Vol. IV. No. 95. 



THE AGEICULTURAL NEWS. 



373 



SUGAR-CANE EXPERIMENTS AT BARBADOS (Contd.). 



shijiped direct to Caiiadii ivom the West Indies. In cunclusiun, 

 I think it well to draw attenti(.in once mure to the fact that we 

 have not yet travelled over the whole ground covered by the 

 experiments. We may raise canes to withstand disease, but if 

 at the same time we lose a very large proportion of the canes we 

 have grown, we cannot possibly jdace the sugar industry on such 

 a footing as it ouglit to be. These exjieriments having been 

 placed bofure you, I shall be glad if they lead to discussion 

 to-daj', or at some other time, in order to show whether we 

 cannot start a pioneer central factory in this island. (Cheers.) 



Mr. S. S. Robinson asked the Imperial Commissioner 

 whether the planters of Antigua wh(_i were jjaid 1 Is. Sh'l- per ton 

 for their canes had any share besides in the profits of the factory. 



The Hon. Sir Daniel Morris said they were paid according to 

 a sliding scale, and if, at the end of the season, they had received 

 less than 10s. per ton, the first claim on the net profits of the 

 factory was to increase the jirice to 10s. Any profit still 

 remaining unallotted was then divided equally between the 

 planters and the shareholders of the factory. This is more 

 fully stated in the IVcd Ind'um BnHetin, Vol. VI, p. 01. 



Blr. G. Eliot Sealy said : Before we separate there is one 

 matter which I wish to bring before the meeting in connexion 

 with these experiments. We have all heard with great interest 

 the report that has been read of the work done by the Imperial 

 Department of .Agriculture for the season, and the discussion 

 which has taken jjlace on that report. And we all nuist realize, 

 if we have not done so before, the obligation which we are 

 under, first of all, to the Home Grovernment for establishing the 

 Imperial Department of Agriculture for the West Indies, and 

 •secondly, to Sir Daniel Morris and liis hard-working stati' of 

 officers for the good and lasting work the}- have done amongst 

 us. (Cheers.) \Vhether they are ajiproached with a question 

 connected with the sugar industry, the cotton industry, the 

 banana industry, or any other industry, the otticers of the 

 Department are always ready with their advice, not only when 

 it is asked for, but when it is thought a good thing to give their 

 advice, such for instance as the address which the Hon. 

 Sir Daniel Morris has read to us this afternoon. The rejjort 

 which has been read <ni sugar-cane exjieriments for the season 

 shows very clearly the enormous scale on wliieh this work is 

 being carried on, but it is impossiljle to exi^ect the officers of 

 the Department to complete the work they have in hand in any 

 given time. There are some like myself who rather dread the 

 expiration of the jieiiod for which tlie Dejiartment has been 

 appointed, and I theref<)re take the opportunity to place on 

 record our appreciation of the work done liy the Department, 

 and beg to move the following resoluticjn : — 



Beaolved. — That the Barbados Agricultural Society hereby 

 desire t(-) place on record their ap])reciation of the work carried 

 on by the Imperial Department (.)f Agriculture for the West 

 Indies in connexion with the sugar-cane exjieriments in this 

 island, and would express the sincere hope that the Imperial 

 Government wiiuld see its way to continue the grant in 

 connexion with them until the scientific investigations now in 

 hand have placed the industry on a satisfactory footing. (Cheers.) 



Mr. W. H. Smith, in seconding the resolution, said : I quite 

 endorse all that has been said by Mr. Sealy, and personally 

 I would say that great courtesy has always been extended to me 

 by the officers of the Department of Agi-ioulture. Mr. Bovell 

 on one occasion kindly came to Drax Hall and visited several 

 fields of canes there. He was shown a great deal and readily 

 gave me his opinion in connexion with everything submitted to 

 him. Professor d'AlbiKjuerque has also, in the matter of 

 analyses, shown me similar courtesy. I therefore beg to second 

 this resolution most heartily. With regard to seedling canes, 

 I think we are now getting a better class than formerly. 

