Vol. IV. No. 76. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



73 



It is hoped to offer further suggestions in regard 

 to tliis matter of the selection of pure seed later. In 

 the meantime the utmost care shijuld be taken at the 

 ginneries to keep the best seed entirely separate from 

 the other seed and mark the bags in such a manner as 

 to prevent any mistake being made as to what is 

 ' selected ' seed and what is to be passed through the 

 disintegrators for feeding purposes. 



Department Publications. 



Two pamphlets (nos. 33 and 34.) are issued to-day. 

 No. 33 is entitled Stfedling and iith<-r Canes in, the 

 Leeward Inlands, lOU-J-.i, and contains a summary of 

 the results obtained at the experiment stations at 

 Antigua and St. Kitt's last season. Extracts from this 

 pamphlet are published elsewhere in this issue. The 

 large ofKcial report (part 1) on which this summary is 

 baseil will also be issued in the course of the next few 

 weeks. 



Pamphlet 34 is entitled Sutes on Rabbit Keppia<j 

 in the West Indies. As has already been mentioned, 

 it contains the notes previously published in the 

 Aiji'ii-idtii nd News, which were specially written by 

 Mr. .John Barclay, the Secretary of the .Jamaica 

 Agricultural Society. 



These pamphlets can be obtained of all Agents of 

 the Department; No. 33, price 4t?., post free od.. and 

 No. 34 at 2d., post free 2H. 



It may also be mentioned that the concluding 

 •jnunber of the West Indian Balletin, Vol. V, will 

 probably be issued in time for distribution by next 

 jnail. It contains the first instalment of the papers 

 read at the recent West Indian Agricultural Conference. 



Raiffeisen Agricultural Banks. 



Reference was made in the editorial in the last 

 issue of the Ayricultural Xrics to the paper read 

 at the recent Conference by the Hon. Wm. Fawcetc 

 on ' Raiffeisen Agricultural Banks.' 



Mr. Fawcett showed that the all-important feature 

 of this system was the unlimited liability of each and 

 all the members of the bank. This secures, first and 

 foremost, careful selection of all the members, limiting 

 the membership to persons absolutely trustworth}-. It 

 also secures good administration — ensuring that the 

 most competent mea shall be elected as officers. 

 Without unlimited liability, furthermore, there could 

 not possibly be all that watchfulness and control which 

 keep everything safe. 



The whole fabric is built up upon a system of 

 mutual checking, the borrowers being checked by the 

 committee, the committee by the council, the council 

 by the mass of the members — all without offensiveness. 

 The smallness of the district assigned to every bank 

 ensures that knowledge and that vigilance of one 

 another which constitute a sine qiut -nun of success. 



The organization of the bank is entirely 

 democratic ; no office bearer, with the sole exception of 

 the cashier, receives any remuneration. The rules are 

 simple and absolutely intelligible, and the utmost 

 confidence is felt in the security of the bank. 



Agriculture in Senegal. 



According to the (J(jnsuhtr Report on Senegal 

 for 1903 recently issued, ' the Agricultural Dejjartment 

 has been re-organized and centralized. An Inspector 

 of Agriculture for French West Africa has been 

 appointed, who directs the various experimental 

 gardens in the different colonies, and studies and 

 co-ordinates the results obtained by them.' The 

 cultivation of cotton and rubber is i-eceiving special 

 attention. 



The staple of the native varieties of cotton is too 

 short for the European market, and efforts are being 

 made to find long-staple varieties that will thrive in 

 West Africa. Experiments have shown that in certain 

 districts of Senegal good varieties of American cotton 

 will, if properly looked after, give good results. 



Excellent rubber exists in many parts of West 

 Africa, but the industry is suffering from overtapping 

 on the part of the natives. Efforts are being made to 

 instruct the natives in proper methods and to cause 

 fresh plantations to be made. 



The chief export from Senegal is ground nuts, the 

 total value of the .shipments in 1903 being £1,382,983. 



The Governn^.ent is considering the possibility of 

 establishing a regular irrigation system and is also 

 devoting attention to the matter of re-aftorestntion. 

 Efforts are also being made towards the extermination of 

 mosquitos. 



I ■» I r» 



Agricultural Industries of Grenada. 



The cacao industry of Grenada continues to make 

 satisfactory progress. The Anniud Report on the 

 colony for 1903 gives the following statistics in 

 proof of this: the average annual crop for the five years 

 (1897-I90I) was 53,379 bags (of 180 tb.) : the crop for 

 the year ending September 30, 1902, was 61,28.5 bags, 

 and for the following year, 03,019 bags. 



' A feature of the year's tran.sactions was the 

 attention paid by purchasers to the finer grades of 

 cacao, which indicates that the greater care necessarily 

 bestowed on preparation in such cases meets with 

 appreciation. Grenada cacao has in the past suffered 

 much in consequence of the absence of such care in 

 the case of cacao grown by small proprietors, and it is 

 hoped that the lesson is gradually being borne in upon 

 them that in this, as in all other business details, 

 success, in these days of competition, can be secured 

 only by painstaking labour.' The fact that the con- 

 sumption of cacao is rapidly increasing should be 

 encouraging to the cacao-growing islands of the West 

 Indies. It is estimated that the world's consumption 

 of cac£io has increased 2-5 per cent, between 1899 and 

 1903. In the same period the consumption in the 

 United States has increased from about 315,000 cwt. 

 to 504,000 cwt. 



The nutmeg and spice crop shows the same 

 tendency to increase in quantity. The quantity of 

 spices exported. during the year was 7,959 cwt. (as 

 against 6,839 cwt. in the previous year), of the value 

 of £31,583, nutmegs forming the bulk of this. Steady 

 increase is shown also in the cultivation of cotton 

 which is the staple product of the island of Carriacou. 



