294 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



September 22, 1917. 



COTTON. 



COTTON EXPORTS FROM THE WEST 



INDIES. 



The following table gives the quantity and estimated 

 value of Sea Island cotton exported from the West Indies 

 for the quarter ended .June 30, 1917: — 



Colony. l,luantitv, Estimated value, 



B) ' £. 



Barbados .510 18 



Grenada nil nU 



St. Vincent 28,298 3,157 



Antigua nil nil 

 Montserrat ,, 

 St. Kitts-Xevis ,, 



Virgin Islands ., ' „ 



28.808 ft. 



£3,17.5 



There were also exported to Carriacou from St. Vincent 

 8,568 Tb. of Vlarie Galante seed-cotton of an estimated value 

 of £89, the ultimate destination being the United Kingdom. 



EFFORTS TO PRODUCE LOCAL 



FOODSTUFFS. 



A short description of what has been done in the various 

 British West Indian islands with regard to the increased 

 production of food is here given, as of general interest, now 

 that attention is being paid to the subject. 



Not long after the war began a wide-spread feeling of 

 unrest, not to say alarm, was developed in these islands 

 concerning the probable shortage of necessary foodstuffs in 

 the near future. In many of the islands the step was taken 

 by the local Governments of prohibiting any export of 

 foodstuffs, as a precautionary measure, but in all of them 

 this has been followed by eftorts to stimulate and encourage 

 extended cultivation of food crops. 



In Trinidad there was formed, soon after the war began, 

 with the assistance of the Department of .Agriculture and the 

 Board of Agriculture, a Ground Provision Committee. This 

 consisted of voluntary workers, who made appeals and gave 

 suggestions to the agricultural community as to how every- 

 one might become not only a consumer but a pioducer of 

 food. The Government of Trinidad offered Crown lands 

 for cultivation in food crops at a very nominal rent, while 

 many of the large proprietors freely offered land for the 

 same purpose, some of them also instructing the managers 

 of their estates to plant many acres of provisions. 



The result has been that it is estimated that 12,000 

 acres are now in cultivation under rice, and 23,000 more 

 in other food crops, a total of 7'6 per cent, of the cultivated 

 area of the island. 



The neighbouring island of Tcbago, which was included 

 in the efforts made ny the Ground Provision Committee of 

 Trinidad shows remarkable results; it was able to export 

 to Trinidad in 1915 ground provisions worth £10,274. 



In Trinidad, the efforts of the committee noted above 

 had borne good fruit by the end of 1914; but so far as our 

 records go, there appears to have been little co ordina'ed 

 effort in other islands until May of the present year. 

 Although the agricultural officers had been exerting them- 



selves to induce activity on the part of planters, no general 

 response was made. From May, however, up to the present, 

 there has been much interest shown in all the islands, and 

 the result has been satisfactory. 



In Grenada the Agricultural and Commercial Society 

 started a campaign through the island, by holding meetings 

 to urge upon all occupiers of land the necessity of increas- 

 ini; the production of food crops. The Government, 

 through the Agricultural Department, gratuitously distri- 

 buted seed of various root crops together with seed corn to 

 peasant cultivators, while the larger landowners not only 

 arranged for provisions to be planted to quite a large extent 

 on their estates, but in very many cases granted lands at 

 a nominal rent to tenants who undertook to cultivate food 

 crops. One of the officers attached to the staff of the 

 Agricultural Department wa-s seconded for special duties as 

 Secretary of the committee conducting this campaign: and 

 by the formation of local committees in each parish, who 

 conducted meetings and distributed leaflecs on the subject, 

 popular enthusiasm, it may be said, has been aroused. By 

 the end of .June the area prepared for cultivation in food 

 crops had .so largely increased that it was difficult to 

 supply all the seed asked for, especially in root crops. This 

 however has been remedied, and at the end of August the 

 Secretary reports, as the result of four months' endeavours, 

 that the area planted in ground provisions constitutes 

 a record for Grenada, not only in extent, but also in the 

 careful preparation and good tillage of the land so planted. 

 In St. Vincent the peasant proprietors and land occupiers 

 had been for .■; nne years wisely devoting their attention to 

 the cultivation of food crops, especially corn, peas and beans. 

 The Agricultural Department with additional Government 

 assistance had also been instrumental in the storage of corn 

 to a considerable extent. The Agricultural Superintendent 

 has been directing public notice to the preparation of substi- 

 tutes for wheat flour in bread making. He has successfully 

 prepared meals from many locally grown foodstuffs, which 

 he has demonstrated can be blended in varj-ing proportions 

 with svheat flour for the production of wholesome and palatable 

 bread. That St. Vincent is able to produce a considerable 

 quantity of foodstuffs is shown by the fact that in the 

 financial year 1915 16 there were exports from the island of 

 corn and peas valued at more than £1,000. In May this 

 year, however, the Government considered it prudent to 

 prohibit any export of foodstuffs trom the island. The 

 Agricultural Department is continuing to advocate renewed 

 and increased energy in the cultivation of food crops 



In St. Lucia the situation up to March 1917 is 

 de.scribed in the report of the Agricultural Department ju.st 

 issued. In Xovember 1916 a Committee of the Agricultural 

 and Commercial Society was appointed to bring the question 

 to the notice of the Government The Government advanced 

 to the Agricultural Department £200, since increased to £350, 

 for the pnrpo.se of dealing with the question of increased 

 supply of locally produced foodstuffs. Posters were issued 

 and circular.-^ sent out asking for the co-operation of plan'ers 

 and others in the extension of the area planted in such crops 

 as cassava, sweet potatoes, corn, peas and beans. As cassava 

 was largely grown in the island already, and cassava meal is 

 a nutritious food much used by the people, in order to 

 extend its cultivation a factory for dealing with the root.s and 

 converting them into meal was erected at the Reunion 

 Experiment .Station, where also arrangements were made to 

 deal with sweet potatoes for the same purpose. The result 

 has been a large increase in the acreage under cassava. There 

 seems to be also greater interest taken in the cultivation o 

 other food crops. 



