Vol. XVI. No. 394. 



THE AGRICULTTJEAL rTEWS. 



1C:> 



West Indians are far too self-opinionated and self- 

 sufficient; a great many fvre irresponsible. It is there- 

 fore important that the first aim of education, the 

 training of the charactei-, should be kept in view 

 and more attention given to enlightenment in con- 

 nexion with ideas and ideals rather than mere 

 instruction in book knowledge. 



MOTOR PLOUGHING. 



GoVERNMHNT ASSISTANCE TO TeXANTS IX EXULASD. 



The British Ministry of Munitions which owns a very 

 e.xtensive tract of fertile agricultural land, in connexion 

 with a munitions factory in the north of England, is 

 encouraging its tenant* to cultivate hundreds of additional 

 acres by assisting in the ploua;hing of the land with tractors. 



Four .\raerican Mogul tractors, of 16 horse power each, 

 with Canadian 'Cockshut' three-furrow ploughs attached, 

 have been at work in this vicinity for two months, and, 

 under the organization and superintendence of Captain 

 Shand, the resident land agent, who represents Sir Howard 

 Frank, the Director General of the Ministry of Munitions 

 lands, splendid work has been done. 



The introduction of the tractors has aroused much 

 interest amongst the agricultural coininunily and although at 

 first farmers were somewhat sceptical, they hive become quite 

 enamoured of the new invention. So complete indeed has 

 been their conversion that they are in frequent communica- 

 tion with the agent in char^je of the work with a view to 

 buying the tractors after he is done with them. 



On the Ministry lands the tractors are manned by Army 

 Service Corps M. T. Drivers. Each tractor has a speed of 

 about 3 miles per hour, and the engines, which start on 

 petrol, are worked by paraffin, the consumption of oil being 

 about 2i gallons per acre Highly satisfactory work has 

 been done on both lea and stubble land. The ploughs turn 

 the land over to a depth of about 7 inches, and the 

 furrows are even, clean, and straight. The average amount 

 ploughed in a full day under very adverse conditions has been 

 5 acres per tractor, but it has been ascertained that under 

 ideal conditions each tractor can easily plough three quarters 

 of an acre in an hour. Although a certain amount of 

 ploughing has been done after dusk, with the aid of acetylene 

 lamps, much better results are attained by working in 

 daylight, and, with the introduction of Summer time, two 

 shifts are now resorted to — the one from 4'30 a.m till noon 

 and the other from noon till 8 p.m. 



Besides being useful for ploughing the tractor.s will be of 

 ^reat assistance during harvest in hauling the binders, in 

 thrashing, and in taking the grain to the market. 



COCO-NUT SELECTION IN SEYCHELLES. 



The increase in the coco- nut crop for the year 1914 was 

 not continued in the year 1915, and the reduction in the 

 crop was so large that it gave rise in the Colony to much 

 apprehension. According to the Annual Report on 

 jVgriculture and Crown lands in the Seychelles for the year 

 1910 the crop for that year was about the same as that for 

 1913, while the crop for 1914 was larger by about 5,000,000 

 nuts. The writer of the report does not think that this 

 large reduction can be explained on the basis of external 

 factors such as climate, insect pests, and excessive rains. 



But there is an internal factor which has pr.ibably had art 

 intluence during the year under review, and that is the fact 

 that in all fruit trees one often sees a period of under-bearing 

 following a period of over-bearing. The crop for 1914 was 

 a very large one, and the coco-nut trees being unmanured, 

 the balance in the physiological conditions of the trees 

 may have been upset. The writer states further that 

 coco-nut:^ Seem to contract the habit of flowering and 

 fruiting more abundantly at certain periods of their growth, 

 and certain varieties are known to produce large crops 

 at longer intervals, such as a variety of the King's coco-nut 

 in Ceylon, which produces only one crop in two year.'-, 

 in spite of all artificial measures adopted to make it fruit 

 more frequently. The tree No. 1 in the Seychelles list 

 of varieties is a King coconut from Java, and the periodical 

 flowering of it is also interrupted by lona periods of rest. 

 lu regard to varieties, variations in the yield of copra per 

 1,000 >iuts are being recorded from widely different locali'ies 

 in order to be able to classify the trees growins; in all parts of 

 Seychelles. In regard to selection, it is proposed on Govern- 

 ment land to interpianc at once trees selected for their Urge 

 nuts although short in the number of feunle flowers, such as 

 Ceylon varieties, together with local strains of known type 

 such as the 'coco raisin" which produce such a great number 

 of female flowers that sometimes as many as fifty nuts are 

 counted in one bunch. The result of this experiment will be 

 awaited with interest. 



CULTIVATION OP THE PALMYRA 

 PALM. 



In the first part of the Annual Report on Agriculture- 

 and Crown Lands in the Colony of Seychelles for the year 

 1915, it is stated that a comparatively large arei has 

 been devoted to palmyra palm (Borassus flahelUfornis). This 

 palm has thrived weU. Seedlings set o it in inferior soils 

 where coco-nuts are handicapped have reached 7 feet 8 inches 

 in three years. Although the paltu does not grow quickly, 

 it produces many different articles for local consumption and 

 export. It is said that in South India and Ceylon no le.ss 

 than SOI uses have been found for the products of this 

 palm, but in the report under review the writer has refrained 

 from giving more than seven. It is stated thfit first of all 

 the young root is cooked and eaten as a vegetable; the 

 inside of the nut is also eaten: the leafstalks form palings 

 for fences, while the leaf is used for thatching. Four kinds 

 of fibre are obtained from the leafstalk: while the flower- 

 stalk, both from male and female trees, produces a sap from 

 which sugar (jaggery) or vinegar is manufactured. The 

 fruit is much used as fodder for animals; the unripe fruit 

 contains a jelly which is said to be most refreshing and 

 wholesome Palmyra wood is used as rafters, and has 

 been described as 'the first wood in India'. These rafters 

 are exported in considerable numbers from Jafi'na. 



It is possible that the cultivation of this palm might 

 be .suitable for certain districts in We.st Indian islands Uke 

 Antigua. The point seems to be that the palm can be 

 successfully grown in places which are not as well suited for , 

 coco-nuts. 



Shipments of sponge and a small conch shell shipment 

 were made to the United States from Turks Islands during 

 last .January. Canned lobsters were also being .shipped. These 

 find a ready sale in the United States at a good figure. 

 {West India Committee Circular, April 5, 1917.) 



