Vol V. No. 102. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



8» 



West India Committee Circular. 



The ire.si India Committee Circidar is now 

 registered at the General Post Office, London, and is 

 published weekly, instead of fortnightly, each issue 

 being in a cover. Readers of this interesting publi- 

 cation will gladi}- welcome this change. 



West Indian Cotton Industry. 



A comparison of a summary of the cotton indnstr\' 

 in the West Indies for the year 1904 with a correspond- 

 ing summary for the 3'ear 190.5 shows that, from an 

 output of 695,981 lb. of lint in 1904, the industry 

 increased by nearly 62 per cent., or to an output of 

 1,122,800 11). of lint in 190.5. The value of the products 

 (in lint and seed) increased from £30,0.56 in the 

 former 3'ear, to £63,291 in the latter, an increase of 

 about 110 per cent. 



It is interesting to note that the total value of 

 the cotton industrj- in the West Indies for the last two 

 years has reached £100,000. As probablj' between 

 60 and 80 per cent, of the cost of raising cotton, 

 (depending on the locality) is distributed in wages, it 

 would appear that the cotton industry is a valuable 

 means of improving the condition of the labouring 

 population, especially in the smaller islands. 



The Mosquito Ordinance of British Honduras. 



The Government of British Honduras has recently 

 brought forward a bill ' to secure the destruction of 

 mosquitos in order to prevent the spread of disease.' 

 The following are some of its chief provisions, as noted 

 in the Demerara Daily Chronicle in its issue of 

 February 13, 1906 :— 



The bill proposes the appointment of the Colonial 

 Surgeon, the Superintendent of Police, the Colonial Engineer 

 and other officials, as competent authority to carry out the 

 provisions of the ordinance. This authoiit}', it is contem- 

 plated, will have power to order owners and occupiers of 

 property to take measures for protecting from mosquitos, 

 water-vats and other receptacles ' in which water is stored for 

 a period of longer than one week.' Under the ])ro visions of 

 the ordinance, water containers must be screened with 

 netting, and owners and tenants of land and premises ' on 

 which there is any water in ponds, pools or basins, or in any 

 depressions or e.xcavations made for any jmrpose, or which by 

 any means have occurred, shall, within forty-eight hours of 

 service of a notice, protect the same from mosquitos.' This 

 protection may he .secured by stocking the jjools with 

 moscjuito-destroying fish, by covering them with netting, or 

 by draining at least once weekly. The ordinance also makes 

 provision for the i-emoval of ' all old receptacles such as jars, 

 broken crockery, condensed milk tins, and other rubbish,' and 

 owners of doreys and boats must keep them free of water. 

 The officers appointed will be at liberty to enter premises 

 without notice, and to treat with oil, cisterns improperly 

 screened, in order to prevent the breeding of mosquitos, and 

 owners or occupiers failing to comply with the terms of the 

 ordinance, will be liable to a fine of 850'00, w.th the 

 alternative of three months' imprisonment. 



Cotton Seed for Planting in 1906. 



Last year, the Imperial Dejjartment of Agriculture 

 undertook to supply specially selected and disinfected 

 cotton seed obtained iiom well-grown, healthy plants 

 that had yielded first class cotton. 



The results of the action thus taken are shown in 

 the high character of the lint produced this 3'ear, and 

 the generally favourable prospects of the industry'. 

 The first shipments from Barbados in 1906 have 

 already realized 16'/. to 16i'/. per lb., while a small ship- 

 ment from St. Vincent has realized I7d. per lb. 



In order to continue to afford assistance to cotton 

 growers in regard to one of the most important matters 

 connected with the success of the industry, the Imperial 

 Department of Agriculture is prepared to supply 

 specially selected and di.sinfected cotton seed for 

 planting daring the months of May to August, ne.xt, 

 at the rate of five cents i2i(/.) per lb. Applications for 

 such seed should be forwarded to the Chief Agri- 

 cultural Officers in each island as follows: For Antigua 

 and Montserrat, to the Hon. Francis Watts, C.M.G.: for 

 St. Kitt's, Nevis, and Anguilla, to Mr. F. K Shepherd ; 

 for Barbados, to Mr. J. R. Bovell, F.L.S., F.C.S. : for 

 St. Vincent, to Mr. W. N. Sands. Applications from 

 Jamaica, British Guiana, Trinidad and other colonies 

 not mentioned above, should be forwarded direct to the 

 Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture, Head Office,^ 

 Barbados. All applications will be dealt with in the 

 order in which the}' are received. 



^ I ^1 



Plants in Bermuda. 



In an article entitled 'Bermuda in September,' 

 which appeared in the Journal of the New York 

 Botanical Garden for October, 1905, Dr. N. L. Britton 

 writes interestingly of his visit to these islands, for the 

 purpose of making some study of the land flora of the 

 Archipelago, and its relationship to the flora of the 

 West Indies, and of the Southern States ; and of 

 obtaining specimens and plants to illustrate it in the 

 collections of the Xew York Botanical Garden. 



Of the land flora occurring in the wild condi- 

 tion, exclusive of fungi, lichens and algae, there are 

 about 280 species. The distribution of this flora is 

 almost whollj' West Indian and Floridian, thus indicat- 

 ing that it has been mainly derived from the south 

 and south-west through natural agencies for the trans- 

 port of seeds or fruits, such as migratory birds, oceaa 

 currents, and hurricane winds. 



The rarest trees of the islands are the olive wood 

 (Elaeodendron sp.); the yellow wood (Fagara jiava) ^ 

 nettle tree {Celtis sp.) ; and the wild mulbury 

 (Morus sp.). Of the exotic plants, there is a very 

 great variet}' of species from tropical and subtropical 

 lands. 



Experimental gardens have recently been estab- 

 lished under the supervision of Mr. T. J. Harris, 

 formerly of the Department of Public Gardens and 

 Plantations of Jamaica, and it is e.xpected that, with his 

 wide experience and critical knowledge of tropical 

 agriculture and horticidture, the exportable products of 

 the islands — potatos, onions, lily bulbs and arrowroot- 

 will be improved, and their cultivation made more; 

 successful. 



