Vol. XVI. No, 40S. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS 



389 



immigrant labour in the past has been for the maintenance 

 of the chief industries of the colonics, whereas the proposed 

 system which is to take the place of indentured imvjiigration, 

 would seem to relegate the requirements of the main 

 industries with respect to labour to a secondary position, 

 and to afford the planter no sufficient guarantee that 

 the labour for which he pays will be continuously at his 

 disposal. The immigrant will be virtually at liberty after 

 the expiration of his six months' probationary period to 

 move about where he likes, and to take his labour to any 

 othsr registered emplo3-er. These and other points which 

 may be urged against the scheme are entitled to careful 

 consideration. Hfiving regard, however, to the object with 

 which the scheme has been brought forward, there is no 

 reason for supposing that such considerations, important as 

 they are, present insurmountable difficulties in the way of 

 such modifications as may be found necessary to render the 

 scheme acceptable to the Governments and colonies con- 

 cerned, for the attainment of the end in question. 



The advantages to be derived by the colonies mentioned 

 from the .system of colonization foreshadowed in the scheme 

 from the view point of further development, are beyond all 

 question. Consequently it will not be too much to require 

 that such colonies should bear a fair proportion of the cost 

 of introduction. While it is true that in the past East Indian 

 labour has been as.sociated in the public mind almost wholly 

 with the maintenance of sugar cultivation, it is a fact that 

 other trades and industries have profited by the presence of 

 time-expired immigrants. Granted that tlie objections indica- 

 ted above are surmountable, and that the cost of introduc- 

 tion is brought within the available resources of the colony, 

 the possibility of an extension of the scheme to certain of the 

 smaller colonies in the West Indies might usefully be consid- 

 ered. There are in some of these smaller islands — Dominica 

 for example — extensive areas of forest land which could be 

 brought under economic cultivation given the necessiry 

 labour supply, but which remain unproductive and unremun- 

 erative owing to smallness of population and insufficient 

 labour. The paucity of labourers here, as in other colonies 

 too, has long been felt, and is a potent factor that has stood in 

 the way of the possible introduction of new industries, 

 and further and fuller development of existing industrial 

 pursuits. Under sucii a scheme as is outlined above, 

 with the modifications requisite to bring it within the 

 power of such colonies to avail themselves of the advan- 

 taoes to be derived therefrom, their future development 

 would only be a question of time. :The present generation 

 could not expect to reap direct advantage, but the bene- 

 fits would accrue gradually, and only be fully realized and 

 enjoyed by the future inhabitants. The scheme evidently 

 is one that should receive the attention of the West Indian 

 colonies as a whole, and particularly those whose future 

 development would appear to depend more or less on the 

 employment of imported labour, which might best be acconi- 

 plished through a system of colonization so modified as to 

 meet their requirements from the financial point of view. 



AGRICULTURE IN BARBADOS. 

 November was a very trying month for crops of 

 every kind. In some districts practically no riin has fallen 

 since the third day of that month. The present drought began 

 in the middle of October, so that the crops have experienced 

 .hard weather during two of the most critical months of 

 their existence. We hope thit December will be favourable: 

 for a great deal depends on the rainfall from the present 

 dale until the end of January next year. 



In spite of the dry weather, planters have continued 

 the planting of their young cane crop. Some estates in the 

 black soil have finished planting all their fields which were 

 to be put under B. 64.50. In the red soil a good deal of 

 planting has also been done, but the planting season in, 

 this part of the island will be continued right on to the end 

 of December. 



In consequence of the unfavourable weather which has 

 prevailed, planters are anticipating a low percentage of 

 germination. In the most favoured districts we learn that 

 the percentage will hardly exceed 6-5. As we have passed 

 fields in the drier districts of the island, we have observed 

 comparatively few holes grovcing as yet. 



This does not, however, mean that the plants are deid. 

 At least five weeks from the date of planting must elapse- 

 before it can be known what the result will be. Of this we 

 are assured, that thorough tillage, proper manuring, and the 

 general condition of the soil will play an important part at 

 this juncture. 



As was to be expected, the old cane crop has met with 

 a check in its development. There is still some moisture 

 in the fields but this has not been sufficient to hinder the 

 canes from feeding on themselves. In the case of the low 

 fieldy, a stunt may have been created which will permanently 

 affect them. In any case the prospect of a shortage next 

 year is much more apparent than at the date of our last 

 report. E.^cperience has shown that length of cane is not 

 a guarantee of a good average return, unless a sufficient 

 supply of food has been obtained from the soil during each 

 month of the life of the cane. A shortage in the boiling- 

 house or factory is always the result of a spell of dry weather 

 even after the canes have apparently pissed the worst. 

 There is not only a smaller amount of juice but what there is 

 is lacking in purity. No fields have yet turned brown, but 

 the borders of some fields would give the imoression that we 

 had already reached the closing days of February or the 

 early days of March. 



There are a few wind-mills in almost every parish en- 

 gaged in making early syrup. This is being manufactured 

 principally from the canes of peasants who have sold plants. 



In view of the high price of sugar in the local rairket at 

 the present time, the supply of even a moderate quantity of 

 syrup will be helpfu".. 



Potatoes are as plentiful as at the date of our last report, 

 while eddoes and yams are more easily obtained by house- 

 keepers. 



Both eddoes and yams are being sold at 3c. per ft. 

 while potatoes remain at 3s. per 100 ft Green peas 

 may be purchased at 4c. per pint, but this price canii^ 

 long be maintained, as the trees give promise of a satisfactory 

 crop. (Aff)icultwat Reporter, December 1, 1917.) 



It is not known whether the peanut, which is probably 

 a native of Brazil, was used by the aborigines as a source of 

 oil, but certainly, in a comparatively short time after the 

 early explorers carried this product of the Western World 

 back to Europe, its value as an oil material was recognized. 

 Peanut oil, or arachis oil as it is usually known abroad, may 

 be expressed from any of the many varieties of peanuts. That 

 this oil is one of the most important of the world's food oils, 

 is shown by the fact that over 120,000 metric tons of peanuts 

 in the shell, together with about 240,000 metric tons of 

 shelled nuts, are annually crushed in Marseilles alone, yield- 

 ing 15 500,000 gallons of edible oil. The press cake left as 

 a residue afcer crushing makes a hiijhiy desirable cattle feed. 

 (The learioo/.- of the United States Department of Agricul- 

 ture, 1916.) 



