Vol. X. No. 233. 



THE AGKICULTUKAL NEWS. 



101 



done by growing and turning under iiops of green dressings, 

 as it is generally adtnitted that the increased returns from 

 such treatment more than compensate for the extra outlay. 



In the discussion which followed the reading of the 

 paper, several members of the society took part. During the 

 course of it, Mr. Tempany called attention to the fact that 

 beside the south-western district, in which practically all the 

 planted areas existed, Antigua possessed numerous places 

 which in his opinion were favourable to the growth of cocoa- 

 nuts, and mentioned in particular the coast lands of the 

 northern and windward districts, in which p;irt he thought 

 that, notwithstanding the low rainfall, numerous suitable 

 areas could be found, by reason of the plentiful sujiply of 

 underground water existing there. He pointed out that, 

 with present prices, the industry was highly profitable. 



Mr. G. N. S.ihasrabuddhe made some remarks on the 

 subject of the cocoa-nut industry in the Bombay province of 

 India. Here cocoa-nut plantations thrived best near the 

 sea shore; though the cocoa-nut did grow as far inland as 

 150 to 200 miles from the sea, it thrived best up to 5 or 6 

 miles from the coast, as it requires a constant sea-breeze. It 

 grew well on sandy soils, free from stones or clay and reason- 

 ably removed from the approach of sea-water. The life of 

 a cocoa-nut tree was eighty to one hundred years, but it 

 gave its best return when it was twenty to forty years of 

 age, though it afforded an average yield ten years after being 

 planted. Each tree yielded lii.5 to as much as i^OO nuts 

 per year, though the mean may be taken as 150 to 200 

 nuts. The cocoa-nut tree was of all-round importance in 

 Bombay, as nothing of the plant was wasted. The stem 

 served as the building material of the cultivators, the 

 leaves formed the thatching material, the ribs of the leaves 

 tvere made into good brooms, the core attbrded excellent ropes 

 which were much valued in navigation, also it served as an 

 excellent material for making mats and brushes; good buttons 

 were made from the inner hard shell; the copra yielded 

 a good edible oil, and the oil cake formed a valuable cattle 

 food. The cocoa-nut oil was used in cooking or as a substi- 

 tute for butter; also for the toilet, for burning, and f<.>r mak- 

 ing soaps and candles. The tree was tapped for extracting 

 a beverage called 'madi', which was either drunk or evaporat^ 

 ed down to concrete sugar (gul) and Avas used as such or 

 sold for refining. 



A vote of thaidvs to Mr. .Jackson for his paper termin- 

 ated the discussion. 



AGRICULTURE IN ANGUILLA. 



The Agricultural Superintendent of St. Kitts, Mr. F. li. 

 Shepherd, recently accompanied His Honour the Administra- 

 tor of St. Kitts Nevis on a visit to Anguilla, for the purpose 

 of viewing the pre.sent agricultural conditions in that island. 

 On his arrival, on February 26, .Mr. Shepherd was received 

 by Mr. C. Ite}', who made arrangements by which he was 

 enabled to inspect the cotton and other cultivatio-is carried 

 on in the Dependency. 



At the time of the visit, cotton picking was taking place, 

 being late on account of the dry conditions which obtained 

 when the .seed was .sown: this ha.s caused the crop to reach 

 maturity much later than is usually the case. The yield of 

 cotton promises to be larger than that of either of the past 

 two years. The whole of the crop is ginned at the Central 

 Cotton Ginner}', which is owned by Mr. Key, either after 

 being purchased by him, or for shipment for other buyers. 

 This factory is equipped Avith a Hornsby oil engine, three 

 gins and a hand baling press; by February 28, it had turned 

 out 40,000 lb. of ginned and baled cotton, and it seemed 



likely^ that the crop would reach at least 60,000 tt>. 



It is chiefly owing to the efforts of Mr. Key in conne.ic- 

 ion with cotton-growing, that the producers in Anguilla and 

 the neighbSurijig island, called Dog Island, are able to 

 grow cotton successfully. With the aid of the local Govern- 

 ment and the British Cotton Growing Association, Mr. Key 

 is enabled to make advances to the small growers during the 

 season; at the end of it, the cotton is taken over by him at 

 a fixed rate, according to market prices, and after the accounts 

 have been carefully balanced at the end of the season, a pro 

 rata bonus is declared, in the event of the price having 

 reached a value above the average market price paid during 

 the .season. The ahiotinf of this bonus, last year, was £250. 



As regards cotton cultivation, much improvement 

 has taken place in this during recent years, and ploughs 

 are now being successfully used on the larger growers' 

 estates. The matter of the provision of power for 

 drawing ploughs in Anguilla is of serious moment, as 

 the frequent droughts cause a high mortality among the 

 oxen usually employed for draft. As a consequence, Mr. Key 

 is importing a small 'Universal' motor for the purpose of 

 hauling ploughs, as well as for other similar work. This 

 motor is being selected by an official of the British Cotton 

 Growing Association, and as it is highly recommended, it is 

 hoped that it will prove successful for the purpose. 



Cotton is not the only crop that is raised to a fair extent 

 in Anguilla; sweet potatoes, pigeon peas and Guinea corn all 

 find a reasonable place among the products of the island. One 

 of the chief difficulties that are met with, is the provision of 

 pasture; at present, the stock lives chiefly on 'bush' and 

 weeds. It is intended to try to introduce a hardy grass, such as 

 Barbados sour gra,^s {Aiidropo(/on pertusus), which would very 

 likely form a valuable addition to the agricultural assets of 

 the island, if it was protected for a time, after its introduction., 



The report shows that encouraging progress is being 

 made in connexion with agricultural matters in Anguilla, and 

 that there no longer exists any rea.son for the despairing view 

 of the prospects of the island which might have been taken 

 a few j-ears ago. 



DEPARTMENT NEWS. 

 The Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture return- 

 ed to Barbados from St. Lucia on March 19, 1911, by 

 the S.S. ' Korona ', from a visit to that Colony for the 

 purpose of conferring with His Honour the Adminis- 

 trator on official business, relating more esjjecially to 

 the recent reorganization of the local Agricultural 

 Department. 



Rice in British Guiana. 



The last fortnightly report of Messrs. Sandbach, 

 Parker & Co., of Georgetown, on the rice industry of 

 British Guiana, dated March 17, 1911, gives informa- 

 tion as follows: — 



The weather during the past few weeks has been very 

 dry, and mills have been busy, and deliveries of rice to town 

 brisk. 



Preparations are being made for the growing crop, and 

 sowing should be general next month. 



A little paddy still remains in millers' hands, but with 

 continuance of fine weather it should soon be milled off. 



We quote to-day, f.o.b. Demerara, for good export 

 quality : — • 



Nominally, 21«. to 22s. per bag of 180 ft». gross. 

 19s. to 20s. „ „ „ 164 .. .. 



