Vol. XVI. No. 407. 



THE AGKICULTUEAL NEWS. 



381 



COTTON EXPORTS PROM THE| 

 WEST INDIES. 

 The following figures supplied by Mr. W. C Fishlock, 

 Curator, Virgin Islands, represent the quantity and estimated 

 value of cotton exported from these islands for the quarter 

 ended June 30, 1917, and omitted in the return published 

 in the Agricidtural News, Vol. XVI,'No. 402, p. 294:— 



Kind of cotton. Quantity, Estimated value, 



tt> 

 fSea Island 5,506 



a- Native 1.170' 



[Stains 460- 



b. Seed-cotton. 5,400 ft>. 

 Total 



7,136? 

 = !JM,3.50' 



8,486 



931 



a. — Cleaned lint shipped by the Government Factory, 

 b. — .Seed-cotton privately shipped, ijuality unknown. 



The quantity and estimated value of Sea Island cotton 

 exported from the West Indies for the quarter ended Septem- 

 ber 30, 1917, is as follows:— 



Besides the above there were also shipped from St. 

 Vincent 11,088 0). of Marie Galante seed-cotton, of an esti- 

 mated value of £115. 



Included in the above figures for Montserrat are 361 B). 

 of stains valued at Is. 6d per B). 



The following table gives the quantity and estimated 

 value of 8ea Island cotton exported from the West Indies 

 for the season October 1, 1916 to September 30. 1917: — 



Colony. 



Barbados 

 St. Vincent 

 Montserrat 

 Antigua 

 St. Kitts 

 Nevis 

 Anguilla 

 Virgin Islands 



Total 



Besides the above there were also exported from St. 

 Vincent 19,656 lb. of Marie Galante seed -cotton, of an esti- 

 mated value of £204. 



The estimated production of St. Vincent was 160,168 B)., 

 but a considerable quantity remained unshipped. 



From the Virgin Islands were also shipped 1,170 Bo. 

 native and 460 B). of stains, the estimated values of which 

 were £88, and £34, respectively. 



Owing to the lack of transport shipping facilities from 

 the West Indies, a large quantity of cotton of the 1916-17 

 crop still remained on hand up to September 30, 1917. 



A NEW GRASS IN THE WEST INDIES. 



There is some danger attached to the introduction of 

 new plants into any place where the conditions of soil and 

 climate give the new introductions a particularly favourable 

 environment. This is eminently so in the case of grasses, 

 which, either from spreading rhizomes, or because their seeds 

 are so constructed as to be easily distributed over wide areas, 

 either by the agency of the wind, or by means of animal 

 transportation, can soon overrun a considerable extent of 

 country. 



One of the most troublesome weeds to planters in many of 

 these West Indian islands is 'devil's grass' (Gynodon dartylon). 

 This grass, on account of its long creeping rhizomes, and its 

 extraordinary vitality, can hardly be exterminated when 

 once it has gained a footing in any field. It is a native of 

 India, and is there cultivated as an excellent forage grass, 

 which it is. Introduced from India, it is said, into the 

 Bahamas, it has spread through these West Indian islands 

 because it makes a fairly good lawn when mown and rolled, 

 and is well adapted to tropical conditions. Sugar planters 

 do not bless the introducer of this grass. In some of the 

 West Indian islands it is not too much to say that the cost 

 of cultivation would be lessened 25 per cent, if 'devil's 

 grass' was not in possession of the fields. 



The writer of this note has heard an old Antigua planter 

 say that had the agricultural fork not largely taken the pUice 

 of the hoe, sugarcane cultivation would have had to be 

 abandoned in that island on account of 'devil's grass'. By 

 forking it is possible to turn up the rhizomes of the grass, and 

 shake them out of the earth and burn them, thus exercising 

 an adequate control on their growth. Bryan Edwards also, 

 in his history of the West Indies, mentions an Antigua estate 

 as in danger of going out of cultivation on account of the 

 difficulty of controlling this grass. It is true, however, that 

 it affords excellent pasturage. 



The foregoing remarks have been instigated by 

 observing that quite recently a new grass has been introduced 

 into Barbados at least. Fortunately this seems to have 

 considerable value as a forage (irass, but so has Cynodoti 

 dactylon. This new grass is known to botanists as Tricko- 

 laeiM rosea. It is a native of South Africa. From thence it 

 has been spread into Brazil, and now into the West Indies, 

 at least into Cuba and Barbados. In Cuba it is known, 

 according to Hitchcock and Chase, the authors of 'Grasses 

 of the West Indies', as 'Natal' grass. In Brazil it is called 

 'Favorita'. This last name is not inappropriate, for the 

 grass is very beautiful. It grows about 2 feet high, and 

 produces a beautiful rosy-bronze inflorescence. A bed of it is 

 a striking object, and the flower spikes are very eflfective 

 among other flowers for table decoration. In Natal and in 

 Brazil it is cultivated as a good hay crop. Whether it will 

 prove of value in this particular in the West Indies remains 

 to be seen. It is certainly now acclimatized, and, as far as 

 the writer's observations have gone, it is capable of holding 

 its own among grasses of a similar habit, such as the Barbados 

 sonr grass (Andropogon perlusus). Grasses of forage value, 

 like this Tricholaena rosea, may be of benefit as giving a 

 mixture in forage or hay. Perhaps this grass which has 

 been introduced as an ornamental grass, in gardens, may 

 prove to be not only ornamental but useful. 



