Vol. IV. No. 88. 



THF, AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



•269 



sr KITT'S-JEVIS: AXNUAL REPORTS ON 

 THE BOTANIC STATIONS AND AGRICULTURAL 

 EDUCATION, l<.m-5. 



Botanic Station, St. Kitt's.—Xmong the minor improve- 

 ments effected at this station during the 3 ear may be 

 mentioned the establishment of rockeries of succulent plants. 

 A number of trees were planted out during the year, and on 

 Arbor Day, which was celebrated at the station, -50 trees 

 (mostly palms) were added to the collection. 



Tlie demand for ornamental and economic plants is on 

 t'le increase. The number of plants distributed from the 

 station during the year was 1,.'377 ; this number included 

 702 rubber and -579 cacao trees. References have already 

 been made in the Agricultural News to the efforts to extend 

 the cultivation of rubber and cacao in the presidency. 



The rainfall for the year was 39-.57 inches. This was 

 considerably below the average, which lias not been without 

 its effect on the results in the experiment plots. 



Aijricultural Education. — The reports of the Head 

 Master of the Grammar School and the Agricultural and 

 Science :Master indicate that useful work is_ being 

 accomplished in connexion with agricultural education and 

 that the scholars are taking advantage of the facilities offered 

 them for obtaining sound scientific education along agri- 

 cultural lines. 



Li addition to the science teaching, Mr. Belling has 

 given practical instruction to the boys in the school garden. 

 The latter have thus had an opportunity of becoming familiar 

 with the details of gardening operations. 



A'jricuUural Instructor, Nevis. — Mr. Hollings' report 

 deals primarily with the work in connexion with the estab- 

 lishment of the branch station at Nevis. Considerable 

 difficulties have been exjierienced in consequence of a dry 

 season, but, in spite of this, satisfactory progress would seem 

 to have been made. 



The station is devoted almost entirely to experiments 

 with economic plants. These included experiments with 

 cotton and with introduced varieties of various food crops. 

 The rainfall at the .station was only 46-13 inches, and the dry 

 season interfered considerably with the experiments. 



The returns from the cultivation of cotton at Nevis 

 appear to have been satisfactory on the whole, and the 

 planters have not suffered, to any considerable extent, from 

 the attacks of insects. 



DOMINICA AT THE COLONIAL 

 EXHIBITION. 



The tbllowing descriptive sketch of the Dominica 

 exhibits at the Colonial and Indian Exhibition, 

 written by MiV W. G. Freeman, is extracted from the 

 Wfst India Committee Circular:— 



Dominica has not the advantage of a comprehensive 

 ■official exhibit, gathered together by a representative local 

 committee determined to display the products and resources 

 of this beautiful island in an attractive manner to the British 



public. Regarded purely from the point of view of 

 a representative West Indian Exhibition, this is to be 

 regretted, for Dominica can hold its own with any island in 

 the West Indies, in interest and beauty, and moreover is one 

 of those which offers .special attractions to the would-be 

 settler, who, posse.ssed of sufficient means, is anxious to find 

 a land to make his home. 



Some idea of the resources of the island is given, 

 however, by the exhibit of Messrs. Francis Everington it Co., 

 of Melville Hall. A small sample of cacao and several of 

 lime juice, both raw and concentrated, represent the staple 

 industries. A series of starches and meals, including arrow- 

 root, tous-les-mois, cassava starch and farine, banana meal, 

 tannia starch {Colocasia esculenta), sweet potato starch, bread- 

 fruit fiour, corn (maize) starch, etc., are also shown. The 

 spice-producing capabilities of this fertile island are indicated 

 by samples of nutmegs and mace, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, 

 turmeric, etc., mainly in the form of powders. As already 

 stated, the exhibit does not claim to be representative, and 

 several more products might have been shown ; but there is 

 sufficient even here to allow any one, acquainted with the 

 conditions of soil and climate necessary to produce these 

 various crops, to obtain some idea of the great natural 

 resources of the island. 



Dominica is famous for its lime juice, and it is very 

 fitting that, owing to the enterprise of ]\[essrs. L. Rose & Co., 

 of the Bath and Emsall estates, in the Roseau Valley, this 

 product is worthily represented. Their attractive and 

 interesting exhibit, arranged near the centre of the West 

 Indian Court, comprises photographs of lime trees in bearing, 

 .scenes of gathering the fruit, etc., samples of the raw and 

 concentrated juice, and bottles of the fini.shed product in the 

 form in which it is so familiar at home. The excellent 

 samples of otto and oil of limes will, perhaps, come to many 

 as an agreeable surprise, and indicate other products from 

 this most useful tropical plant. Dominica lime juice has 

 a world-wide reputation, but curiously enough the fresh 

 fruits themselves, although highly appreciated in the United 

 States, are but little known in Great Britain, and there 

 should be a good market for them, ilost people who have 

 lived ill the tropics prefer limes to lemons, and doubtless 

 others would soon learn to do so if the fruit could be 

 imported so as to allow them to be put on the market at 

 sufficiently low rates. 



CASSAVA TRIALS IN JAMAICA. 



The following are extracts from a _ report by 

 Dr. Cousins on experiments with cassava in Jamaica. 

 The full report was published in the Bulletin of the 

 Department of Agriculture for July : — 



To test the agricultural yield of the various cassavas 

 now in cultivatian in .Jamaica, a series of yL~acre plots of 

 .some twenty-three native varieties was planted in April 1904. 

 After twelve months' growth, a portion of each plot was 

 reaped and the tubers sampled for analysis. The yield per 

 acre is much lower than it should have been owing to 

 a severe attack of red-.spider last August. The starch content 

 of the tubers was quite satisfactory, and most varieties were 

 in a fit state for the use of the starch manufacturer at the 

 end of the first twelve months, 



The leading variety of the series is ' White Top ' with 

 101- tons tubers per acre, containing 33-6 per cent, of starch 

 equal to 7,902 ft. starch per acre. The variety that comes 

 next is one called ' Long Leaf, Blue Bud ' yielding 6,5.52 ft. 

 of starch per acre. The highest percentage of starch was 

 found in ' Silver Stick ' : this contained 35 per cent, of starch. 



