•JOl 



THE AGRICULTUKAL NEWS. 



July 1, 1905. 





As oiilj' a few copie.s of the first edition of this Deiiait- 

 luent's iiublication Nature Teadumj now reiniun, it may Ije 

 mentioned that an English edition ha.s been imblished Ijy 

 Me.s.sre. Macmillan k. Co. (see Ayvlcultuml JVet"!', Vol. Ill, 

 ].. 3S1), price 3s. Qd. It is mjt yet decided whotlier 

 a second edition will be pulilished by the Department. 



GLEANINGS. 



The rainfall at Prospect C'amp, lierniuda, tor tlie year 

 1'Jl.U amounted to .j.j-G.') inches. Thi.s was 7-82 inches less 

 than tlie average of the past nine year.s. Rain fell on li:U 

 days during the year. 



Many small settlers in Jamaica appear still to plant by 

 the moon. This is superstitious. Plant in regular seasons 

 and when jour soil is in good condition, and never mind the 

 moon. (Jamaica Times.) 



The number of bales of cotton imiiorted into the United 

 Kingdom during the seventeen weeks ended A[iril 27, 190.J, 

 was l,480,y24. This nundier included 1,343 bales of 

 llritish West Indian and 811 bales r.f P>ritish West African. 



It is stated in the Marilum Jhrr/t^inf that trade 

 conditions in Jamaica have been very bright during the 

 jjast four months owing to the steady increase of the tourist 

 trade. The season is spoken of as a record one, there never 

 having been such a large number of visitors in any [ircvious 

 season. 



Mr. J. Jones writes that the 'Poui' {Ti-coma sjicctahilis) 

 tiowered at the Dominica Rotanic Station this year for the 

 first time. Another tree of this family, Tahchuia poitnphi/lhi, 

 raised from seeds obtained from Piiitish Honduras, which 

 flowered at the station for the first time last year, is said to 

 rival the 'Poui' in showiness. 



Seeds of the Talipot palm {Coryphit v?tdiraculife>-a) can 

 be obtained on application to the Curator of the Botanic 

 .Station, Dominica. A note on the flowering of a specimen 

 of this palm at the Dominica Botanic .Station will be found 

 in the Ar/ricultufdi Xein (Vol. Ill, p. l-"'l), where references 

 are also made to other notes in this journal on the Tali[icit 

 ])alm. 



.Sugar is made at the E.xperiment Station at Tortola for 

 tenants and for persons owning land fiutsido the station. 

 .Some 22 barrels were made in this way during the year 

 ll)04r). The station repajs itself by retaining one-third 

 • >f the sugar and molasses. The people arc eager to bring 

 their canes to the station, as they get better results from the 

 suiierior crushing and boilir.g. 



At a meeting of the lloyal Agricultural and Commercial 

 Society of British Guiana, held on June Dj, Mr. A. W. Bart- 

 lett, B.A., B..Sc., F.L.S., Ciovernnient Botanist, read a paper 

 I in ' Di.>-:ea.ses of the Cacao Plant.' After giving a general 

 account of fungoi<l diseases, Mr. Piartlett dealt with the 

 cacao pod disease, the brown rot of cacao [lods, the ' thread' 

 disease, and the 'witch broom' disease. 



I'lider the auspices of the League of the Em[.ire, 

 Mr. Johi^ Barclay inaugurated on Empire Day a series of 

 lectures on the West Indian exhibits at the Colonial and 

 Indian E.xhibition. This was followed by Mr. J. H. Hart, 

 who lectured on the Trinidad exhibits on ilay 2G. Mr. Hart 

 has undertaken to give similar lectures weekly. ( West India 

 Cominitfee Circidar.) 



We learn on good authority that the New Trinidad 

 Lake Asphalt Company have made a start in cultivating 

 pine-apples for the export trade; 10 acres of land have been 

 cleared and jirepared for 100,000 pine-apple plants which, 

 we understand, if proved to be a financial success, will be 

 extended. Other persons in the Guapo and La Brea districts 

 Mv already cultivating pine-apples. {Fort-of-Sp<iin Gazette.) 



Ill his annual report the Superintendent of the Govern- 

 ment lleforniatory in Jamaica state.s that the jiermanent 

 crops, coflee, cacao, and bananas, were much longer in 

 recovering from the effects of the hurricane than was 

 anticipated. The value of the produce reaped in the year 

 1904-.J was £206 3s. Id. : in 1903-4 it was £185 ISs. 6rf. ; 

 and in the year before, £364 18s. 9f?. 



In his la.st annual report the Island Chemist says : Tlie 

 Fermentation Chemist has been engaged in work in 

 connexion with the .Sugar Experiment .Station during the 

 year. In the course of his visits to estates, a large number 

 of samiiles of the various materials and products from the 

 distilleries were obtained, and on bis return to the 

 laboratory the Fermentation Chemist was occupied in their 

 study and analysis. (The Jamaica Gleaner, June 12, 1905.) 



Dr. Cousins mentions in his annual report that no 

 sam[.les of adultered bees'-wax were received at the Gcivern- 

 ment Laboratory, Jamaica, during the year 1904-5. He 

 adds : ' It is hoped that the high reputation of Jamaica 

 wax may not again be imperilled by the gross adulteration 

 that was prevalent two years ago.' The adulteration of 

 Jamaica bees'-wax ■with wheaten flour and corn meal was 

 referred to in the A;/ricuItural Kev's (Vol. II, p. 268). 



According to the Consular Beport on Japan for 1904, 

 the exports of camphor showed a decline in quantity of 

 21 jjcr cent., owing to a shortage in Formosa. The natural 

 [iroduct is not seriously threatened by its artificial competitor 

 in its present form. The disappointing output from Japan 

 proper is due to the too early cutting of the branches in the 

 past. Experiments in distilling the product from the leaves 

 only are now in progress. 



It is stated in the Consular Report on the trade of 

 Bordeaux for 1904, that the total imports of sulphate of 

 copper into France reached 29,657 tons. About nine-tenths 

 of this was used for- agricultural and viticultural [lurposes. 

 The increase over the imports of 1903 was due to the 

 l>recocious development of the vines caused bj- a warm, wet 

 spring, which encouraged the attacks of cryptogamic disease, 

 against which sulphate of copper acts as a remedy and 

 preservative. 



