Vol. XVI. No. 386. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



39 



The pods of the beans, which were ripe at January 24, 

 were collected on this date, and after shelling gave the 

 following results: — 



Yield shelled Yield per 

 beans, ft). acre, lb. 



White velvet bean Suked section 39 2,028 



„ ,, „ Un.staked section 10 520 



Fleshy pod bean Staked section 46 2,392 



„ „ „ Unstaked section 7 364 



The experiments show very clearly the advantage of 

 providing supports when one of the objects in cultivating 

 the beans is the production of a crop of pods. At the same 

 time the staking of the plants as was done in these experi- 

 ments would not be practicable on a field scale, and the culti- 

 vation of a suitable quick-grosving plant would be necessary. 

 The pigeon pea suggests itself as a likely plant for the purpose. 

 Further experiments are therefore necessary to show how 

 the pigeon pea can best be made use of. 



It should be mentioned that while the fleshy pod bean 

 was found to breed true to type, this cannot be said of . the 

 white velvet bean, which produced about 20 per cent, of seeds 

 with black markings. 



ST. KITTS-NEVIS: REPORT QN THE AGRI- 

 CULTURAL DEPARTMENT, 191-5-16. 



The plot experiments carried out during the year at the 

 Experiment Station at La Guiirite in St. Kitts had relation 

 to provision crops and cotton principally, excluding the sugar- 

 cane experiments which are dealt with in a separate Federal 

 Report and abstracted annually in the Agricultural News. 

 The plot experiments with provision crops have concerned 

 sweet potatoes, ca.ssava, yams, and Guinea corn. The 

 experiment with this latter crop is of particular interest on 

 account of the fact that the more extensiuss planting of Guinea 

 corn in the West Indies has been advocated. It should be 

 stated that the variety cultivated in the plot was ilazzagua. 

 The seed was planted in on April 13, 1914, on banks 3 feet 

 by 2 feet apart. The crop is stated to have grown luxu- 

 riantly, producing large and long stalks, but towards the 

 end of the year these were attacked by moth borers which 

 caused many of them to break when the ears of the 

 corn were maturing; thus the return was not as large 

 as was expected from the appearance of the plot. The 

 corn were reaped in .January 1916, and gave 11 fc. cleaned 

 seed to the plot or about 20 bushels to the acre. This has 

 all been distributed for planting and should prove a valuable 

 food for feeding the estate animals both its fodder and grain. 

 Much attention in other plots has been given to pea and bean 

 trials, a line of work which has recently been followed in 

 other West Indian islands. If successfully cultivated, beans 

 and peas, form valuable food crops, being much richer in 

 nitrogen than the commonly cultivated West Indian vegetables 

 like sweet potatoes and yams, hence they are deserving of 

 particular attention. 



The work of cotton selection has been continued and in 

 some respects elaborated both in St. Kitts and Nevis. This 

 work is recognized as being of an extremely useful character 

 and of importance in helping to safeguard the cotton industry 

 of the Presidency: it has occupied much of the time and 

 energy of the Experiment Station workers. 



Important manurial experiments are in progress in St. 

 Kitts-Nevis: with cotton and sugar-cane in St. Kitts (the 

 results of the latter are issued in a separate report) and with 

 coco-nuts in Nevis. The manurial experiments with cotton 

 have been in progress for twelve years, and this year for the 

 first time show increases due to manuring, particularly with 

 pen manure and complete artificials. The results of the 

 manurial experiments conducted on coco-nuts in Nevis were 

 not available at the time of compilation of the report to be 

 included, but they will be subsequently published at an 

 early date in the Agricultural News. As already noted on 

 another page in this issue the trees seem to show great benefit 

 from the manurial applications. 



The returns obtained in the chief industries of the island 

 namely, from the sugarcane and cotton crops were somewhat 

 below the average on account- of the unfavourable season of 

 1914. The price of sugar,ranged high and this stimulated the 

 planting of cane while at the same time it reacted on cotton 

 cultivation, causing a reduction in area, particularly in Nevis 

 wliere cotton and sugar-cane are not grown in rotation. 



Appended to the main body of the publication under 

 review is a report on the newly established Chemical Labora- 

 tory in St Kitts. This institution is affiliated to the Federal 

 Laboratory in Antigua and its work is under the general 

 direction of the Government Chemist for the Leeward Islands. 

 For its first year, the .St. Kitts Laboratory has done remark- 

 ably well, a wide range <if substances having been received 

 for analysis: but the most marked feature of this first year's 

 work was the control that it has exercised over the sale of 

 milk to the Public which has resulted in a change from 

 a situation in which 80 per cent, of .samples taken in 1913 

 were found to be adulterated, into one for 1914 when the 

 number of samples found to be adulterated was nU. 



Philippine Shrub Perfume.— According to 



a report by the correspondent at Manila of the United States 

 Department of Commerce, the perfume known in trade 

 circles as 'cassie,' manufactured for the most part in France, 

 is found in abundance in the Philippine Islands in the 

 Acacia farnesiana, a shrub which grows near Manila and 

 throughout the dry parts of the islands. This shrub has 

 small spiny leaves and produces a short black pod. The 

 flower from which the essence is obtained is very abundant 

 and of a golden colour. It is known locally as 'aroma'. 

 [This plant occurs commonly in many of the West Indian 

 islands.] (Journal of the Royal Society oj Arts.) 



Fuel Economy. — *^)wing to the high price of coal in 

 the south of France, old newspapers and other waste paper 

 are being used for making fire-balls for burning with coal or 

 anthracite in close stoves for heating purposes. The paper 

 is soaked in water for twenty-four or forty-eight hours, and 

 then kneeded and pressed into shape to about the size of 

 a golf or tennis ball, and then dried in the sun. When the 

 fire is well alight the balls can be used in the proportion of 

 one-quarter to one-third of the coal. {Journal of the Royal 

 Society of Arts.) 



