22 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



January 28, 1905. 



WEST INDIAN AGRICULTURAL 

 CONFERENCE, 1905. 



As stated in our last issue, the iifth West Indian Agri- 

 cultural Conference was formally opened on .January I, 

 ■when a hearty welcome was extended to the lte[>resenta- 

 tives by his Excellency the Governor (Sir Henry M. 

 Jackson, K.C.M.G.), and the President of the Conference 

 delivered his ojieniny address. 



In the proceedings of the Conference a prominent 

 position was assigned to the sugar-cane industry, the first 

 subject on the agenda being the 'Results of recent 

 experiments with Seedling Canes and Manurial Experiments 

 in the West Indies.' A valuable pa[)er on the sugar-cane 

 experiments in Briti.sh Guiana, which had Itcen prepared by 

 Professor .1. 1'. Harrison, was read by ilr. E. W. F. English. 

 It was stated that 14,000 acres were occupied in British 

 Guiana with varieties other than the Bourbon ; of these 

 about 12,000 acres were l)eing cultivated in new seedling 

 varieties, the favourites being D. 109, B. 117, 1). 14.5, 

 D. G2.5, and B. 208. In late years nearly one third of 

 a million tiny canes had been raised, from which a few 

 showed promise of being of actual value agriculturally. 

 Professor J. P. d'Albutjueniue then presented some of the 

 results of the experimental work in Barbados. These have 

 already been imblished in Pamphlet No. 32, Secdliiii/ and 

 other Canes at JiaifiaJos, I'JOJ^. He was followed by 

 Dr. Watt.s, who dealt with the experiments in the Leeward 

 Islands, a full report on which is already in the press and 

 will shortly be i.ssued. An interesting paper showing the 

 favourable results that had been obtained with the White 

 Transparent and I). 9.5 on the large area of 1,762 acres on 

 a group of estates in Trinidad was presented by Dr. Ui'ich. 

 D. 95 had given an average return of 23'65 tons per acre as 

 against an average of 21 '23 tons for the White Trans]iarent, 

 and 16'43 tons per acre for the Bourbon. 



The next subject brought up for discussion was the 

 Cane-farming Industry. The discussion was opened by the 

 Hon. B. Howell Jones (British Guiana) and Professor P. 

 Carmody (Trinidad). An interesting discussion followed the 

 reading of these papers in which his Excellency the Governor, 

 the Hon. S. Henderson and others took part. Sir Henry 

 Jackson described the very successful system of 'company' cane 

 farming in vogue in Fiji. Other [)aijers that were presented 

 to the Conference in connexion with the sugar industry 

 included reviews of the principal in.sect and fungoid pests 

 of the sugar-cane, the field treatment of cane ' tops ' for 

 planting, and the polarimetric determination of sucrose. 



Trinidad being the foremost cacao-producing colony in 

 the West Indies, considerable interest attached to the 

 discussion of important subjects relating to that industry. 

 Mr. Hart read a short paper dealing with exiicriments that 

 were being carried on with the view of improving the health 

 and productiveness of cacao trees. This was followed by 

 a short pa})er, prepared by ilr. J. G. de Cannes, one of the 

 leading cacao planters in Trinidad. The discussion which 

 followed was taken part in by a large number of the Beiire- 

 sentatives, and some valuable information was elicited. 

 Among the points raised, and which received considerable 

 attention, was that of shade for the cacao trees. It was 

 apparent from the discussion that widely divergent views 

 were held in this connexion in the various islands : in 

 Trinidad it was considered that shade trees were indispen- 

 sible ; in Grenada cacao trees did not ap[>ear to require 

 shade, while in other islands cacao was grown both with and 

 without shade. It was suggested by the President that an 

 extensive series of experiments might be carried out in 



Trinidad by the Agricultural Society with a view to obtaining 

 definite information on this ])oint. 



The attention of the Conference was next turned to the 

 Fruit Industry. !Mr. J. R. Bovell (Barbados) read a short 

 pajier upon the etibrts to establish a fruit industry in 

 ]5arbados, with .special reference to bananas. 



The subject of the recently established cotton industry 

 was next brought forward. Brief statements were made by 

 •Mr. J. R. Bovell (15arbados), Dr. Watts (Leeward Islands), 

 and Mr. W. N. Sands (St. Vincent). 



Under the heading of ' General Subjects ' several 

 interesting papers were read by Representatives. These 

 included '.Agricultural Banks' by the Hon. Wm. Fawcett 

 (Januiica), ' Experiments in establishing Rubljcr Plantations, 

 'Anthra.x,' and others. 



Attention was also devoted to matters connected with 

 agricultural education. The results of the efforts that have 

 been made to introduce the teaching of the principles of 

 agricultural science into Colleges and Secondary Schools 

 were reviewed by ilr. Horace Deighton and Professor 

 d'Alburjuerque (Barl)ados) and Professor Carmody (Trinidad). 

 Mr. J. H. Collens, Inspector of Schools, read a paper on 

 'School Gardens and School Shows in Trinidad,' while 

 ^Ir. J. li. Williams dealt with ' Poiiular Agricultural 

 Education in .Jamaica.' 



Through the kindness of the Trinidad Agricultural 

 Society several interesting excursions were organized. The 

 first of these was a visit to the Usine St. iladeleine >n\ 

 Saturda)', January 7, the Representatives being shown over 

 the factory by ilr. Peter Abel. After leaving the Usine the 

 Representatives were taken to Princes' Town for lunch. On 

 Tuesda}', January 10, they left Port-of-Spain at 9 a.m. by 

 .sijccial steamer for La Brea to see the celebrated Pitch Lake. 

 On Thursday, .January 12, a visit was paid to the Caroni 

 estate where the Naudet diti'nsion-iu'oce.ss plant was in coui'se 

 of being installed. An opportunity was also giv»n of .seeing 

 the steam jiloughs at work on this estate. The Representa- 

 tives then proceeded to La Horqueta estate, the [iroperty of 

 Messrs. Borde Bros., and inspected the cacao cultivation. 

 Further opportunities of seeing cacao cultivations were 

 obtained at Sangre Grande. 



Other excursions were arranged as follows : — On 

 .lanuary 4 a visit was made by the Representatives to the 

 Botanic Gardens, and on the following day to the 

 St. Clair Experiment Station when Jlr. J. H. Hart, the 

 Superintendent, kindly pointed out the objects of interest. 



On Monday, .January 9, an afternoon visit was paid to 

 ]Mr. Hoadley's cacao estate at Chaguanas to inspect a new 

 steam-drying plant for cacao, and also a factory for preparing 

 concentrated lime juice and distilled oil. 



The Annual Sale of Stock at the Government Farm 

 taking place on Wednesday, January 11, a number of the 

 Representatives took the opportunity of attending. 



The Itepresentatives were thus enabled to obtain a good 

 idea of methods of cultivation adopted by Trinidad planters. 



On Friday, January 13, the proceedings terminated. 

 A vote of thanks was passed to his Excellency the 

 President and Members of the Trinidad Agricultural Society 

 for the assistance that had been rendered in connexion with 

 the Conference. A vote of thanks was also proposed to the 

 President for the manner in which he had conducted the 

 business of the Conference. In replying to this vote. 

 Sir Daniel Morris thanked the members of the Conference 

 for the cordial manner in which they had co-operated with 

 him and expressed the hope that great good wijuld accrue 

 from the Conference, not only to Trinidad but also to the 

 whole of the West Indies. 



