Vol. XVI. No. 400. 



THE AGRICULTUEAL NEWS. 



271 



Everywhere the cultivation of the fields to be planted in 

 canes towards the close of the year is being pushed on as 

 rapidly as circumstances will permit. The c'arie shoots have 

 been practically cleared off, but, in many instances, labour 

 was insufficient to remove all the trash that planters meant 

 to stack up for raanurial purposes later on in the season 

 Male labour has been generally sufficient, but the number of 

 female workers has been inadequate. With a little encourage- 

 ment the men have also turned out on Saturdays, and it 

 surprises a passer-by to see how quickly a large field is 

 blackened when a good gang of men is at work. 



Some ploughing is being done but, owing to tht- fact 

 that a good deal of trash has of necessity been left on the 

 ground, forking after the cane holes have be-n opened is 

 more the order of the day than last year. The tillage of 

 some of the fields is most creditable, and in some cases, where 

 ■whole fields of trash have been buried by the opening of deep 

 cane holes, the mould gives the impression of having been 

 sieved over the surface. 



The Commissioners appointed under the Vegetable 

 Prodace Act, 1917, have issued a circular calling for a return 

 from every landowner of the provisions planted by him to 

 this date. Ataneirlier date a return was made stating 

 what would be planted: this return is now to show how 

 much of the contract has been fulfilled. We believe that, in 

 the ca.se of catch crops, the whole contract has been carried 

 out. 



An abundance of provision has been planted everywhere, 

 and our correspondent in St Lucy's parish states that what 

 has been planted in that parish could not look better. This 

 testimony can be applied to every parish, but in the red soil 

 neither Indian corn nor the potato makes the same rapid 

 progress as in the black. 



The corn crop is by no means as mature as at this time 

 last year. Some of this cereal is now sufficiently advanced 

 to be used as food, but very little has yet reached the stage 

 for harvesting. Potatoes will be abundant later on, and we 

 hear that in St. lames' parish this vegetable is already being 

 retailed at (J lb. for 10c. There will, however, hardly 

 be any material change in price until about October. The 

 yam crop also is much more backward than at this season 

 last year. Very few fiekls have as yet developed the 

 second spire. The crop is, however, healthy and it has not 

 suffered as it did in some districts during July last year. 

 As mentioned in a pievious leport, very few eddoes, 

 comparatively speaking, are to be seen, nor has the prepar- 

 ation for this vegetable received very careful attention, 

 (Agricultural Jieporter, August 11, 1917.) 



AGRICULTURAL COMMISSION IN 

 BRITISH HONDURAS. 



The Agricultural Commission, recently appointed in 

 British Honduras with a view of ascertaining the causes of 

 the present scarcity of foodstuffs produced in that Colony; 

 and, if possible, to suggest means whereby the scarcity cm 

 be met by an increased production of home-grown provisions, 

 have issued a series of seventy-three questions to planters 

 and others, asking for information on different points in 

 connexion with the object of the Commisjion. Aiuoag the 

 questions are: — 



44. In the island of St. Vincent there have been 

 established by law associations on what is known as the 

 Haiffeisen system. The pUn of this system is for ten or more 

 planters who want to borrow, to form themselves into a society, 

 and on being registered they are able to borrow, from the 



Government sums of money. The society as a whole, and 

 each individual member pledges itself and himself to repay 

 the amount borrowed at a given date. The Governments 

 deals only with the society, and the society with the individ- 

 ual member. Loans to members are either repayable by 

 monthly instalments or at the end of a period not exceeding 

 one year, the underlying principle being mutual co-oper- 

 ation and mutual liability, e ich member being liable for the 

 debt of the other. Would such a scheme be workable ia 

 this Colony? 



45. In the island of Jamaica there has been established 

 a Land Loan Bank, which makes small loans to planters 

 for periods of three, six, nine, and twelve months, on their 

 personal notes backed by two responsible parties. It is 

 understood that such loans are to be used solely for purposes 

 connected with their holdings, and both borrower and backers 

 are warned that if the note is not paid at maturity together 

 with the interest at a low rate, it will be sued for. The 

 experience of this bank has been that it has made no losses, 

 and pays its shaVeholders 7 per cent, per annum. Do you 

 think that the establishment of such a bank, either as aa 

 alternative to the Raiffeisen .system or in addition thereto, 

 would be successful! 



STANDARDS FOR FOODS. 



In the Trinidad Rot/al Gazette, Vol. 86, No. 26, ii 

 published an Order proclaimed on July 10, 1915, under 

 section 3 of Ordinance No. 44 of 1916 to regulate the 

 standards for certain articles of food, and these standards, 

 which are worthy of the consideration of other West Indian 

 islands, are: — 



MILK Any substance sold as milk shall contain not 

 less than three per cent, of milk fat, and not less than eight 

 and a half per cent, of solids not fat. 



BUTTEK. (a) Any substance sold as butter in tins not 

 exceeding five pounds avoirdupois in weight shall contaia 

 not less than eighty per cent, of butter fat and shall be free 

 from any admixture of other fat. (b) Any substance sold as 

 butter in or from larger packages than five pounds avoirdu- 

 pois shall contain not less than seventy-two per cent, of 

 butter fat and not more than sixteen per cent, of water nor 

 twelve per cent, of .salt and shall be free from admixture of 

 other fat. (c) Any substance consisting of butter but sold 

 as cooking butoer, cooking grease or under any other name 

 than 'butter' shall contain not less than seventy-five per cent, 

 of butter fat. 



GHEE. Any substance sold as Ghee shall contain not 

 less than ninety-eight per cent, of butter fat without any 

 admixture of other fat. 



M.\EGAEIXE. Any substance sold as margarine or as 

 a substitute for butter shall contain not less than eighty 

 per cent, of fats. 



L.4.RD AND LAED .SUBSTITUTES, (a) Any substance 

 sold as lard shall consist of the fat of the hog without any 

 admixture of other fat or of extrane 'Us matter, and shall 

 contain not more than one per cent, of water, (b) Any sub- 

 stance sold under the name 'Lard Substitute,' 'Imitatioa 

 Lard,' 'Compound Lard,' or under any other name as 

 a substitute for lard shall contain not less than ninety-eight 

 per cent, of fat. 



VINEGAR AND WOOD viNEG-AE. (a) Any substance 

 sold as vinegar shall contain not less than four per cent, of 

 acid produced by acetous fermentation and shall not contaia 

 an}' mineral acid or any acid obtained from the distillation 

 of wood or from the oxidation of distilled spirit, (b) Any 

 substance sold as 'wood vinegar' shall contain not less thaa 

 four per cent, of acetic acid. 



