Vol. IV. No. 7G. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



75 



AGRICULTURAL SHOW. 



Antigua. 



The Animal Agricultural 81iow was held in the grounds 

 of Buxton Grove on Thursday, February 23. 



In the ab.seni'e of his Excellency Sir C. G. Knollys, the 

 show was opened at noon by Lady Knollys amid a large and 

 representative gathering. 



The most striking feature of the exhibition was the 

 uniform excellence of the exhibits sent in, both in the 

 character of the products themselves, and in the manner in 

 which they were shown, in this res[iect indicating a marked 

 advance on all previous years. 



As was the case last year there was a very gratifying 

 display of minor products, notably of garden vegetables, 

 which, considering the serious drought that has prevailed 

 during the past year, were quite reniarkalile, pointing to 

 careful and intelligent cultivation on the part of the 

 exhibitors, who, it might be added, were largely drawn from 

 the ]ieasant class. 



The fruit exhibits, on the other hand, were somewhat 

 below the average, probably on account of the recent drought, 

 for, though careful cultivation and watering might be able to 

 avert the worst eft'ects of drought on vegetables, yet these 

 methods are not applicable to fruit trees. 



This year, again, the exhibits of cotton were a feature 

 of the show, a large number of which were sent in, all of 

 exceiitional quality ; the first }iri/.e for seed-cotton was 

 taken by the Hon. R. Warneford, and that for lint by 

 Thibou Jarvis' estate. 



In the classes for peasant-grown cotton the number of 

 exhibits was somewhat small, though all that was shown 

 was of excellent quality, and carefully prepared for 

 exhibition, being comniendably free from dirt and leaf. 



In this connexion an interesting exhibit was shown by 

 the Hon. R. Warneford of tastefully mounted bolls of 

 different varieties of cotton grown by him on Yepton's 

 estate, viz.. Upland, Native West Indian, liivers' Sea 

 Island, Seabrook Sea Island, and Sea Island grown from 

 seed of last year's crop in Antigua, showing well the manner 

 of boiling of each variety. 



This year, again, a large variety of meals and starches 

 was shown, a [jroof of continued interest in ^Yhat should 

 prove a remunerative industry, if developed. 



The school garden exhibit, inaugurated at last year's 

 show, displayed this year a very marked advance both in the 

 number of entries and in the quality of exhibits shown. The 

 exhibits of vegetables under this head were particularly 

 noticeable. Five schools entered for the class, and in every 

 case the plants grown showed discrimination and api)reeiation 

 of their educational value, and also careful and intelligent 

 cultivation. The first prize in this class was won liy the 

 Cathedi'al school with an admirable exhibit, including Indian 

 corn, beans, ochros, tomatos, squashes, etc. Perhaps the 

 e.'jhibits of school-grown plants in pots and boxes were not 

 c]uite up to the level of the vegetable exhibits; still, on the 

 whole, they were very fair, and appeared to show that the 

 school teachers had, at any rate in most cases, grasped the 

 value of a growing plant as an object-lesson to a class of 

 children. Possibly there was rather a tendency to grow only 

 those particular plants which require but little care and 

 attention, yet this is natural, considering the newness of the 

 subject. In this class also, the Cathedral school took the 

 first prize, indicating a very good grasj) of the requirements 

 of a school garden on the part of the teacher, and an 

 intelligent interest and care in the scholars. 



The exhibits in Class 185, for budded and grafted plants 

 from schools, were [loor. Among the minor exhibits a good 

 deal of interest and comment was evoked by three large 

 bunches of native-grown celery, a novel departure in agriculture 

 in Antigua, which if persevered in should prove profitable. 



Of the live stock exhibits, Mr. H. Goodwin, Government 

 Veterinary Surgeon at Antigua, remarks in a letter to 

 Dr. Watts: 'Particular attention was directed to the 

 presence of a number of fine young mules from different 

 part.s of the island. They were as satisfactory a lot as one 

 could desire to see, and with the promise shown compare 

 favourably with recent importations from America.' Of the 

 horses Mr. Goodwin remarks : 'Mr. R. Goodwin's dark-brown 

 gelding and Mr. Cranstoun's chestnut call for special praise.' 

 The exhibits of cattle were, however, not as numerous as 

 in former years. 



The Departmental exhibits this year included one 

 demonstrating the purity of the Rivers' Sea Island cotton 

 seed imported by the Imperial Department of Agriculture, 

 in which the original .seed had been sorted into grades of 

 different degrees of 'fuzziness' ; these grades sown se|iarately, 

 and the lint and seed resulting from each sowing ginned and 

 exhibited. The lint from all the grades was of fine quality, 

 conclusively demonstrating the purity of the seed. Other 

 Departmental e.xhibits included an illuminating lamp burning 

 alcohol instead of kerosene, which vias exhibited in view of 

 the recent suggestion to use alcohol instead of kerosene as 

 an illuminant in the West Indies. The Botanic and Experi- 

 ment Stations were represented by a number of varieties of 

 yams, sweet potatos, corn, and cotton. Spiecimens of the 

 large slug, known in Dominica as the Paloute, which had 

 recently been found in Antigua, were also shown, and 

 remedies were suggested. 



On the whole, the show this year marks a distinct 

 advance on previous exhiljitions ; the total number of 

 exhibits, .568, was somewhat smaller than last year, but the 

 general standard of the articles was distinctly higher. 

 The show appears to be having the desired effect in raising 

 the quality of the island produce and in fostering minor 

 industries. 



DISC PLOUGHS. 



An interesting article in the Transvaal Agri- 

 cultural Journal on the 'Evohition of the Plough' 

 has the following reference to the disc plough which 

 has now come into general use all over the world ; — 



The disc plough, introduced in quite recent j-ears, is an 

 adoption of the principle of the revolving disc already proved 

 in the disc harrow and disc cultivator, to the work of 

 turning as well as pulverizing the sod. Its ease of draught 

 over the mould-board plough is evident by its rotary motion 

 as against the sliding action, and its peculiar construction, 

 allowing the use of a wheel to take the side thrust, in place 

 of the land side necessary with the mould-board type, which, 

 with the benefits conferred by its fewer parts, and the 

 thorough loosening given to the crown of the sod in turning, 

 probably more than comi)ensate for the narrowness and 

 limited depth of the furrow cut. The width is governed by 

 the diameter of the disc, and the fact of the greater the 

 diameter the greater the resistance experienced to entering 

 the ground, makes a disc of much more than 21 inches with 

 a cut of 6 to 10 inches, unworkable on any but very loose 

 ground. The disc plough of to-day will probably' be very 

 much impi-oved in future years, but at the present time it is 

 doubtful if its work has the thoroughness of the mould-board 

 type. 



