196 



THE AGEICULTUKAL NEWS. 



Jri.Y ], 1905. 



WEST INDIAN FRUIT. 



TRINIDAD MANGOS. 

 Mr. Algernon E. Aspiniill, Secretary of the West 

 India Conlniittee, has written to the Imperial 

 (_"onniiii^.'<ioner of Agriculture that he recently sent 

 ii laige case of mangos from the Trinidad Court of the 

 Colonial and IniHan Exhibition to the King and 

 received the following vei-y gratifying reply: — 



Buckingham Palace, 



.June 5, 190."). 

 Dear Mr. A.spinall, 



Your mangos have anived, and tin- King desires lue to 

 return to you his thanks, osiiecially so to Mr. ,1. H. Hart. 



Yours very faithfully, 



(Sgd.) F.MIQT'HAR. 



PINE-APPLES IN THE BAHAMAS. 



The following note appeared in the Mavithn<> 

 Merchant of Montreal for June 1 : — 



There has been a revival in trade and the i)inc-ai)i)le 

 and orange industries are very prosperous. The island of 

 Elcuthenr. .situated about 70 miles north of Xassau, is 

 particularly noted for its pine-apple exports, having shipped 

 :i.")0,UOO dozen last year. One plantation alone this year 

 liad 100,000 dozen for e.xport. The larger portion of the 

 product of f:ieuthera is marketed in Baltimore, but it is 

 .said the trade relations Ijetween the Fiahamas planters and 

 the Ualtiniore buyers are un.satisfactury. A point worth 

 <:onsidering is : To what e.xtent could Canada handle the 

 pine-apple crop of these islands ! The orange exports of the 

 Bahamas have increased, this imi)rovenient being due to the 

 failure of the Florida groves, which enabled British ^Vest 

 India oranges to get into the American markets freely in the 

 face of the high duty. 



AGRICULTURE IN ST. LUCIA. 



The following is e.xtraoted from the report in the 

 Vtih'c (if 'S7. Liiciii of the proceedings at a meeting of 

 the St. Lucia Agricultural Society held on May 29 : — 



A repoi-t was read from the Agricultural Instructor on 

 the condition of the Hereford bull inspected by him on 

 Aprd 10 at 'La Dauphine' estate, Soufriere. He found the 

 animal in first-cla.ss condition and fit for immediate service, 

 although it was noticeable by the condition of its hide that 

 in the near past it had been allowed to fall oti' a little in 

 health. The animal was now with Mr. William Low and 

 wa.s reported to be in excellent health. The C«)mmittee 

 agreed that it might now be sent to Mr. Hunter at 'Uennery,' 

 and the acting Secretary promised to superintend its transfer. 



It was further resolved to remove the Berkshire boar 

 from iSoufricre to the Agricultural School. 



The Agricultural Instructor presented a statement of 

 expenditure of £12 as prizes for school gardens. He had 

 personally distributed this money to teachers and pupils, 

 inspected the gardens, and bought and forwarded such 

 implements and materials as were most needed. 



Converting Cacao Pods into Manure. A 



paper by Professor Carmody on a 'Compost made from cacao 

 pods and lime ' is published in the Proceed lugs of the Trinidad 

 Agricultural Society (Paper No. 2.32). The process of 

 making the compost is de.scribed as follows : ' The shells as 

 soon as possible after breaking are put into enclo.sures, and 

 a thin layer of lime is scattered on them, and then covered 

 over with banana leaves.' The sample of comiiost e.xamined 

 was found to contain 037 per cent, of total nitrogen, L.o.j 

 per cent, of potash, and 0'L5 per cent, of phosphoric 

 anliydride. Its value is about 7*-. 6'/. per ton and 

 considerably above that of local pen manure. 



AGRICULTURAL PROSPECTS IN 

 ST. VINCENT. 



In an editorial on the agricultural jirospects of 

 St. Vincent, the Hcntrij oi inv\e 16 makes the following 

 rei'erenco to the prospects of the cotton industry and 

 minor products: — 



The cotton planters are now taking the most favourable 

 advantages which the copious showers of the past month 

 afford for putting in seed, and increa.sing the area of cultiva- 

 tion, and it is confidently hoped that the present j'ield of 

 7t>,000 lb. of lint, besides selected seed which is also very 

 valuable, 4,000 lb. of which were shipped by last mail to 

 various islands, will again be more than double in the next 

 croj). In addition to the pros[iects cf the cotton industry 

 which is iu the hands of the large projuaetors, we are al.so 

 able to report favourably as to the prospects of ndnor 

 products. Whilst there are already large areas of growing 

 cacao, coffee, and spice trees in suitable localities in the 

 })ossession of peasant and other middle-class landowners, 

 the officers at the Botanic Station are feeding new applicants 

 all the time with seed and plants. The latest returns 

 show that 30,000 economic plants were sent out from 

 the nurseries last year, wluch, we understand, is a record 

 for the garden, and which reflects credit on the Agricultural 

 Superintendent and his foreman. 



