Vol. V. No. 9/ 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 



Papers to hand from England by last mail contain 

 the announcement of the retirement of Sir W. T. 

 Thiselton-Dyer, K.C.M.G., CLE., F.R.S., from the 

 Directorship of the Ro\'al Gardens, Kew. Sir William 

 has held that appointment since 1885 and for ten years 

 before his promotion he was Assistant Director under 

 Sir Joseph Hooker, G.C.S.I., C.B., F.R.S. 



The new Director of Kew is Lieutenant-Colonel 

 David Prain, M.B., LL.D., of the Indian ^Medical Service, 

 Director of the Botanical Survey of India. 



Norbrook Nurseries, Jamaica. 



A list of plants and seeds for sale at the nurseries 

 and gardens of Norbrook plantation, Constant Spring, 

 Jamaica, has been issued by the proprietor (George 

 Loutrel Lucas). Everything sent out from the 

 nurseries is guaranteed ' to be true to name, free of 

 insect pests, and healthy.' 



Plants in large quantities are carefully crated and 

 delivered on board steamer, purchaser to pay freight 

 which must accompany all orders. At least si.x 

 months' notice must be given when large quantities 

 of such plants as coffee, cacao, nutmegs, cocoa-nuts, 

 etc., are required. 



As the proprietor of Norbrook has for some years 

 been a successful grower of pine-apples, interest 

 attaches to the following list of varieties of this plant, 

 suckers and slips of which are always available : 

 Abbaka, Black Jamaica, Curacoa, Egyptian Queen, 

 Red Spanish, Green Riplej', Red Ripley, Sam Clark 

 •or Ruby, Smooth Cayenne, Sugar Loaf, and others. 



■Castilloa Rubber in Jamaica. 



The Jamaica Daily Tdegraph, of December 13, 

 •contains two interesting letters on the growing of 

 Castilloa elastica in Jamaica. 



The first letter, from the pen of the Hon. Wm. 

 Fawcett, reviews briefly the discussion which took 

 place at the last West Indian Agricultural Conference 

 •on rubber cultivation in the West Indies. On that 

 occasion Mr. Fawcett pointed out that in Jamaica, in 

 three different localities, none of which could be 

 considered moist situations, Castilloa grew without 

 any shade. At Hope Gardens, with a rainfjill of 

 53 inches, Castilloa trees were planted: some in good 

 soil under guango trees (Pithecoiobium Sanum), some 

 near by so as to get a certain amount of their shade, 

 and some in poor, very dry soil, without shade. The 

 shade was flital. Those planted in the poor, dry soil 

 without shade have demonstrated what a hardy tree 

 the Castilloa is. The experiments further show that, 

 even with a small rainfall, Castilloa will thrive 

 wonderfully if irrigation is available or if the soil 

 water is near the surface. 



Mr. Joseph Shore also relates his experiences with 

 Castilloa trees at Cinnamon Hill, near Montego Bay, 

 with an average rainfall of 34i inches. He says: 



'I have seen no plant that can stand a dry climate on 

 a light soil better than the Castilloa.' Some trees were 

 planted under shade of the guango, others in the open. 

 The former did not thrive at all, and the shade was 

 removed, whereupon they started a vigorous growth. 

 A few hundred more trees were planted last year, and 

 all are doing well in the open, on light soil, in 

 a district with only 40 inches annual rainf;ill. 



Agriculture in Lagos. 



It is stated in the Annual Report on Lagos for 

 1904 that the value of the exports of palm kernels 

 was £113,000 more than in 1903. The exports of 

 palm oil were practically unchanged. 



In regard to other products, there were striking 

 increases in the exports of maize, cacao, cotton, and 

 rubber. It is regarded as very desirable that the 

 colony should not be entirel}' dependent upon the palm 

 tree, and the extension of the trade in other products 

 is therefore very gratif\-ing. 



The efforts of the British Cotton-growing Associa- 

 tion to extend the cotton industry, which have met 

 with a certain amount of success, are assured of the 

 hearty support of the Government. The value of the 

 ginned cotton exported during 1904 was £12,.S30. 



Attention is drawn in the report to the shea tree 

 {Bidyrospermiim Parkli) as an indigenous product, at 

 present almost neglected, from which substantial 

 benefit might be derived in the future. It is also 

 pointed out that there are good jDrospects in the 

 planting up of kola trees for the produce of which 

 there is a large local demand, the value of the kola 

 nuts imported during the year being £40,000. 



Agriculture in the Gold Coast. 



Reference to the tables of exports in the Annual 

 Report on the Gold Coast for 1904 shows that rubber 

 is the most valuable agricultural product of the colon3^ 

 A gradual increase has been maintained in this product 

 since 1901. The quantity exported during 1904 was 

 4,013,837 lb., of the value of £360,044. The Para 

 rubber tree ap)3ears to be the most satisfactory rubber- 

 producing plant to cultivate in the Gold Coast, and 

 steps are being taken to procure further supplies of 

 seed from Ceylon and the Straits Settlements. 



The export of cacao, both in quantity and value, 

 was more than doubled during the j-ear. The cultiva- 

 tion of this product has now been taken up in practi- 

 cally every district of the colony. 



The trade in kola nuts has shown a steady 

 improvement since 1902, the total value exported in 

 1904 being £.54,763. 



The further decrease in the output of palm oil 

 and palm kernels is attributed to the exceptionally 

 small rainfall, and partially to the substitution of cacao 

 on some of the plantations. 



The outlook in connexion with the cotton-growing 

 industry is promising in the Eastern Province, where 

 the area cultivated has increased from 200 to 2,000 

 acres in the last two years. 



