76 



THE AGUICULTUKAL NEWS. 



March 3, 190G.- 



GLEANINGS. 



It i.s proposed, says the International Sugar Journal 

 for January 1906, to establish a sugar market at Havre 

 which would facilitate sugar exports to England. 



The same journal has the following note on ]i. 40 : 

 'The year 1904-5 has been a memorable one in the history 

 of British Guiana, in that its sugar crop was reaped and sold 

 for the first time free from the unfair competition of bounty- 

 fed beet sugar.' 



In the Cotton Trade Journal of January 20, IDOG, the 

 Manchester correspondent of that newspaper states : ' Some 

 excellent cotton has been received from Barbados and other 

 West Indian Islands, and if the C|uality can be maintained, 

 this may develop into an important source of sujiply.' 



Under the head of agriculture, in the St. Lucia JUue- 

 hooT; for 1904-, it is stated that there are now three fairly 

 large apiaries producing, chiefly, extracted honey, besides 

 small ones of three or four hives each. The cultivation of 

 cacao continues to be extended and in)pro\ed, but that of 

 cotton is only in the experimental stage. 



It is stated in the Te.rtih- Mercury of January 27, 190G, 

 that a meeting of the North Carolina section of the Soutliern 

 Cotton A.ssociatiou was recently held at Raleigh, when it was 

 decided to make every effort to keep the acreage of cotton 

 planted in North Carolina during 1906 down to" that of the 

 crop of 190.J. It was also advised to build more ware- 

 houses for the storage of cotton. 



The Aiimtal Report on British Guiana for the year 

 1901-5 contains the following in regard to plantains and 

 bananas : '17,720 acres are occupied by these crops, practically 

 the whole production being consumed locally. As good 

 bananas can be grown in British Guiana as in any other part 

 of the world, and if some strong organizing spirit could be 

 found to deal with the question of freight, there seems to be no 

 reason whatever why the colony should not oecuiij- a leading 

 position in the supply of this commodity.' 



The Government of Brazil has decreed a prize of 

 *30,000 (£2,125) for anyone who exhibits 100,000 Manicoba 

 rubber trees (Hancornia speciosa) within eighteen months from 

 December, the date of the announcement ; and three other 

 prizes of .§15,000 (£1,062), 5'10,000 (£708), and $.5,000 

 (£354), respectively, for the three next largest plantations, 

 the smallest of which, in order to gain a prize, must not be 

 of less than 10,000 trees. It appears that, not to speak of the 

 value of the rubber, the coffee trees benefit greatly by the 

 .shade afforded by the rubber trees. (West Imlla Coini/iitlee 

 Circular, January 19, 1900.) 



In the last issue of the West India Committee 

 Circular a fine illustration is given of the cane rakes in use 

 at the Usine St. Madeleine, Trinidad. As nearly as we can 

 judge from the cut, this is a rake of the Bodley-Mallon type 

 which has been so successful generally in Louisiana and in 

 some of the British West Indies. (Louisiana Planter and 

 Sugar Manufacturer, January 20, 190G.) 



Over 5,140 acres are returned as being occupied by 

 cocoa-nut palms. The export of cocoa-nuts amounted to 

 581,334 nuts, valued at £1,728, as compared with 40,829 

 nuts, valued at £131 in the previous year. The impetus 

 lately given to the planting of cocoa-nuts is still working, 

 and a considerable extension of the area under cultivation 

 may be looked for in the near future. {Annual Report on 

 British Guiana, 1904-5.) 



A photograph of the white variety of Petrea voluhilis 

 appears in the Gardeners' Chronicle for January 13 last. 

 The photograph was taken in the garden of Newcastle 

 plantation, Barbados, and shows the 'White Wreath' as 

 a most attractive and beautiful object. There also appears 

 in the same periodical an illustration of the purple form of 

 this Petrea fiom a specimen grown in the garden of Sir Trevor 

 Lawrence, Bart., at Dorking, Surrey. 



In an interesting paper read before the Paris Academy 

 of Sciences, M. Gaston describes some experiments that have 

 been carried out in an endeavour to discover the relations 

 lietween bees and colour. The author's experiments show 

 that bees are not influenced by colour in their search for 

 honey, and the contradictory experiments of previous 

 observers are said to be due to a lack of knowledge of the 

 habits of bees. 



In the West Indies, says a Press Association telegram 

 from Barbados, considerable interest is being shown by cotton 

 planters in the ratooning question, as it has begun to be felt 

 that in the long run ratooning must eventually have 

 a detrimental effect on the quality and, consequently, on the- 

 relative value of the product, and as it is to the advantage 

 of the island generally that only the verj- best cotton should 

 be grown and ship^ied, every etl'ort will be made to bring 

 about a cessation of the practice. {Textile Mercury, January 

 27, 1900.) 



A Jamaica correspondent states that arrangements are 

 being made for the establishment, near Port Maria, of 

 a banana fibre factory. It appiears that a company has been 

 formed at Boston, LT.S.A., to manufacture paper and rope 

 from the fibre, and experiments conducted in America are said 

 to have shown that rope equal to the best manila, and jiaper 

 of excellent quality, can be made cheaply from this hitherto 

 neglected by-jiroduct of the fruit industry. A banana fibre 

 rope, 1 mile in length, tested at the I'nited States Navy 

 Yard, was found superior to manila rope in tensile strength. 

 {Textile Mercury, February 3, 190G.) 



The following appears as a 'Colonial Note' in the 

 Gardeners' Chronicle for January 13, last : 'Mr. W. E. 

 Broadway, the late Curator of the Botanic Station in 

 Grenada, has started a large nursery of economic and 

 ornamental plants, and is prepared to accept orders for 

 strong, healthy plants to be delivered early in 1906. Among 

 his list of economic plants we note the grafted Ceylon mango, 

 which is generally recognized as the best of the imported 

 mangos. We hope Mr. Broadway will be successful in his 

 venture.' 



