A FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW 



OF THE 



IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR THE WEST INDIES. 



Vol. IV. No. 82. 



BARBADOS, JUNE .3, 190-5. 



Peice Id. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 

 Broom Corn in the West 



Indies 174 



Cacao Cultivation in tlie 



West Indies 101 



Cacao Drier in Trinidad 174 



Cottee, Liberian 170 



Colombia, Agriculture in 1C9 

 Colonial Agriculture, 



International Assem- 



Gleanings 172 



Grape Fruit from 



Dominica 1C8 



Ground Nuts 103 



Insect Notes : — 



Bees' Nests 170 



Sheep nasal Fly 170 



Weevils, Destruction of 170 



Mangosteen 104 



Page. 

 ., 170 



Market Reports ... 



Nitrogenous Fertilizers, 



Supply of 109 



Notes and Comments ... 168 



Oranges, Sliipping ... . 

 Our Book Shelf :— 



Cotton Seed Products. 

 Rainfall Returns ... 

 Rat Virus, Experiments 



with 



St. Lucia Agricultural 

 Experiments Com- 

 mittee 



St. Lucia, Imported stock 



at 



St. Vincent, Expoi'ts of. . 

 Science Note : — 

 The meaning of 



Spines on Plants .. 



Shipping Oranges 



Sugar Industry ; — 

 Hawaii, Demerara 



Canes in 



Jamaica 



Leeward Islands 



Molasses in Canada .. 

 Surinam, Agriculture in 

 West Indian Bulletin . . 

 West Indian Fisheries .. 

 West Indian Products : — 

 London Drug and Spice 



Market 



New York Imports 



104 



105 

 171 



109 



108 



171 

 109 



165 

 164 



163 

 162 

 163 

 163 

 171 

 108 

 107 



175 



175 



Cacao Cultivation in 

 Indies. 



the West 



T the West Indian Agricultural Conference 

 at Trinirlad in January last, an interesting 

 and uaeful discu.ssion took place in 



connexion with the cacao industry. The general 

 opinion of those present appeared to be that consider- 

 able improvement had been shown during the last few 

 years in the methods adopted in cultivating this crop, 

 and that the planters were realizing the necessity for 

 higher cultivation. 



In several of the West India Islands cacao 

 experiment plots have been in operation for some years 

 under the direction of the Imperial Department of 

 Agriculture, and the experience gained from these 

 experiment plots, as well as the personal experience of 

 such planters as have themselves been in the habit of 

 conducting experiments and making observations, has 

 indicated very clearly that more scientific methods of 

 treating the soil and the trees have resulted in an 

 increased yield : good results have been obtained from 

 the use of pen manure and of sheep manure; other 

 planters have satisfied themselves of the economy of 

 using chemical manures, principally basic slag; others, 

 again, have learned the advantage of paying close 

 attention to approved methods of pruning and the 

 prevention of disease. 



The best results are not to be obtained by 

 attending merely to manuring or merely to pruning. 

 The cacao tree is very susceptible to unftxvourable 

 conditions of the soil. Experiments throughout the 

 West Indies have clearly demonstrated that little 

 improvement can be brought about by the use of 

 manures — natural or artificial — unless the soil is well 

 drained. Without subsoil drains in a wet clay soil 

 manure is useless. The question of deep drainage has 

 also an important bearing upon the occurrence of 

 fungoid diseases. Since healthy vigorous trees are 



