Vol. XVI. No. 393. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



UT 



the area cultivated during the preceding season. The 

 decrease in question is mainly to be attributed to the 

 extremely wet weather experienced towards the end of 1915, 

 which materially hampered thu operations of preparing the 

 land. 



The leading place in the return in point of area culti- 

 vated, is still occupied by the White Transparent variety, 

 the total area to be reaped under this cane in the year 1917 

 amounting lo 2,920 acres. This represents a further decrease 

 of 500 acres over the area cultivated in 1916. 



On previous occasions the history of the introduction of 

 the White Transparent variety into Antigua has been sum- 

 marized. The position which it has occupied for the past 

 twenty years is that of the standard cane under cultivation, 

 it having replaced in this capacity the Bourbon varietj- when 

 the latter succumbed to disease in the middle nineties. 

 Since 1900 the replacement of the White Transparent by 

 seedling canes of more recent origin has been in progress. 



In order to afford an indication of the rate at which 

 this replacement has proceeded, it has been usual, in these 

 compilations, to give a tabular comparison showing the 

 percentage of the total area under cane cultivation occupied 

 by varieties other than White Transparent and Bourbon, and 

 this statement is again reproduced below with the addition 

 of the figures for the year under review: in each case the 

 returns are given to the nearest acre: — 



It will be seen that the percentage of the total area 

 cultivated in cane.s other than the White Transparent and 

 Bourbon shows a further increase amounting to 37 per cent. 



It may again be pointed out that the White Transparent 

 cane is apparently not well suited to the heavy soils of the 

 central portion of the island, and here it has become almost 

 entirely replaced by other varieties. On the limestone lands 

 of the northern and eastern area the variety does well, and is 

 also a good cane from the point of view of the 

 muscovado sugar manufacturer. Since the muscovado 

 industry is now almost entirely confined to the eastern 

 district, for reasons given, the variety continues to maintain 

 its popularity. 



After the White Transparent the largest area is occupied 

 by B. 147, under which cane 1,598 acres have been planted. 

 This variety has attained considerable popularity in the more 

 central parts of the limestone district where it gives good 

 returns; it is not suited to the heavy lands of the central 

 portion of the island. At the present time the bulk of the 

 lands in the limestone area are planted under White 

 Tiansparent and B. 147. 



the 

 the 

 disease 



limestone area: the 



wane owing to its 



Antigua 



under 



303 acres: it closely 



The third largest acreage is occupied by Sealy Seedling;, 



under which cane 1,490 acres are cultivated. This cane is 



especially popular as a variety well suited to the heavy lands 



of the Central plain. B. 6150 comes fourth with 1,055 acres; 



this cane also appears to be better suited to the heavy 



lands. 



B. 4.)96 occupies 655 acres and i.s steadily increasing in 



popularity. B. 4507 occupies 555 acres; it is regarded by 



planters as similar in character to B. 147, and is cultivated 



under conditions suitable to that variety. D. 109 is being 



grown on 351 acres mostly in " ' 



popularity of this variety is on 



apparent susceptibility to root 



conditions. 



B.3412 is responsible for 



resembles Sealy Seedling and is planted alternatively to that 



variety on the heavy lands of the island. 



B.3922 occupies 191 acres and is increasing markedly 



in popularity. 



With reference to St. Kitts, we find that the total area 



under cultivation is very nearly the same as that of the 



previous year, a decrease on the total area cultivated of only 



46 acres being seen. 



B. 147 continues to occupy the premier position, having 



been grown on 3.645 acres; this is virtually identical with 



the area cultivated last year. White Transparent has been. 



cultivated on 2.698 acres, this being a decrease of 194 acres 



compared with 1916. 



B.208 has continued to lose in popularity, and this 

 year it was only grown on 94 acres. This variety at one 

 time was very largely ^rown in St. Kitts, but the tendency 

 which it has evinced in recent years to break down under the 

 influence of root disease has led to its wholesale abandon- 

 ment by planters. With this cause must also be coupled the 

 fact that while the cane is particularly rich in sucrose, it 

 does not give, even under the most favourable conditions, 

 such heavy returns of cane per acre as some of the other 

 seedlings. With the spread of the Central Factory system, 

 the demand is for cane varieties which 'weigh well', and this 

 has no doubt been a further contributing cause to the abandon- 

 ment of the variety. 



The returns, as a whole, show that there is greater 

 inclination in St. Kitts at the present time to try the newer 

 varieties on a field scale than has before been shown. 



A New School-Book dealing with Farm 

 Pests. — The title of a school-book recently issued by the 

 Macmillian Company, New York, is 'Farm Spies: How the 

 Boys Investigated Field Crop Insects'. Nature states that 

 it consists of a collection of brightly written, well-illustrated 

 'story-articles' on various common injurious insects of North 

 America, designed to catch the attention and enlist the 

 sympathies of pupils who possess no knowledge of economies 

 entomology. Among the pests described are the cotton boll 

 weevil and root louse, clinch bugs, grasshoppers, and the- 

 black corn weevil. The life-history and habits of the insects 

 are drawn out by conversations between farmers and 

 entomologists, and the farmers' boys are naturally enlisted in 

 the work of destroying the ravagers of crops. It is stated 

 that points in the breeding and feeding habits that bear on 

 farm practice are often cleverly emphasized, and with the 

 exception that one or two passages in this book are rather 

 far fetched and inaccurate so as to be neither good science 

 nor good fiction, this volume is one to be recommended lo 

 the consideration of those engaged in the teaching of natire 

 study and elementary entomology. 



