344 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



XOVEMBER 11, 1905. 



EDITORIAL NOTICES. 



Letters and matter for publication, as well 

 as all specimens for naming, shoiild be addressed 

 to the Commissioner, Imperial Department of 

 Agriculture, Barbados. 



All applications for copies of the 'Agri- 

 cultural News' should be addressed to the 

 Agents, and not to the Department. 



Local Agents: Messrs. Bowen & Sons, Bridge- 

 town, Barbados. London Agents: Messrs. Dulau & 

 Co., 37, Soho Square, W., and The West India Com- 

 mittee, 15, Seething Lane, E.C. A couiplete list of 

 Agents will be found at foot of page 3 of the cover. 



The Agricultural Apexes : Price !(/. per number, 

 post free Ihd. Annual subscription payable to Agents, 

 2s. 2cl. Po'st free, 3.s. 3(/. 



Slnriciiltiiral lliniii 



Vol. IV. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 1905. No. 93. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Contents of Present Issue. 



The work of the Imperial Department of Agri- 

 culture in St. Lucia during the last two years is briefly 

 reviewed in the editorial in the present issue. 



Notes in connexion with the sugar industry deal 

 with (1) the improvement of the sugar-cane, (2) the 

 successful cultivation of the West Indian seedling cane 

 D. 74 in Louisiana, and (3) the general progress in the 

 West Indian sugar industry. 



A report on the inoculation of the soil for alfalfa 

 at Dominica is published on p. 341. The same page 

 contains a note on the composition of Jamaica corn. 



The attention of cotton growers is directed to the 

 article on p. 342 on the destruction of old cotton plants. 



The fiddler beetle, well known for some time as 

 a serious pest in orange cultivation in Jamaica, is now 

 reported as a pest also of cacao. (See p. 34().) Direc- 

 tions are given on the same page for dealing with the 

 cigarette beetle and similar pests of stored goods. 



Annual Reports of the Boards of Agriculture at 

 British Guiana and Jamaica for 1904-5 are briefly 

 reviewed on j). 347. 



Dr. Watt's paper on ascertaining the strength of 

 concentrated lime juice by means of the hydrometer is 

 likely to be read with interest by lime planters. 



Notes on the progress of agricidtural education 

 at Grenada and Trinidad are published on p. 350. 



Agricultural News. 



Beginning with this issue of the Agricultural 

 Nctcs, a change is being made in the day of issue, on 

 account of the alteration in the sailings of the Royal 

 Mail steamers. 



This issue (No. 93) is dated Saturday, November 11, 

 instead of Saturday, November 4, and is being 

 liistributed by the intercolonial mails leaving Barbados 

 on November S. 



While the Agricidtural Xeivs -will be published, 

 as heretofore, on every alternate Saturday, it will be 

 ready for distribution on the ])receding Wednesday, in 

 time for the intercolonial mails. Copies for England 

 will go by the mail steamer lea\ing Barbados the day 

 after the date of publication. 



Rice Cultivation in British Guiana. 



According to the Annual Report of the British 

 Guiana Board of Agriculture for 1904-5, the area 

 under rice cultivation in that colony has undergone 

 a large increase. The total area in 1904-5 was 21,920 

 acres, as against 10,670 acres in the previous }"ear. 

 The yield of paijdy increased from 17,701 tons to 22,597 

 tons. 



There are indications that still larger increases 

 may be expected in the immediate future. ' The fact 

 that some of the new varieties of cane give heavy yields 

 on parts of the back lands of sugar estates where the 

 Bourbon was not able to produce remunerative returns, 

 has set free from cane cultivation lands in the front 

 estates, and this is being eagerly taken u]j by East 

 Indians for rice growing. The negroes of the colony 

 are slowly following the example of the East Indians 

 and are cultivating rice on some of their village lands.' 



Cohune Nut Cracking Machine. 



The Jonrn<d. of thr British I{uuduras Socidij nf 

 Agriculture and Commerce for March 1905 contains 

 a letter from the Director of the Imperial Institute 

 relative to a suitable machine for extracting the 

 kernels of the nuts of the Cohune palm (Attalea 

 Cohune). 



Dr. D\instan states that, so fixr, it has proved to be 

 impossible to devise a completel}' satisfactory machine 

 for this jjurpose. The only machine that has been at 

 all successful is one sold b}' Messrs. A. Miller, Brothers. 

 & Co., of Liverpool. It breaks the shells of the nuts 

 but, unfortunately, is liable to damage a large proportion 

 of the kernels. 



In recommending that experiments be carried out 

 with this machine in British Honduras and that a trial 

 shipment of kernels extracted with it be made, 

 Dr. Dunstan remarks that it will be necessary to 

 separate the broken kernels from the unbroken and 

 consign the two classes separately. 



As the objection to shijiping broken kernels is that 

 there is likely to be a deterioration and loss of oil, it is 

 suggested that efforts might be made to express the 

 oil locally, in which case it would not matter whether 

 the kernels were extracted whole or broken. The 

 residue could be used as a food-stuff or a manure. 



