Vol,. XVI. No. 409. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



411 



HINTS FOR IMPROVING THE PRODUC- 

 TION OF CACAO FIELDS. 



A leaflet recently issued by the Department of Agricul- 

 ture, Surinam, gives some very practical hints as to the 

 possibility of planters gradually increasing the yield of cacao 

 from their plantations, without resorting to any drastic 

 measures such as would materially lessen the crops obtained 

 at present. 



It is ."iuggested that the trees on an area, not too 

 large to be carefully superintended, should be num- 

 bered, and that the pods borne by each tree be counted 

 and recorded separately for at least a year, taking three 

 counts: the first count being of the pods produced in 

 April or May, which give the chief crop, the second count 

 being of those produced in October or November of the" 

 same year, and the third of those produced in April or May 

 of the following year. From these recorded counts it 

 would be possible fairly to classify the numbered trees, 

 according to the amount of pods borne, into three 

 classes— good, moderate, and bad. The trees registered as 

 bad should then be marked plainly, say, by a ring of white- 

 wash round their trunks, and suckers should be allowed to 

 develop from the marked trees. These suckers, as soon as 

 possible, should be grafted on with scions of an approved 

 'good' tree, and the original 'bad' ones should be cut down. 

 As to the 'moderate' class, the suggestion is to keep them 

 under observation for a further period, and then select the 

 worst of these and proceed in the same way with them as 

 that in which the 'bad' were dealt with, and so gradually 

 eliminate all but the 'good'. In this way, after a few years 

 a cacao planter would have his orchard completely slocked 

 with trees of an approved productiveness. 



Grafted Mangoes in East Africa.— The 



improvement of the mango has long been considered 

 desirable by the Agricultural Department of British East 

 Africa, but the difficulty has been the obtaining of grafted 

 plants of choice varieties. The Annual Report of the 1 )epart- 

 ment, 1915-16, states that this difficulty has been overcome 

 by the safe arrival, in November 1915, of a Wardian case con- 

 taining nine grafted plants of the choice varieties, 'Mango 

 • Julie' and 'Pere Louis', shipped from the Botanic Station in 

 Dominica, at the request of the Imperial Commissioner of 

 Agriculture for the West Indies No time was lost in 

 planting them, and seven of them are doing well. Stocks for 

 grafting purposes, which operation will be carried out as soon 

 as possible, have been raised from seeds of local varieties 



VETERINARY REPORT FROM 



ANTIGUA. 



The report on the general health of the stock in Aniigua 

 -for the year ended March 31, 1917, by the Ciovernment 

 inspector of Animals, Mr. H. Goodwin, VS., has been 

 recently forwarded by the Acting Governor of Antigua to 

 the Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture for the West Indies, 

 for his information. 



There are several points worth noting in this report of 

 a year which was a comparatively healthy one among 

 animals in Antigua. 



Epizootic lymphangitis, which has often been the cause 

 of much trouble to the owners of horses, mules, and donkeys 

 in that island, seems to have been held in check during the 

 year reported on. Mr. Goodwin finds that mules and 

 donkeys suffer more frequently than horses from this con- 

 tagious disease, and he attributes this chiefly to the herding 



together of mules, and to the unclean condition in which 

 harness is often kept. Mr. Goodwin appears to attach little 

 importance to flies as carriers of infection of this disease, but 

 Lieutenant Saunders., M.R.C.V.S , points out in the West 

 Indian Bulletin, Vol. XIV, p. 168, that 'flies are undoubtedly 

 often concerned mechanically in the transmission of the 

 disease.' The plan of segregating diseased animals is one 

 doubtless to be recommended. 



Tetanus is reported to have been rather prevalent, but 

 the use of anti-tetanic serum has had an appreciable effect in 

 lowering the mortality from this cause. 



A wide-spread epidemic of strangles among horses and 

 mules was traced to the importation of a cargo of mules 

 from America, several of which developed the disease in 

 a severe type. Generally speaking, however, the disease 

 manifested itself in Antigua under a mild form, and caused 

 but few deaths among the animals affected. 



Mr. Goodwin rightly insists on the supreme importance 

 of clean pasturage and pure water, if the animals on estates 

 are to be kept healthy. 



It is not a good thing for the prosperity of the island, as 

 regards food supplies, as Mr. Goodwin points out, that there 

 should be a noticeable diminution in the number of sheep 

 and goats reared both on the larger properties and by the 

 labourers on small holdings. It is hoped that this is only 

 a temporary state of affairs. 



An outbreak of swine fever or hog cholera was noticed 

 in November 1916. This was traced to the importation of 

 two .sows from America at the end of October. They had 

 both been guaranteed healthy, and purchased frotn places 

 where hog cholera did not exist. On the voyage from 

 America they were kept and fed together, and on landing 

 they appeared perfectly well, yet one died from this virulent 

 disease a week after landing. The other has remained 

 perfectly well, and has given birth to a litter of pigs. Soon 

 after the death of the one, other pigs on the estate to which 

 she had been sent began to .sicken and die. In spite of 

 Mr. Goodwin's suggested precautions, the disease spread 

 widely, as he was un.ible to prevent the movement of pigs 

 from an infected to a he^lthy district. 



In connexion with the immunity of the one sow, it 

 would be interesting to discover whether before shipment 

 this animal had been treated by the complete inoculation 

 described in Fanner.? Bulletin, So4 of the United States 

 Department of Agriculture, referred to in No. 407 of this 

 .lournal. 



An annual review of this nature on the conditions 

 affecting farm animals is calculated to be most useful, and 

 stock owners will be well advised if they regularly inform 

 themselves of the conditions prevailing in their districts, 

 and take steps to remedy defects. 



The Field for October 27, 1917, states that, to general 

 surprise, Fei/oa Sellowiana, or as it is commonly known, 

 pine-apple guava, has proved to be quite hardy in the 

 warmer parts of England. Although it flowers very freely, 

 it has not produced fruit. Sull it has decided claims to 

 favour in the elegance and colour of its large myrtle-like 

 dowers. These are about 2 inches across, with white sepals, 

 blood-red petals in-side, and a bloodred brush like cluster of 

 stamens. When in flower the plant is truly handsome. The 

 fruit, which is not unlike the guava in size and flavour, is 

 egg shaped and about 2 inches long, with a thin, green skin, 

 and juicy aromatic flesh, in which flat, kidney shaped, hard 

 seeds are embedded. The plant is a native of Brazil, but 

 has been introduced into many other tropical countries. 

 Specimens of it introduced into the Botanic Gardens in 

 Dominica in 1912 had made fair growth by 1915. 



