Vol. IV. No. 90. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



297 



Supports for Vanilla. 



The Annual Hepoi't of the Agricultural Instructor 

 -at St. Lucia, now in the press, contains interesting 

 remarks on experiments in vanilla growing. Mr. Hudson 

 states that the principal obstacle in the way of the 

 successful cultivation of this product in St. Lucia has 

 been the lack of a suitable bush as a support. 



The trees generally recommended for this purpose, 

 such as physic nut, calabash, hog plum, and Immortel, 

 are difficult to keep under control in an extended 

 cultivation, ilr. Hudson has found old Liberian coffee 

 trees excellent for this purpose. At present prices 

 Liberian coffee hardly pays the picking expenses, and 

 the trees might with advantage be used as supports ; 

 they should be lopped at a height of 6 feet. To those 

 who have no Liberian coffee trees growing, he can 

 recommend the annatto, but not on very rich lands as 

 they would be difficult to control. 



St. Vincent Land Settlement Scheme. 



There will be i'ound on p. oOo an account of the 

 efforts that are being made in St. Vincent to improve 

 the allotments on the estates acquired by the Govern- 

 ment under the Land Settlement Ordinance of 1899. 



The scheme aims at preventing the exhaustion of 

 the lands occupied by allottees by encouraging the 

 preparation of compost and extending the use of 

 artilicial manures. 



There wer-e in June last -540 occupied allotments, 

 iind the holders of 400 of these had carried out the 

 directions of the Agricultural Instructor with regard 

 "to making compost. Each of these 400 allottees is 

 now to receive, free of cost, artificial manures sufficient 

 for l acre of land. Suitable manures are being provi- 

 ded for canes, for cacao, and for provisions. 



It is anticipated that useful information will be 

 obtained as the result of these manurial experiments. 



Agricultural Industries of Gambia. 



The ground nut is the principal product of Gambia, 

 and the welfare of the colony depends entirely upon it. 

 During 1904, according to the Annual Report, there 

 was a falling off in the exports of no less than 2,041 

 tons, and of a value of £46,107. It is stated that this 

 industry is bound to be subject to fluctuations, as so 

 much depends upon the rainfall and the price of the 

 nuts in France, to which country the majority of them 

 are exported. 



The efforts to establish a cotton industry in the 

 colony have been unsuccessful, and it is feared that the 

 cultivation of cotton is impossible, owing to the .sandy 

 character of the soil. 



The year's export returns show increases in wax, 

 palm kernels, and hides. The trade in hides is 

 gradually developing, the value of the exports being 

 £1,444 in 1904. 



It is stated that the extension of agricultural 

 industries is much retarded by the insufficiency of the 

 population. 



Ceylon Rubber Industry. 



An article in Thu TLriu>i of August 21 contains 

 interesting information on the growth of Ceylon's 

 rubber industry. Twenty-nine years have elapsed 

 since the first plants of the Para rubber tree (Hevea 

 hnisiliensis) went from Kew to Ceylon. These trees, 

 now giants in the Government Gardens, have given 

 seed which has helped to jjlant up many thousands of 

 acres in Ceylon, Southern India, and the Malay Pen- 

 insula. 



With the price of the beautifully clean Para 

 rubber rising to G.s., it was inevitable that there should 

 be a rush into planting. The new industry in the 

 three kinds of rubber (but chietiy Para) covers now the 

 equivalent of 40,000 acres, and the exports may this 

 year reach 110,000 ft. 



It is estimated that the total area of cultivated 

 rubber in the world is 149,9-50 acres ; of this area 

 Ceylon accounts for 40,000 acres, the Malay Peninsula 

 for 38,000 acres, and Africa 33,000 acres, while Tobago 

 and the West Indies are estimated to have 1,000 acres. 



In Ceylon the Para rubber tree fiourishes from 

 sea-level up to 3,000 feet. It is therefore to be 

 expected that a great further development will take 

 place. 



Gathering Fruit for Market. 



Fruit growers in the West Indies do not appreciate 

 the necessity for the care that is required in gathering 

 fruit from the trees. This is a matter to which atten- 

 tion has frequently been drawn in the various agri- 

 cultural publications in the West Indies and by 

 Agfricultural Instructors in the course of their travels. • 



The point which it is specially desired to urge is 

 this : Perishable fruits should never be pulled from 

 the tree, but should always be stem-cut. This has, 

 perhaps, now been fully realized by those who grow 

 oranges on a large scale for shipment to England or the 

 United States, but it is rarely one sees any trace of 

 the stem on oranges gathered for the local markets, 

 when the fruits are to be consumed soon after being 

 gathered. 



In the case of other fruits, such as, for example, the 

 avocado pear, the necessity for following this practice is 

 rarely realized : and yet this is one of the most delicate 

 of the West Indian fruits. The slightest bruise is 

 sufficient to cause the pear to rot in a very short time; 

 it is even often much bruised by its own seed if care- 

 lessly shaken. The avocado pear is now in season, and 

 one frequently has to thro\\' away a considerable portion 

 of the fruit in consequence of the decay that has started 

 at the point of attachment of the fruit to the stem. 

 The reason of this decay is that the fruits have been 

 pulled from the tree ; had they been stem-cut with 

 a pair of shears, they could have been kept much 

 longer and would have ripened evenly throughout. 



Growers of these and similar fruits should realize 

 that they should gather their fruit with the greatest 

 possible care, even though these are intended for the 

 local market only and not for shipment. 



