Vol. XVI. No. 399. 



THE AGEICULTURAL NEWS 



253 



DOMINICA. REPORT ON THE AGRICULTU- 

 RAL DEPARTMENT, 1916-17. 



The occurrence of a hurricane on August 8, the second 

 within a period of thirteen months, again interrupted the 

 routine work in the Gardens and Experiment Stations. 

 In consequence of the injury to the cacao and lime plots the 

 plot experiments had to be recast and much time was taken 

 up in repairing the damage caused by the storm. 



With regard to the various methods advocated and 

 adopted for dealing with situations occasioned by these 

 visitations, it may be correctly stated that, during the quarter 

 of a century in which the lime industry has been the major 

 industry of Dominica, no general plan of action has been 

 evolved for dealing with what is the most serious situation 

 which the lime planter is called upon to meet. The methods 

 practised in dealing with fallen trees are described as: (I) 

 propping back the tree in original position; (2) removing the 

 upper branches and propping up the trees; (3) stumping the 

 trees; and (4) renewal of top by means of suckers from the 

 base of the trunk, and the merits of each method are dis- 

 cussed in detail. Observations made during recent years 

 in regard to the sour orange tend to show its great root- 

 holding power, and, as the hurricanes of 191-5 and 1916 

 indicate the need of a stock on which to grow the lime to 

 prevent the wholesale overturning of trees at such times, 

 experiments have been undertaken in this direction by 

 budding limes on sour orange stocks. 



In the matter of imported foodstuffs Dominica is in 

 a more favourable position than some of the other 

 Leeward Islands, for it is computed that for every 100 H). 

 of flour, corn meal, peas and beans, and rice imported into 

 Dominica per head of population in 1914 15, Antigua import- 

 ed 180 B). and St. Kitts 162 lb. per head. The main 

 obstacle in securing an abundant supply of home-grown 

 produce to Roseau is the difficulty of ti ansport. The vegetable 

 most popular with the peasantry is the Dasheen (Coloradn 

 antiqunrum, \a.r. cscidenta), t\n- ya.va of the Fijians which 

 was introduced into Dominica from Martinique about thirty 

 years ago. Another important root crop is the cassava 

 (Manihot utilissima) which is largely grown in the Windward 

 districts and forms one of the principal foods of the people 

 throughout the island. The meal or farine can be stored 

 for months, and this gives it considerable value as a foudstutf 

 in times of drought and .scarcity. Though large quantities ot 

 peas and beans are grown locally, there is not sufBcient 

 production to meet local requirements and over 40,000 R). 

 are imported annually. The increased production and con- 

 sumption would give a better balanced dietary, which would 

 mean beiter health and more energy to the consumers. 

 Although in normal times the existence of wild food-plants 

 and the abundance of breadfruit trees are deplored by 

 employers of labour as tending to make the people indolent, 

 Dominica, at the present crisis, is fortunate in having thsee 

 wild food-plants, namely, the 'Waw waw' or Carib yam 

 l^Rajania phionxira), the Babaou-lf, a kind of yam, and the 

 Topee Tambou (Caialhea AUouya), which in times of stress 

 might be of ine.stimable service. 



In the staple industry the lime crop for 1916, calculated 

 in barrels of a capacity of 4-.55 cubic feet, amounted to 

 384,298 barrels to which concentrated juice contributed 60, 

 raw juice 20, fresh limes 10, and citrate of lime 10 per cent. 

 Although the number of barrels was 6,160 below that of 

 1915, it is remarkable that such satisfactory results should 

 have been achieved in spite of bad weather conditions. The 

 values of the different forms of lime products were: concen- 

 trated lime juice, £44,379; raw lime juice, £50,452; raw lime 

 juice cordial, £772; green limes, £47,852: pickled limes, 

 £415; citrate of lime, £9,244; essential oil of limes, £16,803; 

 arid otto of limes, £2,43.5,, or a total of £172,352. Compared 

 with the previous year there was a total decrease in values 

 of £2,052. The heavy .shipments of raw lime juice during 

 the past two years have been due in a large measure to the 

 requirements of the Allied Armies and Navies. It is 

 unsatisfactory, on the other hand, to note that during the 

 same period, which has been one of unparalled prosperity in 

 New York and other great cities, the shipments of green limes 

 to the United States have fallen off to the extentof 6,000 bar- 

 rels, and this decrease cannot be attributed to lack of .shipping 

 facilities or any falling away in the demand, but to the efforts 

 of those who have made great attempts to build up a sound 

 trade creditable to the island by the shipment of produce of 

 the highest quality, being largely discounted by the 

 Irresponsible action of others who forward inferior fruit to 

 the market. Proposals were, at the end of 1916, laid by 

 the Administrator before the newly formed Chamber of 

 Commerce with a view of organizing a sy.stem for the 

 inspection of fruit before shipment. 



The section of the report which deals with the work in 

 the recently established chemical laboratory shows that the 

 number of samples of iime juice sent in by planters is steadily 

 increasing and deals with the improvement in the manu- 

 facture of lime products, the chief difficrdty in preparing clean 

 juice being the treatment of the sediment, which is discu.ssed, 

 as is also the point of economic concentration. 



There is a movement on foot in Dominica to establish 

 Agricultural Credit Societies similar to those e.\istint; in 

 St. Vincent, where the etlbrt has met with considerable 

 success. The assistance most urgently required by the 

 small owners is some means of dispo.sing of their lime Jrop, and 

 a scheme has been formulated for the erection of a Govern- 

 ment Co-operative Factory at Grand Bay, where a crop 

 estimated at 6,000 barrels is produced annually. 



The series of manurial experiments with lime culti- 

 vation which commenced in 1913, has now come to 

 an end. Several important general principles in the 

 manuring of limes have been brought to light, namely, 

 that the application of a complete manure cf nitrogen, 

 phosphates and potash has resulted in a substantial and 

 remunerative increase in crop; tlia; the appl. cation .jf 

 manure containing nitrogen and phosphates, but uo potash, has 

 given remunerative increases; that good results appear possible 

 by the use of nitrogen alone; and that it is not advisable 

 to apply either phosphates or potash alone without nitrogen. 

 Although the e.xperiments were not sufficiently prolonged to 

 demonstrate the value of mulching, the indications were that, 

 in course of time, the mulched plots would have given yields 

 comparable with the complete manure plots of limes. The 

 chief feature of the cacao experiments has been to prove that 

 by maintaining the humus content of the soil by systematic 

 applications of organic matter, it is unnecessary to resort to 

 the use of artificial manures. With a view of ascertaining 

 the least amount of mulch necessary to produce satisfactory 

 results, a plot was started in 191.3-14, which received only 

 2\ tons per acre as against the higher amounts (4 tons and 

 5 tons) on the other mulched plots. 



