Vol. IV. No. 8S. 



THE AGKICULTUEAL NEWS. 



2C,7 



Ji' 





tC^ 



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TARPON FISHING AT BARBUDA. 



Mr. H. Selwyn Branch, Manager of Barbuda, has 

 lor-\varded for publication the following notes on tarpon 

 fishing at Barbuda. It is hoped that the publication 

 of this note will make the fishing of the island better 

 known to sportsmen : — 



Good tarpon fishing is to be had in this island at 

 the mouth of a large lagoon of about .5,000 acres of water, 

 and also inside the reef on the leeward part of the island. 

 The tackle required is a good greendieart salmon rod with 

 a short top joint and not less than 200 yards of tarpon line, 

 as sometimes the fish in the first mad rush will run out 

 1-50 j-ards of line before he can be stopped. I find the best 

 wire trace to use is the sixth or E guitar string with the 

 outer wrapping taken off and one twined about 12 inches 

 from the hoolc, and another at the end of the trace to which 

 the line is attached. 



A thund) guard and groin jn'otector is also very necessary; 

 the former must be kept wet, or the fri,;tion on the reel when 

 the fish makes a rush will scorch one's thundi umler the 

 guard. 



The bait used is the shad or silver fish about 3 or 

 4 inches long, which can either be used alive hooked across 

 the back and thrown out from the boat which is anchored on 

 the fishing ground, or put on in the ordinary way and trolled 

 Isehind the boat which must not be moving more than 

 2 miles an hour. 



It is also very necessary to prevent the bait from 

 spinning, which it is very apt ti) do when a light line is used. 

 As soon as the tarpon feels the prick of the hook, he always 

 jumps G to 8 feet in the air with his mouth wide open in his 

 endeavours to cast the deadly hook from his jaws, and in 

 fact this he often succeeds in doing, as the mouth of the 

 tarpon is so very large that the hook invariably only catches 

 in the lining of the mouth. This jump is generally followed 

 by five or six more during the first quarter of an hour, but 

 after that he seldom jumps. 



With the rod I use it takes a good hour's hard work to 

 get the fish near enough to the boat to liarpoon, but with 

 a real tarpon rod it would be done in half that time; these 

 rods are, however, in my opinion, too powerful for the 

 West Indian tarpon. 



There is no doubt that a certain nundx'r of these fish 

 are to be found here all the year, as I have seen some quite 

 small ones and several I caught lately had roe. In November, 

 December, and January, I understand from the local fisher- 

 men, they are to be found all round the island, but during 

 the rest of the year they are practically restricted to the two 

 places mentioned. 



SHEEP MANURE. 



As a large quantity of sheep manure is used in 

 Barbados, the following information relative to its 

 composition and application is likely to be of interest. 



Professor J. P. d'Albuqiierque, M.A., F.I.C., F.C.S., 

 .reports as follows : — 



Sheep manure is generally used as a substitute for farm- 



)-ard manure when the latter is deficient. It is accordingly 

 of interest to compare the composition of the two and to 

 note the amounts of valuable ingredients M'hich an ordinary 

 application of each will place at the dispo.sal of a crop. 



The fijllowing results may be taken as fairly representa- 

 tive : — 



Barbados 

 Farmyard manure.^ Sheep manure.* 



Organic matter 19-01 32-G6 



Nitrogen -29 1-39 



Pliosphoric acid ... ... '28 '73 



Potash -30 2-07 



^ Average of seventeew samples during I900-5. 



- Average of eight samples taken by the Analytical 

 Committee, 1905. 



Farmyard manure. Sheep manure. 

 20 tons supply 2 tons costing 

 !|14 to $16 supply- 

 Organic matter 8,.ol6 If). 1,463 lb. 



Nitrogen 130 ,, 62 „ 



Phosphoric acid ... ... 125 ,, 33 „ 



Pota.sh 134 „ 93 „ 



The constitutents of sheep manure are more rapidly 

 available and therefore, weight for weight, more elfective than 

 those of farmyard manure, and for sugar-cane and onions 

 I recommend, when farmyard manure is not available, an 

 application per acre of 2 tons slieeii manure. 



All the facts at present available seem in Barljados to 

 point to the desirability of making cotton the second crop 

 of a rotation, the first crop being the sugar-cane, prior to the 

 planting of which the land should receive the usual 20 tons 

 of farmyard manure. In that case active chemical fertilizers 

 are likely to prove of most value for the second crop 

 of the rotation, namely, cotton. 



If, however, special circumstances make the above 

 course impossible and it be desired to apply sheep manure, 

 1 ton of .sheep manure together with 330 tt>. of good 

 .superphosphate would be an application most nearly in 

 accordance with the recon-imendation in the A. B.C. nf C'ltUm 

 Plantiwj and would cost from .-ilO-OO to .?ll-00. 



Mr. J. R. Bovell, F.L.S., F.C.S., writes:— 



Large quantities of sheep manure are at present used 

 in this island for canes and cotton. In the case of the canes 

 the n-ianure is usually applied in a long, narrow hole at the 

 side of the cane hole a few weeks before the canes are 

 }ilanted. 



In the case of cotton it is applied in various ways. 

 Some planters spread it broadcast on the banks between the 

 cane holes where the cotton is to be planted and fork it in. 

 Others dig a small but deep hole in which they put the 

 sheep manure and cover it over with soil, and the seed is 

 then planted therein. Others, again, dig a small circular 

 trench round the cotton plants and put the manure in and 

 cover it over. 



In the case 'A sugar-cane the results have been 

 almost invariably most satisfactory. AVith regard, however, 

 to cotton, unless the sheep manure is put in some weeks or 

 months befiire the cotton is planted, its full effects do not seem 

 to be exercised before the second picking or the ratooning of 

 the cotton. Where sheep manure is to be used with cotton it 

 should, I think, be applied at least two months before the 

 cotton is planted. 



Where .sheep manure is to be used for onions, it is 

 usually spread broadcast on the ground and forked in some 

 time before the onions are transplanted. 



