Vol. X. No. 252. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS, 



411 



enemy of the cotton worm, namely the St. Vincent Jack 

 Spaniard [Polistes annularis). The report is concluded with 

 a statement of the rainfall for 1910, in the usual form. 



MONTSERRAT: REPORTS ON THE BOTANIC 

 STATION AND EXPERIMENT PLOTS, 1910-11. 



The commencement of thi.s report shows that several 

 interesting species of plant.s have been introduced at the 

 Grove Botanic Station, and the section following, dealing 

 with the distribution of plants at the stations, gives evidence 

 that this has been large and useful in nature.. The planting 

 material sent out from the Grove Station included 14,404 

 plants, and that from the Harris's Station 3,004; this was 

 in addition to seeds and cuttings. 



Some of the most interesting work is de.'^cribed under the 

 heading Cotton Selection, and has made available a large 

 amount of detailed information. It has included the forwarding 

 of samples of cotton to Manchester for spinning trials, which 

 have beeen conducted through the courtesy of Mr. A. H. 

 Dixon, Chairman of the Fine Spinners' and Doublers' Associ- 

 ation. After the results of these are given, the report deals 

 with experiments with cotton seed which appear to show 

 that a lowering of the vitality of such seed may take place 

 through careless handling, particularly by storage in 

 bulk without sufficient previous drying. There are other 

 matters in this section, among which the observations on 

 differences in lint and seed characters at various parts of the 

 season, cotton manurial experiments and the cross-pollina- 

 tion of cotton flowers deserve special mention. 



The cultural experiments with lime trees that were 

 started in October 1907 have been continued, and have 

 given indications, among other matters, that clean weeding 

 in such cultivation may favour the development of scale 

 insects. Trials of Bengal beans in lime plantations have 

 shown that the growing of these between the trees, but not 

 over them, does not reduce the numbers of the purple 

 scale; while such a reduction does take place if the beans are 

 allowed to grow over the trees. At the same time, serious 

 injury accrues if the beans are allowed to remain very long 

 on the trees. Successfi'.l results have been obtained in the 

 growing of bay trees and in the distillation of oil from the 

 leaves. 



The report presents particulars of trials with provision 

 crops, fodder and green dressing crops, and Jequie Manicoba 

 rubber, at the Grove Station. Among newly introduced 

 plants that are under observation, there are included Indian 

 fodder grass (Peimisefuin cenchroides), I'aspabnn dilatat nm , 

 soy bean {Glycine hispida), iird or Jerusalem pea (Pha.'O'iiliis 

 trinervis), Tephrosia Candida and T. jiKrpnrea, the Bambarra 

 ground nut (Voandzeia tubterianni) and the rubber tree just 

 named. At Harris's station similar experiments are being 

 conducted, but on a smaller scale; these include the trials with 

 bay trees already mentioned. 



Previous to the conclusion of the report, particulars are 

 given concerning the cotton industry, in which it is pointed 

 out that the season 1910-11 was particularly favourable; 

 a record output of lint was reached, namely 402,666 lb.; the 

 area planted exceeded that of the previous year by 400 acres, 

 being 2,050 acres. In this section, there i.s presented an 

 interesting account of the introduction into Montserrat of an 



FEDERATED MALAY STATES: REPORT OF 

 THE DIRECTOR OF AdRICULTURE, 1910. 



This report, by the Director of Agriculture, Mr. L. 

 Lewton-Brain, B A., F.L.S , presents firstly particulars 

 concerning the increase in the area of rubber-growing 

 in the Federated Malay States in 1910; this was 48,813 

 acres, as against 28,905 acres in 1909 and 41,813 acres in 

 1908. The rubber output again increased by more than 

 100 per cent., and has now become nearly four times as greaj 

 as that of 1908; the output for 1910 amounted to 12,563,220 

 ft)., as compared with 6,083,493 in 1909. It should be 

 stated that these figures do not represent exports, only, but 

 include the rubber on hand in drying houses and stores, on 

 the plantations at the end of the year. An increase 

 of 100 per cent, also occurred in the total output of 

 the Peninsula; this was over 6,400 tons, as against 3,000 

 tons in the previous year. The Director of Agriculture gives 

 an estimate of the increases of rubber production in Malaya 

 for the next four years; these are as follows: 10 million pounds 

 for 1911, 15 million pounds for 1912, a similar amount for 

 1913, and 20 million pounds for 1914; these are subject to 

 the provision that the supply of labour remains adequate for 

 the increases. On the present acreage alone, the output for 

 Malaya in 1913 should be at least 65,000 tons. As regards 

 catch crops and cover crops for rubber, the Director discour- 

 ages the employment of the former, and states that absolute 

 clean weeding is preferable to the use of the latter, unless 

 a good leguminous cover — particularly one which would give 

 a yield to pay for the expense of its cultivation -can be intro- 

 duced. At the present time, the Department is making trials 

 of ground nuts in the latter connexion. 



The subjects of tapping and the manufacture of rubber 

 receive attention. As regards manufacture, the preference 

 for smoked rubber is leading planters to contemplate the 

 erection of smoke-houses. An interesting development in 

 connexion with this is the fact that, as cocoa nut husks form 

 the best fuel obtainable in large quantities for smoking 

 rubber, there will be an increase in demand for these, and 

 hence an enhanced employment of cocoa nuts as a secondary 

 crop. With regard to this crop, it may be stated here that 

 the report of the Acting Inspector of Cocoa nut Plantations 

 shows a steady increase in the area in cultivation, in all the 

 States. The exports of copra reached 1,872 tons. 



The area under coffee was 6,47.5 acres, as compared with 

 5,885 in 1909, and 8,431 in 1908; it is practically all grown 

 as a catch crop, either with rubber or cocoa nuts. There was 

 again a decrease in the area under sugar, in the Federated 

 Malay States, from 7,128 acres in 1909 to 3,759 asres in 

 1910; an increase took place in the Strait Settlement.s, from 

 3,638 acres to 5,315 acres. The report of the Director of 

 Agriculture concludes with a short review of the work in the 

 ex[ieriment stations. 



The section which has just received attention is suc- 

 ceeded by the reports of the Government Entomologi.st and 

 of the Mycologist. Mention of much of the matter in the 

 report of the Mycologist has been made from time to time in 

 the Ai/ricidUiral N>'U'/:. The succeeding sections contain the 

 Keport of the Inspector of Cocoa-nut Plantations, to which 

 reference has been made, the Report on the Experimental 

 Plantations, and that on the Government Plantation at Perak; 

 while the whole matter is concluded by useful tables giving 

 statistics concerning crops and labour in Malaya. 



