THE AGKICULTUKAL NEWS. 



January 13, 1917. 



JAMAICA AND THE FOOD SUPPLY 



QUESTION. 



In recent issues of the Agricultural News, atten- 

 tion has been repeatedly called to the need of producing 

 more foodstuffs in the West Indies. Some practical 

 advice on the subject has been published in the 

 Jouriud of the Jc.maica Agricultural Society for 

 October I !)!(), and is reproduced below: — 



In a time like this, every available corner of the holding 

 should be planted with some crop yielding food. Corn, pea.s, 

 bean.s, and sweet potatoes, are the quickest, and most useful 

 foods. Foodstuff's are becoming scarce all the world over. 

 Millions of men that were food producers are now taken 

 from the production of land and sea products to engage in 

 warfare. The salt codfish we are all so familiar with, is 

 a crop of the s^ea gathered by Newfoundland fishermen, large 

 numbers of whom are now in the British Navy, and there 

 is a shortage of that food so useful to us here. The most 

 vital crop to the world, however, is wheat from which the 

 flour that makes our bread is made: most of our supply 

 comes from the United States, and there they fear a shortage 

 for themselves, so that there is talk of restricting exports. 

 At any rate the price of flour has gone up to a very high 

 figure and may go higher. On the top of dear bread, we 

 have lo.'t our supply of bananas for a year, a most important 

 food to us. When the war began we used to .say that if the 

 enemy's ships did interfere with our imports and e.xports, we 

 had hIwhvs our great crop of bananas to fall back upon for 

 our food supply. 



Immediately the war broke out, we communicated with 

 all our Branch Societies showing the likelihood of foodstuffs 

 becoming dear, and the advisability of planting food crops 

 as much as possible. There was a good response to that 

 advice and almost every crop has been plentiful since, in 

 spite of the increased home consumption through the dearness 

 of imported foods. 



Jamaica has been one of the best off places .since the 

 war broke out, and would have continued to be but for two 

 unfortunate hurricanes in, two con.secutive years. It now 

 behoves every one who can do so, to plant food crops; it was 

 advisable at the time the war broke out, it is a necessity now. 



Corn. Plant corn in succession as long as there is any 

 chance of it growing well. We have sent out for planting 

 70 bu.shels of first class seed corn — all that could be secured 

 — and a quantity of ordinary good corn for seed. After 

 planting the corn do not let weeds get ahead but cultivate 

 carefully and get as large crops as po.ssible. ■ 



GUINEA CORN. We are very much disappointed that 

 there has not been a better demand for Guinea corn for 

 planting, but we suppose because of the good sea.sons in the 

 ordinarily dry districts, planters are growin=; country corn. 

 Still suppose we have droiight after November, the Guinea 

 corn would thrive through it. 



PEAS AND BEANS. These are quick and very .sure 

 crops to grow. They are useful to plant out m odd places. 

 Everyone planting should plant kidney beans, cowpeas or 

 black-eye peas through bananas. The planting of kidney 

 beans can go on in most districts right through each month 

 to April ne.'ct. Cowpeas and black eye peas do not grow 

 well in the hills during the winter. They are summer crops 

 there. But in the lowlands they also can be planted from 

 October to .April. In the hills, begin planting cowpeas and 

 black-eye peas in February. 



SWEET POT.\TOES. Keep on planting in succession so as 

 to have some fit potatoes to dig every week. When disease 



or weevils have attacked, dig up, gather and destroy all the 

 bits of potatoes lying about, and plant another crop, not a root 

 crop. 



uARDEN. Everyone should try to grow vegetables like 

 cabbages, turnips, carrots, beet?, spinach, parsley, tomatoes, 

 etc. They are good for sale in towns, add variety to the food 

 in the house, and arc good for the health. .Make the seed beds 

 fine, but firm down when sowing, .so that the little seeds come 

 in close contact with the fine .soil. Do not plant deep. The 

 smaller the seed the ligh'er the cuvering of earth. Sow in 

 drills rather than broadcast. If the soil is stiff and has not 

 been turned over early enough to let sun and rain scatter it so 

 that in spite of cultivation it remains lumpy while you are 

 in haste to plant (a condition we have often found our- 

 selves in), make the little diills deeper and wider, scrape up 

 the fine earth from the footpaths or trenches or cow pen, and 

 crumble it in the drills. Press it down and sow the seeds. 

 Cover with fine .-oil, press down again, and if heavy rains are 

 likely to be hurtfid put a thin covering of fine trash over the 

 drills. This gives the little seeds a i:ood start in fine soil. 

 By the time 1 hey are spreading their little roots, the soil of 

 the beds has become settled and finer. When the young 

 plants peep up, lift off the mulch, and as the seeds grow, scrape 

 a little earth into them to support them. 



In gardening on a .small scale, it is useful to use seed 

 ljo.\-es. Get from the shop sotue conden.sed milk boxes (which 

 are better for the purpose than soap boxes), punch a few holes 

 in the bottom, put a layer of small stones in the bottom and 

 fill with good earth pressed in firmly. These boses have the 

 advantage of allowing early planting safely, as they can be 

 shifted under cover d heavy October rains come on, which 

 might wash out the tender sprouting seedlings from the seed 

 beds in the open. Such seeds as lomato, cabbage and ochro 

 are usually the better for trai .-pi .nting; although turnip, 

 carrot and beet are often transplanted here, they are better 

 sown thinly where they are to grow 



FOWLS Eggs will likely be dearer too, because many 

 having no spare food for their fowls have cut down their 

 n'lmber. If flour is dear, corn meal will be dear too. The 

 thing to do is to plant plenty of corn. 



About the only foods that have not gone up in price are 

 local meatstuffs and milk, ililk has always been dear in 

 King-ton— 6d a quart; in the country it was always cheap 

 where sold at .3'/. Beef still reiuains at 6rf. per ft and goat 

 mutton at 6d. per ft., but pork is 7d. per ft. in Kingston 

 In small country towns beef and goat mutton are 4hd., but 

 pork is 6rf., even Id. i>er ft. Pig feeding is scarce because 

 we have no bananas, so that pigs will be scarce too until this 

 food becomes plentiful. 



Out domestic stock is of greater value now to us than 

 ever, and should be attended to with redoubled watchfulness 

 and care. 



DEPARTMENT NEWS. 



Ih-. J. C. Hutson, IS.A., Ph. D., Acting Entomologist 

 on the Start' of the Luperial Department of Agriculture, 

 who left Barbados on 1 )ccember 29, UIKi, on an official 

 visit to (ireiiada, returned to Barbados on January 11, 



Mr. W. K. Dunlop, the Scientific As.sist.ant, aiso 

 ■eturcied from a visit :,, Trinidad on J.anuarv 11. 



