316 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



October 



1905. 



Tilt' number of visitors at the Colrniial and Indian 

 Exhibition from the opening day to Saturday, September 9, 

 amounted to 966,325. (ires/ India Committee Circular.) 



A writer in the I)emerara Aiyosy states that carbon 

 bisulpliidc, the use of wliicli was recommended by the Board 

 of Agriculture, has been found effective and expeditious in 

 ridding farms of the 'cushie ' ants. 



GLEANINGS. 



During the fortnight ended September 7, 56 bales of 

 West Indian cotton were imported into the I'nited Kingdom. 

 ( n'f".«? India C'liiimitet Cirrular.) 



Eresh seed of English vegetables and Tenerife onion 

 seed, both red and white varieties, can be purcliased at the 

 P.otanic Station at Dominica. 



The Superintendent of the Royal Botanic Gardens, 

 Trinidad, offers for free distribution a limited number of 

 l>lants of Cofea rolustrr, obtained from the Congo River. 

 This coffee is said to be of excellent quality and a]>pears to be 

 well suited for cultivation in the lowlands. 



The West India Committee proposes to issue a souvenir 

 of the Colonial and Indian Exhibition, embodying articles 

 descriptive of the exhibits, a comprehensive report on the 

 Exhibition, and articles enijihasizing the lessons to be learnt 

 from it. 



The Curator of the Botanic Station at Tobago writes 

 that plants of Sea Island cotton at Golden Grove estate are 

 in a very promising condition, averaging 4- to 5 feet in 

 height. This is the only estate in Tobago that has taken 

 lip cotton growing to any extent. 



A plant Avith bright yellow flowers, believed to be 

 Cassia inultijiKja, is now in flower in .Tamaica and Trinidad. 

 It is an ornamental tree, growing to a height of 15 to I'O 

 feet, and might well be introduced into other parts of the 

 AVest Indies where it does not occur. 



Among tlie winners of medals in Jamaica at the 

 C'olonial Exhibition was a peasant proprietor in the Glengofi'e 

 district, whose exhibit of cacao was awarded a silver medal. 

 'He i.s,' says the Daily TelcgvajJi, 'a living proof of the value 

 of the work which has been, and is still being, performed by 

 the Jamaica Agricultural Societv.' 



The Consular lieport on Cuba for 1901 states: 

 ' According to an oflicial report recently published, the mean 

 co.st of covering an acre of land with cheese-cloth [for 

 artificial shelter for tobacco plants] is about £60, and the 

 results appear to show that the larger yield, especially of 

 fine leaves suitable for wrappers, warrants the extra outlay.' 



Statistics given m ilessrs. Henry W. Frost it Cos. 

 ' Sea I.sland Cotton Circular ' show that the consumption of 

 Sea Island cotton in the United States has greatly increased, 

 'the northern and .southern mills taking 63,130 bales, 

 against 39,22-t bales last year, being nearly the entire 

 increase in the croji over the previous year.' 



The crops of selected varieties of rice at the Briti.sh 

 Guiana Botanic Gardens ranged from 15 to 20 bags of 

 paddy per acre. Seed of the best kinds is available for 

 distriliution to bona fide cultivators in small (juantities. 



It is gratifying to note that the shipment of green limes 

 is being carried on in Montserrat. About 2,800 small crates 

 (1 cubic foot) have been shi[iped since July last. If this 

 industry develops, it should be of considerable benefit to the 

 island. 



A number of planters in Surinam, who are destitute 

 owing to the crisis in the cacao industry, are petitioning the 

 Government to grant them the free use of land on which 

 to apply themselves to small farming, iloney loans, to be 

 repaicl within twenty years, are also asked for. 



It is of interest, in view cif the efforts made by the West 

 India Committee to establish a trade in green limes in 

 England, to note that the Director in Trinidad of the British 

 West India Fruit Co., Ltd., is advertising for limes for 

 shipment to England. 



At Marseilles, according to Tropical Life, there are 

 a number of factories working to meet the world's demand 

 for ' vegetaline,' ' cocoaline,' and other dietetic products of 

 the cocoa-nut. A single factory increased its output in two 

 years from 25 tons to 0,000 tons a month. 



To avoid difficulties in the germination of vegetable 

 seeds, the Journal of the Jamaica Aijricnltural iiociety 

 advises the following : ' Take fresh wood-ashes, damp them 

 with kerosene, then rub the seeds into the paste made in this 

 way. If care is taken not to make the paste two wet but to 

 rub every seed thoroughly with the ashes damp with 

 kerosene, no ants or other pest will trouble them.' 



Iteporting on the pine-apple [ilot at the Itivicre Doree 

 Experiment Station, St. Lucia, the Agricultural Instructor 

 states that the Black Antigua variety is well adapted to dry, 

 wind-swejit lands, and de.serving of attention from planters. 

 An exiierimental shi[)ment in barrels netted 3^(7. per pine. 

 From the plot 1,200 suckers were distributed to one planter 

 who has iHiw a promising cultivation, and 2,400 suckers have 

 latelv been obtained to start a new iilot at Gnjs Islet. 



The London Fruit Cromr has attributed the ' unplea.s- 

 ant visit of the mosquito to our shores this summer to the 

 imported bananas from South and Central American Ports.' 

 Considerable newspaper discussion has arisen out of this as 

 to the possibility of the visit of mosrjuitos being connected in 

 any way with the importation of bananas. The matter 

 might be easily settled by reference to experts, who would 

 be "able to state whether the species of mosijuitos noticed 

 this summer are different to the ordinary forms and possibly 

 indicate the country of origin. 



