Vol. X. No. 249. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



365 



STUDENTS' CORNER. 



NOVEMBER. 



Second Peeioij. 



Seasonal Notes. 



As lias been stated already, the receipt of favourable 

 weatlier during the present quarter will give opportunities for 

 the planting out of limes. A careful review should be made 

 of the history of the young plants in the nursery with especial 

 reference to the various arrangements that have been required 

 for their proper care, and the cost of the work that has been 

 entailed. The results of such considerations should be use- 

 ful, and will form a means of ascertaining if lime seedlings 

 can be grown at a lower rate than that which is charged for 

 them when they are sold locally. Lime plants that were 

 placed out earlier in the season should now be making 

 growth; in some cases they may remain stunted, and for 

 such plants a light dressing of a nitrogenous manure should 

 prove to be useful. Young lime plants shquld receive care- 

 ful attention, in order that attacks of scale insects may be 

 detected and dealt with promptly. Describe the measures 

 that should he adopted for the purpose of freeing young lime 

 plants from scale insects. Where spraying is employed, the 

 process should be repeated after two or three weeks. Why 

 is such repetition necessary ? Under some conditions, a care- 

 ful watch is required for the appearance of parasites such as 

 mistletoe and the love vine (dodder). State why these are 

 more harmful than epiphytes like the wild pine. 



Work in lime plantations at the present time also 

 includes the making of careful observations on the prepara- 

 tion of the products from such cultivations. Among these 

 the chief are raw lime juice, concentrated lime juice, distilled 

 and hand-pressed oil of lime, and citrate of lime. Under 

 the conditions of which yon have had experience, obtain 

 a good knowledge of the market price of lime juice products, 

 and if possible compare the values of raw lirte juice, the con- 

 centrated juice, and citrate of lime. In the works where 

 limes are dealt with, cleanliness is essential, and it is neces- 

 sary to wash everything that has been used during the day, 

 as far as this is possible. What is your experience of lime 

 skins as cattle food ? Lime skins may be made into a kind of 

 ensilage. What is an ensilage; what are its particular mat- 

 ters of utility; and how is it made and u.^ed? 



It has often been pointed out that manures derive their 

 usefulness in relation to two matters: their effect on the tex- 

 ture of the .soil, and the fact that they actually supply, either 

 directly or indirectly, food that is of u.so to plants. The 

 circumstance that a given manure is rich in food bodies 

 rec^uired by plants is not the only matter to be taken into 

 account when the question of its employment is being dis- 

 cussed. Unless the soil is in a state favourable to the growth 

 of beneficial organisms in it, and to that of the plants that 

 are being raised, the addition of such manures is almost 

 useless. This is where the importance lies, of the use of 

 stable manure and nf green dressings. The latter also 

 possess an important and useful property in that they increa.se 

 the power of the soil to retain moisture. Plant food is taken 

 in by the roots, in liquid form, and however well the land 

 may have received attention in the matter of the supply 

 of artilicial manures, these are of little or no use to the 

 plants growing in it, unless there is a sufficient amount of 

 water present to act as a carrier of plant food. There is 

 a final consideration, namely that the employment of rich 



artificial manures in badly tilled soil is wasteful under any 

 circumstances, as these will be removed in drainage and 

 subsoil water and thus constitute an ab.solute loss where they 

 have been employed under such conditions. 



AGRICULTURE IN THE 

 1910-11. 



BAHAMAS. 



This is dealt with in Colonial Report& — Annual, No. 

 o84, issued in August last. The details given show that 

 the value of the exports was £193,80-3 (including specie 

 £3,121); in 1909 it was £171, i42 (including £2,7.50 specie). 

 The produce of the Colony was valued at £188,28(5, as 

 against £165,116. 



The number of cases of tinned pine-apples exported was 

 -13,041, value £9,219, as compared with 46,639 cases, value 

 £8,999, in the previous year. The industry is steadily 

 becoming smaller in extent owing, it is stated, to poor stock, 

 Hawaiian competition and United States duties. During the 

 year under review, drought caused a shortage of the crop, 

 many fields having died out entirely. An account is given 

 of the sisal factories in the islands, which produced 

 6,296,687 lb. of fibre, worth £42,057. The amount of this 

 product exported continues to increase, while the value 

 decreases. A large amount of lumber was cut; this is taken 

 chiefly by Cuba. 



With reference to grape fruit and orange.s, there was no 

 trade with Canada during the year, owing to the want of 

 facilities for marketing, and of means of transport. The 

 grape fruit exported amounted to 244,000, value £846, as 

 against 365,000 in 1909. There was an insignificant export 

 of oranges, amounting to 42,000, value £V>ii. 



An increased interest in Sea Island cotton has been 

 taken, but the climatic conditions during the season were 

 unfavourable. The late Board of Agriculture had been con- 

 sidering a scheme for the provision of gins, and of assistance 

 to market this product. The export of cocoa-nuts has 

 diminished to nothing; suitable land for growing this crop 

 exists in large areas; in order that the industry may flourish, 

 provision is required of a market and means of transport. 



As is well known, the Board of Agriculture of the 

 Bahamas has ceased to exist, on account of the fact that the 

 House of Assembly has decided unanimously not to renew the 

 Act under which it was constituted. The reason given for 

 this action is that the results obtained by the Board did not 

 justify the cost of its work. 



There has been an improvement in the sponge fishery; 

 the sales on the Exchange were £79,102 as compared with 

 £70,000 in the previous year, the total exports being 

 £110,740 as against £87,657. It is stated in the Report 

 that certain sponge fisheries remain closed, and that restric- 

 tions are imposed as to the size of wool and velvet sponge 

 which may be gathered. An extract is given from the 

 Report of the Marine Products Board describing an experi- 

 ment that is being made in sponge propagation. The princi- 

 ple of this is to supply a large amount of surface on which 

 .sponges may grow, by strewing the water ifl an enclosed 

 space with wattles and other material. It is the opinion 

 of the Board that this method will prove more practical 

 and economical than propagation by cuttings. It is pointed 

 out in the Report, from which the above information is taken, 

 that there is a great need for the appointment of a biological 

 expert in connexion with the sponge industry, who would 

 study the local conditions and give advice on such sulijects 

 as improved methods of propagating and gathering the 

 sponges, and the opening and closing of sponge areas. 



