-3 6 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[September i, 1884. 



few hundreds of pounds would cover all the damage 

 ever doue Ijy frost aud hail iu Ceylon. In »India the 

 tea-planters have a very different tale to tell. 



THE ANNUAL UKPORT OF THE JAMAICA 



PUBLIC GARDENS AND PLANTATIONS 

 or the year ending 30th September, 1883, by D. Morri3, 

 m.a., F.G.S., Director, reached us some time ago, but 

 the necessity of dealing with the important political 

 intelligence which has reached us from the east and 

 west of the world has prevented earlier attention to 

 tins interesting document. 



The report speaks of activity and progress iu the 

 introduction, propagation and distribution of plants 

 of economic value. Jamaica seems to have entered on 

 a dry cycle, the rainfall of the past three years having 

 been only half of that of the three previous years. The 

 failure of the May rains had affected crops, the ex- 

 port of sugar haviug fallen below that of 1882. 



Mr. Morris states : — 



As mentioned in the annual report of the Oollector-Gen- 

 eral for 1833," there was an increase in the export of coffee as 

 compared with 1SS1-S2, although afalliug-otf of 1,101 cwt on 

 the average of the preceding four years. The export of this 

 article for 1833 was 84,358 cwt. of the value of £100,617. In 

 pimento there was an iucreased quantity exporteel but with 

 a great retrogression as regards value owiug to the low prices 

 then ruling. The total exports of pimento were 85,282 cwt. 

 of the value of £102,078. The trade in fruit is still sus- 

 tained with great activity and it is satisfactory to observe 

 that the export of bananas continues to increase. The out- 

 put of oranges, although not so good in point of number as 

 in the preceding year, yet the fruit is invoiced at better 

 prices, owing, I believe, to greater demand caused by a 

 partial failure of the Florida crop. Pine-apples, although 

 exported in somewhat diminished quantity, have so in- 

 creased on the average of the preceding four years as to 

 warrant the assumption that, they will hearafter form no 

 insignificant factor in the aggregate value of fruit exports." 

 The aphis had elone some damage to sugarcane, but 

 Mr. Morris believed that 



With care auel judgment on the part of planters the recur- 

 rence of this pest need uot be feared in an aggravateel form 

 and especially iu districts where good drainage anel tho 

 judicious use of lime enter, as they always should, into 

 the regular cultural operations of all sugar estates iu 

 moist parishes. 



He adds, with reference to the elisappearnce of mole- 

 cricket which had damaged pastures : — 



This spasmodic or intermittent character in the attacks 

 of trisect pests is iu accordance with their general habits 

 iu all parts of the worlel ; but it is well for us to note 

 their appearance and disppearance with great care-in order 

 that we may, thereby, be prepared for their attacks 

 and reduce the amount of damage they do to our- crops to a 

 minimum. 

 We qu it ■ ,r-> follows : — 



A paragraph in my last report as regards tin- indisi rimin 

 ate destruction of small birds in tliis island has, I am 

 glad fcu saw attracted attention, and it has been the- means 

 of sugge ting measures whereby it might be checked it not 

 entirely stopped. 



The mnngoose, an importation from India, to destroy 

 rats mi sugar estaces continues to multiply and spread, 

 not only on sugar estates, but on lie- highest mountains, 

 as well as. along shore even amidst swamps ami lagoons. 

 The sugar planters have unquestionably greatly benefitted 

 by its introduction and rat-eaten canes are now hardly 

 known where, formerly, in spite of an expenditure iu 

 some cases of two hundred pounds per annum to destroy 

 rats by poison and dogs, large quantities of rat-eaten caues 

 were ground for the still-house, being unfit for anything 

 but being made into rum. 



The negro settlers and persons not connected with sugar 

 estates complain of the ravages of the mungoose amongst their 

 poultry, and, even, accuse it of destroying fruit arid veget- 

 ables. The fact remains, however, that poultry is still fairly 

 plentiful in the country districts; anel the mungoose is, 

 often, only mentioned as au excuse for raising tho price. 



