Vol. IV. No. 84. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



201 



Porto Rico Industries. 



An account is given elsewhere in this issue of the 

 sugar industry of Porto Rico. The Consular Report 

 f(jr 1904 also records satisfactory improvement in other 

 industries. 



The total value of the tobacco industry has 

 greatly increased : it is said that special improvement 

 is noticeable in quality. The exports of oranges 

 continue to increase : their cultivation along the line 

 of railway proceeds with every prospect of success. 



The interest in the reviVal of cotton growing does 

 not appear to have been sustained. This is stated to 

 be due to the superior value of unoccupied lands fin- 

 cane cultivation, and to the scarcity and unreliable 

 nature of the labour supply. The crop was estimated 

 at 231,5.54 tt)., and its value at £8,786. 



The coffee industry is experiencing a serious 

 crisis : the croj) was the worst since the cyclone of 

 1899. The value of this industry has declined from 

 £1,(342,710 in 1896 to £250,000 in 1904. 



Broom Corn in British Guiana. 



The Demerara Argo>iy of June 3 contains an 

 account of an experiment carried on at the Orphan 

 Asylum in growing broom corn and in manufacturing 

 brooms. The experiment has shown that broom corn 

 grows well in British Guiana and is apparently not 

 attacked by insects. The Superintendent of the 

 Asylum suggests that this industry might well be 

 taken up by the small ftirmers, who, with their families, 

 could do all the necessary work. The brooms should 

 find a ready sale locally at 25c. to 28c. each. The cost 

 of materials for a dozen brooms is estimated as follows : 

 twelve handles, 18c.; 1 tb. of galvanized wire, Oc ; i 11>. 

 of sole leather, 15c.: and tacks, 2e.; total, 41c. 



It would appear that the article produced in 

 British Guiana is quite different from that made in 

 Antigua. The former is evidently a broom such as 

 might be employed for sweeping carpets and work of 

 that sort : at Antigua small clothes' brashes were made. 

 Brushes of this class are in common use in the United 

 States and Canada. 



The Imperial Department of Agriculture has 

 given con.siderable attention to this matter, and a note 

 suggesting the cultivation of broom coi-n in the West 

 Indies was p\iblished in the Agricultural Neivs (Vol. I, 

 p. 263). Daring 1902 trials were made at the 

 Antigua Botanic Station to ascertain whether broom 

 corn of good quality could be raised under local 

 conditions. Mr. Sands gave an interesting account of 

 these experiments at a meeting of the Agricultural 

 Society on February 6, 1903 (a summary of v. hich was 

 published in the Agricultural Xetvs, Vol. II, p. 142) 

 when excellent samples of brashes made locally were 

 exhibited. 



More recently, attention has been directed 

 towards the possibility of securing a market for these 

 brushes in the United States and Canada. The 

 results of inquiries made were published at length in 

 a recent issue of the Agriculturo.l News (Vol. IV, 

 p. 174), from which it would appear that Canada offers 

 a market for this product which might prove profitable. 



The Trinidad Fruit Industry. 



At a meeting of the Trinidad Agricultural Society 

 held on June 13, a discussion took place on the 

 prospects of the fruit industry. His Excellency the 

 Governor made a statement as to the position of the 

 negotiations with the Symington Fruit Syndicate. 

 The Secretary of State for the Colonies had been in 

 conununication with the Syndicate, but it had not been 

 found possible to come to terms. In res|3on.se to 

 a telegram, he (the Governor) had urged on the 

 Secretary of State that it was most important that 

 there should be no disappointment to fruit growers, 

 wdio were engaged in producing a large quantity of 

 fruit for shipment. He had endeavoured to get the 

 Royal Mail Company to make arrangements to under- 

 take the carriage of the fruit to England, but no 

 definite information had up to that time been received 

 as to the company's intentions. He had also consulted 

 Sir Daniel Morris as to the best means of securing 

 a market for their fruit. He promised to communicate 

 to the society any further information he might 

 obtain. 



His Excellency was thankeil for the practical 

 interest he was taking in the matter. 



Exports of Trinidad. 



The Aanutd Report of the Collector of Customs 

 on the trade statistics of Trinidad for the year 1904-5, 

 recently issued, contains interesting informati<3n in 

 regard to the exjjorts of the colony. 



The output of sugar shows an increase of 

 144,000 cwt. in quantity, while a marked improvement 

 in prices added £286,000 to the value. On account of 

 a serious drought, however, the exports did not come 

 up to expectations. The prospects of the industry 

 were, at the time of w"riting (April 28, 1905), considered 

 bright, and the system (jf cane farming was receiving 

 an impetus. Molasses show an increase of £5,500. 



The cacao crop of 1904-5 was bj' far the largest 

 over collected, exceeding the average of the four 

 previous years by 64,000 cwt., or 21 per cent. Prices, 

 however, were comparatively low, and the total value 

 of the exports was £10,400 below that of the previoiLS 

 year. The average prices of cacao, f. o. b. Trinidad, 

 have been for the past three years : 1902-3, 58.s. : 

 1903-4, 55s. ; 1904-5, 52.9. Qd. 



The cocoa-nut industry experienced a favourable 

 year, prices being good. Nuts, copra, and oil are 

 exported : there is also a con.siderable local trade in oil. 

 It is estimated that 1 ton of copra represents 6,500 

 average nuts, and 20 gallons of oil, 1,000 nuts. On 

 this basis the exports during the past three years 

 would have been, respectively: 15'4, 18'6, and 17'2 

 millions of nuts. 



A heavy fall of £55,000 occurred on asphalt; the 

 exports of manjak reached 3,428 tons. There was an 

 increase of £2,800 on fish : this was due to shortage in 

 adjacent British islands. 



' The fruit trade appears for the first time as 

 promising, but it has had vicissitudes, and its immediate 

 future is uncertain.' 



