280 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



September 9, 1905. 



EDITORIAL NOTICES. 



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 Agriculture, Barbados. 



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^qricultural |]ciu!) 



Vol. IV. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 1905. No. S9. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Contents of Present Issue. 



The editorial in the present issue contains certain 

 recommendations in conne.xion with the shipment of 

 cotton, to which it is desired to draw the attention of 

 cotton growers. 



Several notes in reference to the sugar industry 

 will be found on pp. 274-5. In St. Kitt's the prospects 

 of the industry are reported to be much improved : in 

 Martinique the position is the reverse of satisfactory. 



The banana industry of the Canary Islands 

 appears to be still in a satisfictory po.sition, in spite of 

 the warnings that the increased shipments of bananas 

 from the West Indies would ruin the trade. (See 

 p. 276.) 



The cotton notes on pp. 27«-9 contain a statement 

 of the exports from the West Indies during the present 

 year. An interesting note on the use of Sea Island 

 cotton for thread-making serves to indicate the 

 importance of producing a high and uniform grade of 

 cotton for this branch of the trade. A biief summary 

 is jjublished of an address on cotton cultivation 

 delivered by the Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture 

 in Jamaica. 



An interesting table is publit^ho<l on p. 2S3 

 .showing at a glance some of the results of the 

 introduction of poultry of improved breeds into Antigua. 



On p. 285 Avill be found brief reviews of several 

 official publications recently issued in the West Indies. 



West Indian Agricultural Conference, 1906. 



An extract from a letter from the Acting Colonial 

 Secretary, Jamaica, to the Imperial Connnissioner of 

 Agriculture for the West Indies was published in the 

 Ag rlcidtiiral News (Vol. IV, p. 131), in which reference 

 was made to the proposal to hold the ne.\t West Indian 

 Agricidtural Conference in Jamaica. The Imperial 

 Commissioner was assured that the agricultural com- 

 munity in Jamaica welcomed the idea of holding the 

 Conference there in January next. 



At the half-yearly meeting of the Jamaica Agri- 

 cultural Society held on August IG, at which Sir Daniel 

 Jlorris was present, a committee was ap)5ointed to 

 confer with him in regard to the arrangements. The 

 f'onnnittcc consists of Messrs. Robert Craig, J. R. 

 Williams, ami John Barclay, Secretary. 



The Colonial Secretary (the Hon. Clarence Bourne) 

 and the Hon. Wm. Fawcett, Director of Public Cardens 

 and Plantations, have been selected to represent the 

 Board of Agriculture on this committee. 



Peppers from Nevis. 



A shipment of peppers from the Nevis E.xperiment 

 Station, recently forwarded to London by the Imperial 

 Commissioner of Agriculture, has been disposed of at 

 \'ery good prices. 



The consignment consisted of (i-J- Ih. net weight of 

 yellow Nepaul peppers and 53 ft. of oixlinary red 

 chillies. 



The former realized the very high price of 51s. per 

 cwt. This, however, is not, according to the brokens' 

 report, to be attributed to their intrinsic value, but to 

 their being in a very small lot and to competition 

 between two bidders who particularly wanted them. 

 ' We should not think it safe to exf)ect more than 30>i. 

 per cwt. for any quantity.' 



The red chillies realized 2G.s. per cwt. These were 

 reported slightly mouldy and would appear not to have 

 been properly dried before shipment. 



In this connexion reference might be made to the 

 note in the last i.ssue of the Agricidtural News 

 (p. 268), stating that inquiries had been made in 

 London for capsicums in bulk. 



Exports of Martinique. 



From the review of the sugar industry of Martin- 

 ique, published elsewhere in this issue, it will be 

 gathered that the year 1904 was a bad one for the 

 jjrincipal industry of the island. The exports of other 

 jiroducts such as cacao, coffee, etc., according to the 

 Consular Bi-povt, also show decreases. 



Efforts are being made to start a bar^xna industry, 

 taking advantage of the frequent communication 

 between Fort-de-France and France. Experimental 

 plots were also planted in cotton. Crops of cotton 

 were raised in Martinique during the American civil 

 war, the output during the years lN(Jl-5 inclusive 

 being valued at £15,219. 



Small quantities of logwood, vanilla, and musk 

 seed were exported during 1904. 



