158 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



]\L\Y -20, 1905. 



AGRICULTURAL EFFORTS AT GRENADA. 



The appointment of Mv. K. D. Anstead, B.A., as 

 Superintendent of Agrieulture at Grenada will, it is 

 hoped, mark a new departure as regards agricultural 

 efforts in that colony. 



Since the inauguration of thr Imperial Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, Grenada has been largely assisted 

 by funds in aid of its agricultural services, and the 

 officers on the staft' of the Department have devoted 

 considerable attention to the treatment of insect and 

 fungoid pests affecting cacao. In addition three 

 courses of lectures on agricultural science have been 

 delivered to the teachers in charge of elementary 

 schools, and grants have been provided for prizes at the 

 Agricultural Shows. 



Proposals for re-organizing agricultural efforts at 

 Grenada were made by the In>])erial Commissioner of 

 Agriculture at a special meeting of the Grenada Agri- 

 cultural and Commercial Society (the Governor in the 

 chair), held on May 13, 1904. 



The points that were specially dwelt upon as 

 essential to the success of a re-organized department 

 were as follows: (1) that two officers, viz., a capable 

 Superintendent of Agriculture with a sound knowledge 

 of soils and manures (as desired by the Agricultural 

 Society), and an acti\e Agricultural Instructor, to give 

 his whole time to the improvement of cacao cultivation 

 amongst peasant proprietors, should be appointed 

 with as little delay as possible; (2) that the operations 

 of the agricultural department should be placed 

 unflerthe entire control of the Imperial Commissioner 

 of Agriculture who would bo assisted by an Agri- 

 cultural E.xperiment Committee appointed by the 

 Agricultural and Commercial Society. 



The points above referred to having nuw been 

 definitely arranged, it is hoped th.it no further delay 

 will take place in starting such efforts at Grenada as 

 will fully meet the rerpiirements of the planting 

 community. 



The Botanic Station is proposed to be carried on 

 mainly on agricultural lines with the view of reducing 

 expenditure. Ornamental plants will not receive so 

 large attention as formerly, and such economic plants 

 as are actually required in the colony will only be 

 raised (in large cjuantity) when orders are received, 

 beforehand, for them. 



It is proposed to start a new series of cacao 

 and other plots, under the charge of the ti-avelling 

 Agricultural Instructor, with the co-operation of the 

 Agricultural Experiment Committee. The new plots 

 will be established in districts where they will be of 

 special advantage to peasant proprietors, in the hope 

 tiiat greater interest will thereby be ci'cated in 

 improving the cultivation, and the yield and quality of 

 produce in such districts. The former series of cacao 

 e.xperiment plots were steadily carried on for four years, 

 and, as shown at the recent Agricultural Conference at 

 Trinidad, they had proved of service to both large and 

 small cultivators. On a typical plot, the increase of 

 crops due to better cultivation and the use of manures 

 was shown to be from 5 J bags pvr acre in 1000 to 

 8 bags per acre in I'M)'-]. 



School Gardens will be encouraged by assistance 

 to be afforded by the Agricultural Instructor and the 

 gift of seeds and plants from the Botanic Station. 



In view of the large number of small proprietors 

 existing in the island (11,45-2 with holdings between 

 5 acres and 50 acres each), what Grenada appears 

 sjjecially to require is a good Agricultural School where 

 }ouths could receive a sound practical training and thus 

 be fitted for taking charge of numerous properties that 

 are. at present, in danger of being abandoned owing to 

 careless and ineffective methods of cultivation. Accord- 

 ing to a statement made at the meetiiig in May 1004, 

 Grenada iluringthe last ten years has app.arently spent 

 less on agricultural education than any other colony 

 with similar resources, in the West Indies. 



The following are the members of the Agricultural 

 Experiment Committee appointed by the Grenada 

 Agricultural and Commercial Society to co-operate 

 with the Imperial Department of Agriculture : — 



The Hon. C. M. Browne, C.M.G., (President), 

 Hon. D. S. deFreitas, Mr. P. J. Dean (Vice-Presidents), 

 Hon F. Gurnev, Hon. G. S. Seton-Browne, Hon. Joseph 

 T. de la Mothe, Mr. E. M. deFreitas, the Rev. G. W. 

 Branch, I\[r. L. P. ]\Iitchell, and Mr. P. L. Ferguson. 



DEPARTMENT NEWS. 



The Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture will 

 proceed to Tobago on May 22, to meet his Excellency 

 Sir Henry Jack.son who will then be on a visit to that 

 island. A public meeting of planters is to be held in 

 the Couit House at Scarborough on Wednesday (noon) 

 in connexion with the cotton and other industries. It 

 is probable that Sir Daniel Morris will accompany the 

 Governor to Trinidad and return to Barbados in C.L.S. 

 'Oruro' on the 2!Sth. instant. 



Mr. Lawrence Lewton-Bjain, B.A., late Scholar 

 of St. John's College. Cambridge, for the last three 

 years Mycologist and Lecturer in Agriculture on the 

 staff of the Imperial Departnient of Agriculture, has 

 been offered and has accepted the appointment of 

 Assistant Director of the Pathological Division of the 

 Experiment Station of the Hawaiian Sugar Planters' 

 Association. Mr. Lewton-Brain will probably vacate 

 his present appointment eady in July next. 



Mr. Rudolph David Anstead, B.A., of Christ's 

 College, Cambridge, A.ssistant Chemist in connexion 

 with Sugar-cane and other Agricultural Experiments 

 at Barbados, has been appointed by the Secretary of 

 State for the Colonies to the post of Superintendent of 

 Agriculture in the colony of Grenada. Mr. Anstead will 

 probably embark for Grenada by the mail steamer on 

 June 6 next. 



Mr. L. Lewton-Brain, who has recently returned 

 from a periodical visit of inspection of the Agricultural 

 School at St. Vincent, proceeded in the C.L.S. ' Orinoco' 

 on the 15th. instant on similar visits of inspection of 

 the Agricultural Schools at St. Lucia and Dominica. 

 Jlr. Lewton-Brain is expected to return to Barbados 

 in the Ko\-al ^lail steamer due this mornin"-. 



