260 



THE AGRICULTUKAL NEWS. 



August 26, 1905. 



COCOANUT INDUSTRY IN 

 TRINIDAD. 



In his ])an]phlet on 'Statistics of Trinidad Trade,' 

 Professor Carniody shows that nearly 10 millions of 

 cocoa-nuts were exported from the colony in 190."3-i. 

 Rather over one half of these went to the United 

 Kingdom, the rest, with the exception of 18-5,000 to 

 other West India Islands, going to the United States. 

 Of copra 2,2(il,803 fb. were exported, and .SG,71.5 

 gallons of cocoa-nut oil. 



The following remarks are made on this 

 industry' : — 



Cocoa-nuts are exported cliietly for the oil they contain, 

 ^Yhicll is used largely in soap-making. The nuts are sUiiiped 

 in three forms, viz., unbusked, busked, and (after being 

 crushed and dried) as copra. About .50,000,000 nuts are 

 grown annually, of which only one-fifth is exported. The 

 remainder is manufactured locally into oil, wbicb is very 

 largely used by East Indians, (ireat Britain was formerly the 

 principal market for the nuts, but the exports to the f'nited 

 .States are rapidly increasing, probably to sujiply the raw 

 material for a new industry. 



Copra is the dried white part of the ripe cocoa-nut. It is 

 used for oil making, and is less bulky tlian nuts for export. 

 It contains 65 to 70 per cent, of oil. It is also largely used 

 in confectionery, to which it gives a characteristic agreeable 

 flavour. 



The oil expressed locally has the advantage of being 

 prepared from the fresh nuts, which are free from rancidity. 

 The residual meal is used locally for cattle feeding. 

 Recently, substitutes for butter and lard have been success- 

 fully prepared from cocoa-nut oil. 



CACAO IN SURINAM. 



The Consular Report on the trade of Dutch 

 Guiana for the }ear 1904 has the following note on the 

 prospects of the cacao industry. As already mentioned, 

 the industr}' has suffered greatly from the effects of 

 the ' witch broom ' disease : — 



The prospects of cacao at the beginning of the year were 

 more hopeful than during the previous year, and gave 

 promise of a fairly good crop, but the re-appearance of the 

 'Versteening,' that is, liardening of the pods, reduced the crop 

 by some 7-5 per cent. 



The total crop amounted to 813 tons, against 2,020 

 tons in 1903, and 3, .526 tons in 1899. The crop, which has 

 been decreasing steadily during the past few years, reached 

 its lowest point, since 1878, in 1901. 



Though the prospects are at present very far from bright, 



the trees show some improvement, and the crop picked up to 

 the present date (.lune 16) is in many cases very much 

 better than was expected some months ago. 



Experiments are being made by the Government 

 Inspector of Agriculture for combating the disease, but, so 

 far, the results are doubtful. Unless the disease dies out, the 

 prospects of the industry are likely to remain unsatisfactory. 



CACAO AND RUBBER AT ST. KITT'S. 



The following note by Dr. \\'atts on the efforts 

 that are being made to establish cacao and rubber 

 plantations at St. Kitt's is of interest. These efforts 

 were referred to in the Aijricaltaral Neics (Vol. IV, 

 11.2.52):- 



1 jiaid a visit to the small cacao plantation established 

 at ni}' suggestion by Major Mongomerie at Molineux. This 

 I found in very good and promising order: the area planted 

 amounts probably to between .5 and 6 acres and is being 

 steadily increased. It ap])ears highly probable that cacao 

 can be successfully and profitably grown in the ravines which 

 aljound in St. Kitt's. It will, however, be necessary to 

 establish wind-breaks and this is being done. It may bo well 

 to encourage the planting of wind-breaks prior to, and in 

 anticipation of, the planting of cacao or other trees. 



Plots of several hundred Castilloa and Funtumia trees 

 have been established near to the cacao. These trees are 

 making satisfactory progress, but they should be looked to 

 at short intervals to know what conditions are favourable. 

 Scale insects were observed attacking the Funtumias ; these 

 are to be sprayed without delay. 



These exiierinients with cacao and rubber are likely to 

 be of very considerable importance to St. Kitt's : they .should 

 continue to rei.-eive careful attention at the hands of officers 

 of the Department of Agriculture. 



WHITE EGRETS IN BRITISH GUIANA. 



'Mr. yi. ilcTurk. in his Annual Report as Commis- 

 sioner of the Essecjuebo and Pomeroon districts of 

 British Ciuiana, mentions that the white egrets, which 

 were formerly to be seen in numerous flocks, appear 

 to have almost disappeared, and their place is being 

 taken by a slate-coloured variety. He says : — • 



The plumes of the white egrets form an article of 

 connnerce and are exported in considerable quantities from 

 A'enezuela, but I am not aware that they are exported from 

 this colony, nor have I .seen any person specially engaged in 

 .shooting them. White egrets are in their best plumage and 

 most sought after while breeding, and the parent birds being 

 destroyed, the young ones necessarily die of starvation. 