 Perhaps we planters have been a little too (piick to form an 

 opinion as to their merits or demerits and have not given them 

 the time they deserved. In the case of B. 147 it seems to be 



a very marked cane. There is very great demand for tops' 

 and the cultivation of it seems likely to be extended. (Cheers.) 



The President said : In supporting this resolution there is 

 very little left for me to say with regard to the interesting 

 account Mr. Bovell has given us of these sugar-cane experiments, 

 but I should like to express the thanks of the society for 

 having had the privilege of listening to Mr. Bo^-ell's address 

 and the opportunity of discussing the results which he has so 

 clearly placed liefore us. I should also like on l)ehalf of the 

 society to say how indebted we are to Sir Daniel Blorris and 

 his stafl' for the hard work which they have carried through so 

 successfully in this matter of cane experiments. I do not think 

 there are many of us, in fact I may say tliere is not one of us, 

 who will difl'er from the sentiments expressed by Mr. Sealy in 

 moving his resolution. But having brought the work up to the 

 point when it recpiires, say, a few years mc>re to give sonie 

 really valuable results, it wcjuld be a disaster not only to the 

 sugar industry of Barbados but elsewhere, if the operations 

 of the Department were soon discontinued, Ijecause it seems to 

 me that in all parts of the sugar-growing world they are looking 

 to Sir Daniel Morris' Department in the West Indies for results 

 in the matter of seedling canes. (Cheei-s.) Of course we 

 are not concerned with tlie rest of the world ; they know how 

 to take care of themselves. But as regards Barbados, it would 

 certainly be a calamity to the sugar industry that what seems 

 such a promise as has been held out to us should not be realized. 

 There can be no doubt that, if time is given the seedlings such as 

 these which we are working on, we shall get a cane that shall 

 place our industry on a prosperous footing. But as Sir Daniel 

 Morris has told us, there is no good having the best cane in the 

 world if we make a class of sugar that is not wanted, for, iu 

 that case, we may as well liave a bad cane, as we shall get no 

 further. You ^\ill perhaps remember that, some ten or twelve 

 years ago, the Legislature passed an ."Vet providing for the 

 erection of a pioneer central f.-ictury, but that Act was vetoed by 

 the Colonial Office. If at that time we had had Sir Daniel 

 Morris working with us and he had expressed himself as 

 clearly as he has done to-day, Mr. Chamberlain would not 

 have disallowed that Act, and to-day we should have had full 

 knowledge as to whether or not central factories were the 

 best things for our industry. (Cheers.) It gives me great 

 gratification, therefore, to hear Sir Daniel Morris strike the true 

 note with regard to central fact(jries. I think it is the first 

 time that Sir Daniel Morris has in public expressed himself so 

 clearly as he has done to-day on the subject of central factories, 

 and I am certain, if we should make another attempt to 

 establish a central factory in this island, that, with Sir Daniel 

 Morris to help us, we shall not meet another rebuff. (Loud. 

 cheers.) 



The resolution was then put to the meeting and carried 

 unanimously. 



On the motion of Mr. Sealy, seconded by Mr. Smith, 

 another resolution was adopted to the efl'ect that a copy of the 

 first resolution be forwarded to his Excellency the Governor 

 with a request that it be sent to the Secretary of State for the 

 Colonies. 



DATE PALMS AT TRINIDAD. 



The consignment of date palms received from Algeria 

 have made excellent growth, and bid fair to arrive at 

 a fntiting stage within reasonable time. It is hoped that 

 they will prove on fruiting to be an acquisition to our list 

 of W^est Indian grown fruit. The fungus which was found 

 on them on arrival does not appear to do serious harm, 

 although it apparently checks growth in dry weather to 

 some extent. (Annual Report on the Trinidad Botanical 

 Department, for 1904:-5.) 