Having had mungoose in confinement I tested the fact 

 that they will not eat either, banana, sugarcane, or ordinary 

 field vegetables except when driven by extreme huuger such 

 as they are never likely to experience iu a state of nature.* 



The mungoose being really a cat is not likely to depart 

 from the inherent instincts of its kind ; and while there 

 are rats, mice, lizards and other small vermin for it to 

 feed upon it will not attack anything of a vegetable 

 character. The mungoose is however disturbing, greatly, 

 the distribution of auimal life iu the island ; and the 

 harmless yellow and other snakes, lizards, ground-hatch- 

 ing birds, the interesting cony, anel many members of our 

 indigenous fauna are likely to become extinct at no distant 

 period. 



Mr. Morris then refers to his visits to Honduras, 

 St. Helena, Madeira, England aud the Amsterdam 

 Exhibition. 



In dealing with the Castleston gardens the Direct- 

 or states : — 



To the plantation of Triuidad varieties of cacao, formerly 

 established with a view to test and prove the best kinds, 

 as well as to enable the Department to meet the steadily 

 increasing annual demand for pods, have, this year, been 

 added 160 plants of the commercially famous Caracas 

 variety. They are planted at the southern end of the 

 experimental garden. Some of the plants, I regret to 

 say, have failed, owing to their age and large size when 

 put out from pots as also for the waut of establi.hed 

 banana shade, at the time they were planted ; but the 

 survivors are healthy aud will iu time, I doubt uot, form 

 a profitable plantation. 



The demand by planters, in the year under review, was 

 for cacao pods rather than plants ; and it is regretable 

 that their wants, owing to the small number of bearing 

 trees, were "so insufficiently met. 



The 150 pods were all that could be spared of the crop 

 borne by the trees which survived the hurricane of 1830. 

 But I am pleased to be able to add that independently 

 of these, large quantities of good pods (with which to 

 establish nurseries and plantations) were regularly sold by 

 some of the settlers in the Wag AVater A' alley to various 

 planters of the central autl western parishes : which sales 

 were to some extent the results of personal iuterest and 

 exertions of the Superintendent on behalf of both pro- 

 ducer and buyer. 



It may be of interest to botanists, at least, to learn that 

 by artificial fertilization a cross has l>e?n effected between 

 Hibiscus sinensis and the new and very distinct-looking 

 H. schizopetalus, from Eastern Africa. H. sinensis was 

 the seed-beariug parent. The leaves and flowers of the 

 resultant seeellings are seemingly intermediate betweeu 

 those of the parents : the respective vegetative anel floral 

 characters of the latter may be saiel to be evenly blended 

 iu the seedling issue. 



In addition to the above many new and hue varieties 

 of Hibiscus sinensis and also of C'oleus have been raised 

 and are now being distributed froru the garden. 



The cinchona plantations are 4,500 to 6,500 above 

 sea level and at 4,8e0 feet, the mean temperature is 

 63 ° , With an average rainfall lor 11 years of 115'5S 

 inches. From the report of those gardens we quote 

 a few pnragraplis of special interest,:— 



Several thousand plants of Cupressus macrocarpa, O. 

 Lawsoniana, I'inus insignis, P. sinensis, P. Tuberculata, and 

 Juniperus Jjerniiuliaiia have been raised for distribution anel 

 for the purpose of planting shelter belts in the most exposed 

 Cinchona fields. 



The seeds from which the plants of the native Juniper 

 (Juniperus Bermudiana) were raise-el, were- procured by ex- 

 i't Cinchona seeds aud seedlings With planters in the 

 neighbourhood. This seed is found to germinate quickly if 

 slightly fermented, then deprived of its pericarp by rub- 

 bing through a fine sieve, and sowu near the surface iu nur- 



* Ou one occasion, a rat placed alive iu a cage 

 with a pair of mungoose was struck by the male, but, the 

 latter not beiug hungry, the attack was uot followed up. 

 This rat afterwards lived iu the cage with the mungoose 

 for several days ; but this isolated iustauce eloes not dis- 

 prove the fact that the mungoose does kill rats, for other 

 rats placed iu cages with, mungoose were iustautly killed. 



