60 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS, 



February 24, 1917. 



The minutes have been received of a meeting of the 

 Grenada Board of Agriculture, which was held at the Botanic 

 Station on Wednesday, December 13, 1916. The Superin- 

 tendent of Agriculture, Mr. J. C. Moore, was in attendance. 

 (Opportunity was taken of viewing certain features of the 

 Station. Various administrative matters were discussed. In 

 rpgard to the plant and animal diseases, it was decided to 

 increase the expenditure from £10 to £.50 in order that 

 further investigations and experimental work might be 

 conducted under this head. 



GLEANINGS. 



What is probably the most remarkable collection of 

 Agaves is said to be that in the gardens of Professor G. Roster, 

 of Florence, who has spent twenty years in cultivating tropical 

 plants. The Gardener's C'Aron if /e states that the collection 

 includes 842 species of Agaves, of which twenty-.seven have 

 flowered since 1889. 



The international movement of fertilizers and chemical 

 products useful to agriculture is dealt with in No. 5 of the 

 Bureau of Statistics of the International Institute of Agri- 

 culture, Rome. The figuies given indicate the almost' com- 

 plete ces.sation of trade in potash salts with the e.Kception, 

 perhaps, of German trade with Holland, Denmark , and 

 Scandinavia. 



According to Golownl Reports - Annual, No. 908, on 

 Bermuda, the quantity and declared value of arrowroot 

 exported in l'Jl.5 were 5 tons, valued at £6-50, as compared 

 with 4 tons -5 cwt., valued at X530, in 1914. The quantity 

 and value of onions exported during the last two years were: 

 1914, crates >!T,279, value £25,877; 191.5, crates 153,416, 

 value £22,955. 



A new rubber sponge made by a wet process direct from 

 rubber milk or latex is referred to in the India Rubber Journal 

 for Deceiuber 2, 1916. It is said to resemble the natural 

 sponge in appearance, and unlike the red rubber sponges, it 

 swells and grows soft in water. Ic would seem to po.ssess 

 di.sadvantiiges, however, when compared with ihe natural 

 article. It has to be kept moist, and if exposed to sunlight 

 it tends to deteriorate. 



The opinion is expressed in the (Queensland Agricultural 

 Journal for November 1916, that the returns of ca.ssava in that 

 country should be as good as those obtained in Jamaica, where 

 20 tons per acre are easily produced. An illustration is given 

 of a field of cassava in Queensland which affords striking 

 evidence of the truth of the suggestion. Cassava compares- 

 more than favourably with maize and potatoes in regard to the 

 yield of starch. From an acre of cassava 5,000 tti. of starch 

 may be obtained, whereas an ordinary crop of maize may 

 not give more thin 1,200 B). of starch. 



An abstract of the proceedings at the meeting of the 

 agricultural section, British Association, last year, appears in 

 A'atu)e lor December 14, 1916. The topics discussed can be 

 roufihly grouped under the three beads of Economy in Crop 

 Production, Economy in Meat Production, and Economy and 

 Reform in "Timber Production. It will thus be seen that the 

 proceedings dealt with the aspects of agriculture related to the 

 war. 



A notice appears in the St. Lucia Official Ga:ette for 

 November 19, 1916, that 70.000 lime plants will be ready for 

 distribution from the Agricultural and Botanical Station 

 between May and Novembsr 1917. Planters were advi.sed 

 to send in their orders at once, otherwise it would be 

 impossible for the Agrieiikural Department to guarantee 

 delivery. Owing to the increa.sed cost of raising due to the 

 losses incurred from fungoid and insert pest.s, the price was 

 raised to •'!.«. per 100, from .January 1, 1917. 



Since the South ( )rkney Observatory was established ia 

 1903, the August and September temperature there has been 

 a direct index of the temperature at Kimberley, South Africa, 

 during the three months following. The temperature during 

 August and September at the South Orkneys i-* largely 

 dependent on the ice conditions of the surrounding ocean, 

 and as the ice is moving east-north-east, it is feasible to 

 suppose that the temperature prevailing over the South 

 African plateau is related in some way to the antecedent 

 conditions in the great southern ocean. [The Geociraphical 

 Journa', Vol. XLVIII, No. 6.) 



A note appears in the Journal of tin Hoard of Ayricultare 

 for 1 )ecember 1916, to the eflfect that numerous attempts have 

 been made by the English Agricultural Organization Siciety 

 to initiate a satisfactoiy system of credit in the country, and 

 some fifty credit societies have been formed. Their success 

 has beeu very linuted, and the number, in comparison with 

 other countries where they exist in thousands and are most 

 successful, is totally inadequate. 'An interesting note also 

 appears in the same journal on cattle insurance societies in 

 India. It will be remembered that a suggestion has been 

 luade to form such a society in Antigua, in the West Indies. 



At a recent meeting of the Trinidad Board of Agriculture, 

 the question of how lo increase the breeding of live stock in 

 Trinidad was discussed. Practically all the Trinidad meat 

 supply comes from Venezuela at present, which is an insecure 

 state of affairs on account of the war It was suggested 

 that more should be dune in selecting good breeds for meat 

 and draught purposes separately; but it would appear that 

 the principal requirement is to increase the number of animals 

 in the island irrespective of breed, in view of the urgency 

 of the existing sitiiaticm . It should be remembered that the 

 raising of live stock means a production of manure which is 

 badly needed on most cacao estates in Trinidad, so that for 

 more reasons than one, there ought not to be any opposition 

 to the proposals that have been made by the lioard of 

 Agriculture 



