Vol. XVI. No. 385. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



21 



raw Hme juice is now Is. per gallon locally. His Honour 

 the Adniinstrator has appointed a small committee to report 

 or, the question of erecting a lime factory at Grandbay : the 

 committee piid a visit to the district ou December 27. 

 Thirty-one sample.s of Hme juice were analy.sed in the chemical 

 laboratory during the month. In addition, the data for 

 constructing a table showing (a) hydrometer reading. 

 (b) citronifter reading, aud (c) acid test of boiling juice at 

 dififerent concentration.", were obtaineri. A phy.^ical analysis 

 of the soils of the lime eKporiment station was completed. 

 The rainfall for the month was 311 inches. The total 

 rainfall for 1916 was 84-42 inches, which is '! 45 inches 

 more than the mean of the last twenty three years. 



MONT.-<KERAT. The Curator (Mr. W. Rob.son) in his 

 notes for the month of December mentions, in addition to 

 planting operations in the experiment stations, that three dis- 

 tillations of bay leaves, making a total of forty-one for the 

 vear, were made. The yield of leaves from the plot for the 

 year' has exceeded 6,000 lb., equal to (U lb. of oil. Five types 

 of pipaw are being cultivated in the endeavour to obtain 

 a good bleeding variety for the preparation of papain. 

 Eeferring to staple crops, Mr. Itobson states that on 

 many of the estates the destruction of old cotton plants 

 is being pushed forward, and the land is being prepared 

 for next crop. P>xcept in a few isolated localities, the 

 picking of cotton has been practically completed. Most 

 estates^ave made fair crops, the mostdeiercenc climatic factor 

 having been the wet month of October. (Hh'-rwise the season 

 Las been favourable. In re,'ard to the prepiration of corn 

 meal, one estate has found a cotton seed disintegrator to be 

 very effective in its preparation. The re erection of machinery 

 for the manufacture of muscovado sugar is in contemplation at 

 Brodricks, Roches, Olveston, Brades and Trants, with exten- 

 tions at a few other places. There was nothinu in particular 

 to record in connexion with the hme industry. Cotton 

 stainers were numerous in all districts at the end of the month, 

 and in this connexion, the compulsory destruction of all 

 the Mahoe trees in the island has been suggested to the 

 Government. Eleven samples of cotton lint and seed-cotton 

 of the current crop were sent to the Imperial Institute for 

 addition to the collection. Several visits were made 



to Harris's Station in connexion with its being closed at 

 the end of December. The necessary additions were made 

 to the onion building The date fixed by law for the destruc- 

 tion of old cotton pfants i> .January 31. and planting wiU be 

 allowed as from March 1, 1917. 



The riinfall for the month was — Grove Station 418 

 inches, Harris's Station .3-82 inche.-. 



.\NTiou.\. According to Mr. T. Jackson's report, |)lant 

 di.-^tribution in the month of December included 4-J(i sisal, 

 V2G coco-nuts, 100 limes, 94 Pro.sopis, 9 miscellaneous, 

 75,100 cane plants, 7t),800 sweet potato cuttings, 7,200 

 cassava cuttings, and 29 plots ve^etable seeds. In his 

 ob.servations relating to staple crops, the .Vgrieultural Superin- 

 tendent sUtes that at the present time the cane crop requires 

 rain. Cultivation of land for next year's crop is progressing 

 rapidly on account of favourable weather for these operations. 

 The onion crop Ls not sufficiently far advanced to withstand 

 a long spell of drought, and rain for this cro]) is ladly 

 recjuired. The area under cotton for the year 191.5-16 in 

 Antigua is 280 acres, in Barbuda 100 acres. Severe attacks 

 of caterpillars on onions, and slight attacks of cotton cater- 

 pillars were experienced. 



The rainfall for the month was 1-92 iiiciies, for the 

 year 65-0.5 inches. From an agricultural point of view the 

 past year ha-s been an exceptionally good one. 



ST. KiTTS. Mr. F. R. Shepherd in his report for the- 

 month of December, states that plant distribution com- 

 prised 7,420 cane cuttings to estates with experiment 

 plots, and 50 ornamental cuttings and 2 bags of seed. 

 and roots of Saccharum ciliare sent to Montserrat. 

 Referring to staple crops, the Agricultural Superinten- 

 dent states that the old cane crop is rapidly ripening up with 

 a large number of arrows than is usually seen. Reaping of 

 fields on muscovado estates, left over from last season, is in 

 progress The young cane crop is growing well, and much 

 attention is paid to the selection of cuttings from the best 

 varieties. All old cotton on estates is being rapidly cleared 

 off the land and very little picking remains to be done. Prices 

 paid locally are from 2.^. 4i'f. to 2.^. 5d. per R). lint. The 

 average return per acre of lint will be considerably lower 

 than in past years owing to the unfavourable season. Leaf- 

 blister mite is making its appearance, but too late to do 

 any harm to the crop. Work in the Government laboratory 

 included analyses of ten samples of milk from the Inspector 

 of Police, complete analysis of Basseterre town water supply, 

 estimation of available phosphoric acid and potash in two 

 samples of soil, and examination of forty samples of cotton. 



The rainfall for the month was 2-47 inches, for the year 

 65-94 inches. 



BATS IN BUILDINGS. 



During .\pril lUlG, an enquiry was received at this Gfhce- 

 from the Rev. W. Say well, St. Kitts, as to the best methods of 

 getting rid of bats and bees that were infesting the Wesleyan 

 Church at Basseterre, in that part of the building between the 

 ceiling and the roof. The existence of the bats was disclosed 

 by the removal of the ceiling, rendered necessary on account 

 of the need for repair. In reply to the enquiry several sugges- 

 tions were put forward. The itirst method suggested was to- 

 prevent the return of the bats into the building after they had 

 flown out at night to feed. It was suggested that arrange- 

 ments should be made for closing all doors, windows, cracks, 

 etc., during the time between the exodus of the animals and 

 their return For this purpose strong mesh wire was regarded 

 as being suitable for closing the openings The next suggestion 

 was that the whole interior of the roof should be white- 

 washed with a wash of white lime containing crude carbolifr 

 acid at the rate of 1 pint of carbolic to every 4 gallons of wash. 

 This would have two principal effects; one would be to disin- 

 fect and do away with the smell complained of, and the other 

 would be to make the roof light and unattractive for the bats,. 

 while at the same time any fugitive bats would be easily seen 

 against the white background. 



At a last resort it was suggested that the church might 

 be fumigated by means of burning sulphur. The building, it 

 was pointed out, would have to be closed as tightly as possible, 

 and fumigation would have to be carried on for twenty-four 

 hours. It would • also be necessary t > remove from the 

 building all metal ornaments. 



Last month a letter was received from the Rev. Say well, to 

 the effect that the adoption of some of the foregoing methods 

 had proved satisfactory, and that he had succeeded in driving 

 the animals from the building. The principal method WiS 

 the employment of burning sulphur. The ventilators were 

 covered with wire mesh after the disinfection, thus admitting 

 plenty of air but obstructing the re-entrance of bats It may 

 be added that before disinfection, the beams and rafters were 

 covered with solignum. 



To .show the extent of this infestation of bats, it may 

 be mentioned that when the ceiling was first removed, 

 there was an accumulation of bat manure to the extent of 

 4 cart loads. 



