Vol. IV. No. 72. 



THE AGPJCULTUEAL NE\VB. 



Pruning Cacao in Martinique. 



The We.st India Committee Circidar contciins 

 a translation of an interesting article on pruning 



■ cacao in Martinique, which appeared in the Jounml 



■ d'AgrlcLdture Trupimle of November 30, 1904. 



The writer deals first with the removal of suckers. 

 This work should be going on all the year, the suckers 

 Ijeino- removed as soon as possible after they appear, 

 while pruning proper is necessary only once a year. 



All dead wood should be removed, also the tips 

 • of any branches which have dried up from exposure 

 to sun and wind. The crown of the trunk from which 

 the main branches fork out should be cleared of small 

 branches for some distance. Where squalls and hurri- 

 canes are of common occurrence, as in Martinique, it is 

 advised not to let the cacao run too high, also to allow 

 iihe trees to fork only once; the trees will then be 

 protected by the wind-breaks. 



It is suggested that a severe pruning of the 

 branches might be accompanied by a partial ]jraning 

 -of the roots. It seemed to the writer that on one 

 estate, in a rich soil, cutting the roots, as for 

 ■example in inaking a ditch round the tree or turning 

 over the soil with the spade, increased the production 

 very considerably. The tree sho\dd be pruned as soon 

 .as it has finished bearing. Planters should avoid 

 jpruning a tree while the sap is rising. 



Bermuda Biolog-ical Station. 



The U. S. Mdiithhi Consahir Rcportu for August 

 1904 contain an interesting account of the establish- 

 ivient of a biological station at Bernuida. As the 

 result of two expeditions of American scientists — one 

 in 1893 and the second in 1897 — organized by 

 Professor C. L. Bristol, of New York University, the 

 importance and feasibility of establishing such a station 

 was suo-gested. The expeditions found an unexpected 

 wealth of specimens and a climate in which work could 

 be carried on during the summer months without risk 

 of injury to health. 



These expeditions have been continued year by 

 year, and Professor k. E. Verrill, of Yale, has twice 

 visited the islands and has published the first volume 

 of a valuable work on the natui'al features of the 

 Bermuda Islands. The second volume is to deal 

 .almost wholly with Zoology. 



As a result, largely of the efforts of the American 

 Consul, considerable progress has been made in the 

 •establishment of the station. The Colonial Govern- 

 ment will purchase land and erect a building which 

 will also provide a public aquarium. The Royal 

 Society and the Carnegie Institution have made grants 

 towards the objects of the project, while the New York 

 and Harvard Universities are affonling assistance by 

 organizing a temporary laboratory in connexion with 

 the Bermuda Natural History Society which has 

 -already commenced useful work. This Society was 

 •formed by a number of influential citizens in 1901. 



Manurial Aspect of the Exports of Cacao from 

 Trinidad. 



The following is a short summary of an interesting 

 paper, read before a recent meeting of the Trinidad 

 Agricultural Societ}', by Professor P. Carmody, F.I.C., 

 F.C.S., on the 'Manurial Aspect of our increasing 

 E.xports of Cacao' : — 



While it is most gratifying to record, from the 

 point of view of the colony's progress and wealth, that 

 the exports of cacao have gone on increasing till they 

 now reach the large total of over 35,000,000 lb. per 

 annum, it is necessary that cacao planters should not 

 lose sight of the fact that this large exportation means 

 a drain on the plant food of their estates. Cacao takes 

 large quantities of the three most important and the 

 most expensive ingredients in plant food, and a simple 

 calculation will show that the annual shipment of 

 phosphoric aci<i included in the cacao bean now 

 exceeds 230 tons per annum, or over 300 tons of 

 phosphate of lime. This can best be replaced by the 

 use of basic slag which is the cheapest form in which 

 phosphoric acid can be purchased at present. 



The chief ingredients of plant food in 100 bag.?, 

 each weighing li cwt., are as follows: lime, 3-5 lb.; 

 magnesia, 10.5 It).: potash, 170 ft.: and phosphoric acid, 

 212 ft. Of these, potash is almost as expensive as 

 phosphoric acid, and the necessity for replacing it 

 should not be forgotten. Its most suitable commercial 

 form is probably sulphate of potash. Magnesia is 

 usually present in surticienfc quantities in our soils. 



^w»- -♦"^ 



Introduction of Cotton from the West Indies 



to the United States. 



In an article in the Demerara Argosy of November 

 12, 1904 on 'Cotton in the Old Da^'s: the past connexion 

 of the West Indies with cotton planting in North 

 America,' the Hon. N. Darnell Davis, C.M.G., makes some 

 interesting observations on the early introduction of 

 cotton from these islands to the United States. As 

 earl}- as 1041 the New Englanders shipped cotton 

 from Barbados, and spun it into clothes. Again, it is 

 reported that in l(j75 cotton was obtained from the 

 West Indies in return for food-stuffs. 



Many of the earl}- settlers in North America had 

 previously been in the West Indies and they took 

 with them a supply of seeds and plants as well as 

 a knowledge of cotton cultivation. But, though the 

 plant was cultivated in America, the colonists still 

 continued to import cotton from these islands. 



In 1780 seed of ' the best cotton in all the Indies' 

 was sent from the Bahamas to Geoi-gia. The plant 

 adapted itself to the climate, and each year saw an 

 extension of the cultivation of long-staple cotton in 

 that state. The product of this plant, much imj)roved 

 by careful selection and cultivation, is now known as 

 Sea Island cotton. This, too, is the cotton that has 

 now been brought back to these islands from the Sea 

 Islands of South Carolina by the Imperial Department) 

 of Agriculture. The product of this seed has, in some 

 cases, been as fine as any cotton that has been placed 

 on the market. 



