 

 to prepare compost-pits, had shown them how they were 

 formed, and explained the object. 



He reported again on June 28 of this year that of the 

 689 allotments 540 were occupied, and that 400 allottees 

 had carried out instructions. Those allottees who had not 

 carried out his orders were warned by the Government that 

 their allotments would be liable to forfeiture if they did not 

 carry out what they were told to do, and, as an example, some 

 of the worst cases were summarily dealt with. Since this 

 action was taken a good many more of the allottees have 

 started making up compost and manuring their lands. 



When the last report was forwarded, the Government 

 •directed me to make out a description with the cost of artificial 

 manures requisite to issue to the 400 allottees who had 



carried out instructions. This presented some difficulty owing 

 to the varied character of the crops grown, but eventually 

 a scheme was drawn up which it was thought could be 

 worked so that each allottee would receive a quantity of 

 artificial manure suitable for a small area of the crop grown, 

 which area would be of sufficient size to see the result of the 

 manure. 



The scheme may be briefly stated as follows : — Each of 

 the 400 allottees to receive, free of cost, a supply of artificial 

 manure to apply to | acre of land in either of these three 

 groups of crops, namely, canes, cacao (bearing), and 

 provisions. (L''nder provisions is included cassava, sweet 

 potatos, yams, tanuias, and arrowroot.) 



For each of the three groups the following manures are 

 to be given: — 



For canes, sulphate of ammonia at the rate of 2 cwt. 

 per acre. 



For cacao (bearing), basic slag and sulphate of ammonia 

 at the rate of 4 cwt. and 1 cwt. per acre, respectively. 



For provisions, kainit and superphosphate at the rate 

 of 2 cwt. and 1 cwt. per acre, respectively. 



It is estimated that 220 allottees will receive manure 

 for canes and cacao, and 180 for provisions. 



The cost of the manure was estimated at £100. 



This scheme was submitted to the Imperial Commissioner 

 of Agriculture, who wrote that the proposals were rpiite 

 workable, provided that the manures were applied at the 

 right time and in the right way. ' The better arrangement 

 would be for the manures to be applied to the land before 

 the crops are planted, or, failing this, as soon as possible 

 after they are planted. Fortunately, the manures selected 

 are not those that would be easily washed out of the soil by 

 heavy rains.' 



The scheme has been approved by the Government, 

 and the expenditure of £125 from Land Settlement funds 

 sanctioned to be expended on manures on the lines proposed. 



During the present month it is proposed to distribute 

 manitres for canes and cacao, as this can be done with 

 advantage at this season. The manures for the provision 

 crops will be obtained and distributed just before the chief 

 planting season, which will be about March next. 



It should be mentioned that allottees will be encouraged 

 to apply compost or other manure to their lands, and that 

 these manures will be, as it were, as an additional dressing. 



The officers of the Department will follow up this 

 experiment closely, and some usefitl information should be 

 obtained. 



Once the advantage of applying manure to their lands 

 is clearly demonstrated to allottees, the successful working of 

 the estates should be assured, as very considerable progress 

 has been made during the last two or three years. 



Pond Flies are very common at this season of the year 

 in fields of growing crops, especially in the fields of older 

 cotton. These insects pass the early stages of the life-cycle 

 in stagnant water, where they are predaceous on aquatic 

 insects and other small animals. The adults are known to 

 be insect eaters, but there seem to be no observations on 

 record of their feeding habits in the cotton and other fields 

 in the West Indies. It would be very useful if the readers 

 of the Agricultural News would report any instance of a pond 

 fly actually seen feeding on any insect. Pond flies probably 

 devour small insects while on the wing, but larger ones such 

 as moths and butterflies are borne to the ground and there 

 eaten. 



