Vol. XVI. No. 3S4 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS 



known to possess a higher percentage of nitrogenous matter 

 than potato tlour. 



In this connexion reference raisht be made to results of 

 experiments which were rarried out in the West Indies in the 

 preparation of sweet potato meal, nnd published in the West 

 Jiviiaii Bulletin, Vol. II, pp. Sy'^-S. Analyse.«ofsamplesof dried 

 potato meal .showed that the meal is deficient in flesh-forming 

 nutrients. The point is whether the experiments now in progress 

 in the Leeward Lslaiids misiht nol lie extended and directed 

 towards aseertiiniug if the known deficiency in pr 'teid matter 

 in the sweet potato meal cannot be counterbalanced by 

 supplementing it with bean Hour or pea tlour, which is 

 known to be rich in nitrogenous constituents. Might no; 

 trials be made of an admixture, say, of wheat tlour 2 parts, 

 sweet potato meal 2 parts, bean meal 1 part or less; or, wheat 

 tlour 3 parts, corn meal 2 parts, bean meal i part or less. 



The above experiments demonstrate that a satisfactory 

 bread can be made with wheat flour diluted in the manner 

 stated. It is possible that further experimentation on the 

 lines now suggested, that is to say, with the addition of bean 

 flour may show that bread of a more nutritive value can be 

 made. It is worthy of consideration whether it might not 

 be well to institute trials on a large scale with a view to 

 popularizing bread made in this way, thereby reducing the 

 lrt.rge importations of wheat flour, a:d at the same time 

 providing a nutritive diet for the people. 



EXPERIMENTS WITH LIMA BEANS IN 

 ST. VINOENT. 



Much attention has been paid to Lima beans during the 

 past year, and trials have been made of the following 

 varieties: (I) St. Vincent Native Pole, (2) lUrbados Native 

 I'ole, (3) Barbuda Pole, (4) Henderson's Ideal Pole Lima, 

 (5) Henderson's Bush Lima, (6) Drier's Improved Pole Lima, 

 (7) Early Giant Bush Lima, (8) Fordhook Pole Lima, 

 (9) Fordhook Bush Lima, (10) Large White Pole Lima, 

 (11) King of the Garden. Of these No^. 4 to 11 were from 

 the I'niled States. 



A series of plots of the American varieties was laid out 

 early in .June. Most of the seedlings failed to reach the sur- 

 face; the others grew very poorly and the leaves remained 

 yellow and sickly. The cause of this was a damping- 

 (.tt' fungus similar to Pt/thiuui de baryannm. The plots 

 were therefore adandoned. It was considered that the chief 

 cause of failure was the abnormally wet weather at this time. 



Another series of plots was therefore laid out at the end 

 of November. A study of the behaviour of these plots has 

 led to ihe following concUtsions; — 



The varieties of Lima beans indigenous to the West 

 Indies germinated better, and were no-, so subject to the 

 attack of the damping-off fungus as the imported varieties. 

 Indigenous varieties also grew more rapidly. The St. Vincent 

 Native grew faster than the Barbados and Barbuda varieties. 

 All these three flowered profusely but failed to produce ripe 

 pods unless provided with supports on which to climb, since 

 all the pods dropped as soon as they were a few millimetres 

 long. 



The shedding of pods was very marked in the American 

 types, and the only variety from that country which showed 

 any promise was Henderson's Bush Lima. The phenomenon 

 <'f pod-dropping in Lima beans seems closely allied to that 

 (■[ boll-shedding in cotton, and is probably due to a similar 

 set of causes, namely, sudden changes in environmental con- 

 ditions, and particularly of soil and air moisture. ^ In cotton 

 there are notable ditt'erences in constitutional liability to 

 boUshedding. Similar difli'erences also exist in Lima beans. 

 Selection in the variety Henderson's Bush Lima has now 



been in progress for four generations, and we now have 

 a fairly satisfactory strain which yields well under St. Vincent 

 conditions. 



In regard to maturity, the American varieties are earlier 

 than West Indian 



Thus, H-nderson's Bush Lima matures in from sixty-eight 

 to seventy-seven days, while St. Vincent Native takes from 

 110 to 120 days. 



xA report has been received from Bequia that a piece of 

 ground of approximately |-acre in area, planted in Barbuda 

 beans, which were allowed to run on cassava, yielded over 

 300 tt). of dry beans. The yield of cassava was said to be 

 low, however. It will thus be seen that under the drier 

 conditions of the Grenadines, satisfactory returns can.be 

 obtained. 



The opinion may be expressed that a careful study of 

 the behavioir of the ditierent varieties of Lima beans from 

 a physiological stand-point, combined with selection, wiil 

 result in knowledge which will enable this crop to be grown 

 quite .successfully in St. Vincent. 



Twelve varieties of Brazilian beans, received from the 

 Head Office, failed to germinate owing to continued 

 unfavourable weather. (Report on the Agricultural Depart- 

 ment, St. Vincent, 19 15-16. ) 



WEST INDIAN SOUR GRASS. 



The Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 

 has kindly communicated to the Coinmis-sioner of 

 Agriculture a memorandum by Dr. O. Stapf on the 

 •juestion of the origin of West Indian sour grass. It 

 is to be read as a continuation of Dr. Stapf's previous 

 report on this subject, of which a summary was pub- 

 lished on page 17f) of Volume XV of this Journal. 

 The memorandum states; — 



ilr. Maiden has been good enough to send a report by 

 ilr. Cheel, one of his assistants, on the Australian Andropo- 

 goneae which have been connected by various authors with 

 Andropogon pertusns. the species to which the West Indian 

 sour grass has generally been referred so far. 



Mr. Cheel has also come to the conclusion that the true 

 Andropogon pertusux of India does not Occur in Australia, 

 and he considers the A. perlunis of the Flora Australi- 

 ensis and Australian authors to be an endemic species 

 identical with Hackel's A.intermedius, va,T. decipien^i. This 

 he proposes to cill/1. rfetv/nVres, and he limits its area to 

 Northern New South Wales and (.^Jueensland I have not; refer- 

 red to Hackel's A. iniei medivs, var. deci/dem in my report on 

 the West Indian Sour Grasses, because we had none of the 

 specimens quoted by Hackel as type, whilst at the same 

 time the description of it did not suggest any connexion with 

 West Indian grasses under consideration. Mr. Maiden has 

 now sent specimens of what he and Mr. Cheel take to be 

 Hackel's 'var. decipiens'. I have no reason to doubt their 

 identification. This A decipie".s is quite distinct from 

 any of the sour grasses I have seen. As to the 'Andropogon' 

 collected by Max Koch on Mt Lyndhurst, S. Australia, and 

 distributed under the na.xae Andropogon punclatuf, Koxb , 

 with the annotation 'good fodder', .Messrs. Jfaiden and 

 Cheel have no further observation to make, but they, too, 

 refer it to A. interiin:diux (Y caWedi \t A. iiitermedius. var. 

 pahidaris in my report). Mt. Lyndhurst is too far inland 

 to suggest any connexion with the introduction of a fodder 

 grass into the West Indies at an early time. Thus it seems 

 to be evident that Australia is quite out of question in so 

 f.nr as the origin of Barbados Sour Grass (AmpkUopkis 

 ■laiermtdius, var. acididaoi my report) is concerned. 



