Vol. X. No. 241. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



233 



Prize-holdings Scheme in St Lucia. 



Up to the present time, twenty competitors iiave 

 entered the prize-holdings competition to be held at 

 Soufriere, St. Lucia. According to a report of the 

 Assistant Agricultural Superintendent, for the month 

 of May, this officer has recently visited the district for 

 the purpose of inspecting the hi:)ldings of those who are 

 taking part in the competition. 



The report shows that these holdings cover 

 a larger area than has been the case previously. It 

 appears that there is a large amount of room for 

 improvement in the condition of most of them; though 

 several of the owners are showing a keen interest in 

 their work, and in the advice given to them. The 

 continuation of the competition should do much toward 

 effecting improvements in the general state of cacao 

 cultivation in the district. 



Protection of Birds and Fish in Grenada. 



The Grenada Government Gazette for May 1, 1911, 

 contains the draft of a Bill for an Ordinance intituled an 

 Ordinance to Amend the Provisions of the Birds and Fish 

 Ordinance, 1891. This provides for the extension of the 

 close season to various birds and for oysters, turtle, fresh- 

 water mullet and cray fish; it also prevents the exporta- 

 tion of any bird or any parts of a bird specified in the 

 First Schedule to the Principal (Ordinance. This 

 schedule, which contains the names of birds that are 

 absolutely protected by the law, is amended by the 

 addition of the names of the ground dove, pea dove or 

 perdri.x, hawks and eagles, the pelican, and herons and 

 egret. Among partially protected birds (in the Second 

 Schedule to the Principal Ordinance), the Trinidad 

 ground dove and the pea dove or perdrix are transferred 

 to the lists of birds having absolute protection. 



The Ordinance repeals the Birds and Fish Protec- 

 tion (Amendment) Ordinance, 1908. 



Rubber Culture in Tobago. 



A copy of a pamphlet with this title, issued by the 

 Permanent Exhibition Committee of Tobago for the 

 International Rubber Exhibition, has been received 

 through the courtesy of Mr. W. G. Freeman, Acting 

 Director of the Trinidad Department of Agriculture. 



After giving a brief account of the history of rubber- 

 planting in Tobago, and of its present extent, the 

 pamphlet proceeds to deal with the following subjects: 

 rate of growth of trees (Castilloa <'lasttca); method oi 

 tapping;' yield of latex; methods of rubber-curing; Hevea 

 in Tobago; and concludes with a short account of the 

 main agricultural conditions of the island. 



The pamphlet is of a useful nature, and presents 

 in a brief and concise form the main matters relating 

 to rubber culture in Tobago. Reference should be 

 made to the announcement with which it concludes, to 

 the effect that the Honorary Secretary of the Tobago 

 Planters" Association will be glad to give any informa- 

 tion regarding the island to those who may enrjuire. 



Calcium Silicate as Plant Food. 



The extent to which the more insoluble substances 

 occurring in soils are taken up by plants and usefully 

 employed in their life processes has for a long time been 

 of interest to agriculturists. The Experiincrd Station 

 Record of the United States Department of Agricul- 

 ture, Vol. XXIV, p. 32-5, contains a short abstract of 

 work that has been done with oats in water cultures, 

 in which part of the lime of the culture solution was 

 provided by different forms of calcium silicate. 



The investigation showed that, while there was no 

 special variation in development with the different 

 kinds of calcium silicate employed, the lime in the 

 silicate was absorbed readily and did not cause any 

 injury to the plants; more silicic acid than lime was 

 taken up by the plants. The separation of the lime 

 and the silicic acid took place through the action of the 

 carbon dioxide normally excreted by the roots. 



The chief matter of practical importance arising 

 from the results of the experiments is that, in the con- 

 sideration of the supply of plant food to roots, account 

 should be taken of the provision of lime and silicic 

 acid by easily decomposable calcium silicates in the soil. 



Nature Teaching in Elementary Schools in the 

 Leeward Islands. 



The report of the Inspector of Schools for the 

 Leeward Islands, for 1909-10, published in the Lee- 

 ward Islands Gazette of May 18, 1911, points out that 

 it is perhaps too early to estimate accurately the final 

 result of the introduction of Nature Teaching into the 

 elementary schools of the Colony, upon the education of 

 the children by whom they are attended. It is remark- 

 ed, however, that there are evidences of an improved 

 ability on the part of the teachers to gain the interest 

 of the children in the subject, and that the subject 

 itself has helped to increase the general standard of 

 intelligence in the schools. This matter naturally 

 affects favourably the work of the teachers, as well as 

 that of the scholars. 



At the same time, mention is made of the fact 

 that the methods used in Nature Teaching, in many of 

 the schools, are very mechanical; in these cases the cir- 

 cumstance is due to the lack of provision of proper 

 illustrative material and objects for demonstration. 

 A partial corrective of this is being sought in the 

 renewal of the supply of pots and boxes for practical 

 experimentation. 



At the time of reporting, there were thirty-six 

 school gardens in the Colony, iu which work was being 

 actively done: twelve in Antigua, eight in St. Kitts, 

 six in Nevis, four in Dominica and six in Montserrat. 

 These details do not include schools where there are 

 flower beds, kept in order by the children. The work 

 done in the various gardens i« stated to be of very 

 unequal merit, mainly owing to the lack of system in 

 conducting the classes. Two or three schools in Antigua, 

 Montserrat and Nevis have, however, obtained excel- 

 lent results. 



