12 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



January C, 1906. 



^■S^^r^^^^ 



GLEANINGS. 



According to the Consular Seporf, Zanzibar exported, 

 during 1904, hippopotanuis teeth to the vahic of £2,158, 

 F>oinbay being the principal market. 



Tlie Daihj Mail states that at the Royal Horticultural 

 Society's show of colonial fruit on December 5 and 6 

 'the West Indies were represented by ripe, yellow bananas, 

 oranges, and pine-apples.' 



The Trininad Royal Gdwffi' of December 21, announces 

 that tlie name of Professor P. C'arniody has been entered in 

 the Register of Patents as tlie proprietor of an invention for 

 the destruction of parasol ants and other pests. 



It appears from a note in the rort-of-Spain Gaseffe, of 

 December 20, that there is a prospect of a plant being erected 

 in Trinidad for the manufacture of chocolate and cacao 

 butter. 



According to the Foit-of-Spdiu Gazette, ' it seems 

 probable that the month of Decendier will be recorded as 

 a truly remarkable one, so far as cacao is concerned. Roughly 

 .speaking, we believe that last month's delivery was 7,000 

 ba£;s in excess of that of November 1901. 



It is stated in the Report on the Trinidad Rotanical 

 Department for 1904-.3 that the Litchee (^(jiheli'um Lttchi) 

 produces fruit occasionally in Trinidad. The trees .show no 

 regularity in fruit production, intervals of over fifteen years 

 between crops having been observed. 



In the same report it is mentioned that the mangosteen 

 also fruits at irregular intervals. The fruit produced in the 

 P)0tanic Gardens is of excellent quality, and there is a great 

 demand for young plants. It is hoped that some of the oldest 

 raised during recent years will soon reach the bearing stage. 



The total number of seeds and plants distributed 

 through the two Botanic Stations in the Gold Coast during 

 the year was 1-5,142 plants, 2,000 cacao pods, 8,-500 lb. of 

 cotton seed, 55,000 Para rubber seeds, and 942 packets of 

 .seeds (various). {Annual Eijiort for 1904.) 



The Secretary of State for the Colonies has inf('rmed 

 the Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture that the Hydro- 

 grai'hical Congress, which it was proposed to hold in 

 connexion with the Colonial Exhibition at JIarseilles next 

 year (see Aijrii-ultural JVeivs, Vol. IV, p. 39G), has been 

 postponed until 1907, when it will meet at Monaco. It is 

 still intended, however, that a section for ' Oceanography ' 

 shall be opened at the Jlarscilles Exhibition. 



The twenty-fourth annual sale of Government Farm 

 stock will be held at Valsayn, St. Joseph, Trinidad, on 

 Friday, January 12, 1906, commencing at 1.30 p.m. The 

 list comprises seventy-two head of pure and cross-bred 

 cattle, mules, Tamworth and other jiigs, poultry, ducks, 

 bronze turkeys, geese, etc. 



The Annual licpxjrt on Lagos for 1904 has the following : 

 ' Large numbers of kola trees have been planted during 

 recent years, some of which must be approaching maturity, 

 and it is only natural to e.xpeet that a considerable and very 

 profitable trade will result. At present the peo})le are almost 

 entirely dependent on imports for this article of food, which 

 is considered in many places to be practically a necessity.' 



An association has been recently formed in Trinidad 

 under the name of the 'Cocoa Planters' Association of 

 Trinidad.' All cacao jilanters have been invited to join the 

 association and co-operate in a movement for the common 

 good. The a.ssociation is not a trading concern ; its main 

 object will be to induce planters to join together to make 

 the best cacao they can. 



According to the Annual Report on St. A'inceut for 

 1904, 'A whale fishery which is a very material benefit to 

 the inhabitants of the St. Vincent Grenadines, is carried on 

 in those islands, notably Bequia and Canouan, but, unfortu- 

 nately, in 1904-5 it was somewhat of a failure, and the value 

 of whale oil exported was £437 only, as against £1,150 in 

 the previous year.' 



In their report of November 25, Messrs. G. P. Mitchell 

 it Sons, Ltd., of Halifax, N.S., say that they cannot impress 

 upon planters too strongly the great desirability of adopting 

 the central factory system, as crystals will always find 

 a ready sale, which is not the case with muscovado, the days 

 of which, they fear, are numbered. (H'e.^i India Committee 

 Circular.) 



The St. Lucia Official Gazette, of December IG, contains 

 a copy of a proclamation to the effect that, upon the 

 representations of the Inqierial Commissioner of Agriculture 

 it has been decided to prohibit the importation into St. Lucia 

 of any portion of the banana plant from Trinidad, where 

 a somewhat serious fungoid disease {Marasniius semiustus) 

 affecting banana plants is prevalent. Similar action has 

 been taken in Grenada, St. Vincent, and other islands. 



The Annual Rejiort on the Gold Coast for 191.14 has the 

 i'ollowing reference to the teaching of agriculture in the 

 elementary schools : ' At a large number of schools there 

 are plantations in which are grown cotton, cacao, arrowroot, 

 corn, rubber, as well as vegetables and flowers. The chief 

 ditiiculty is the want of trained instructors. A course of 

 instruction is now given to teachers at the Government 

 Botanical Gardens. Prizes are also offered to schools for the 

 best farm or plantation.' 



ISIr. Sebert Evelyn, of Clapham plantation, Barbados, 

 has drawn attention to a peculiarity in the arrangement of 

 the hands on the stem of the Cliinese or dwarf banana. He 

 has noticed that the eighth hand is exactly opposite the first 

 and suggests that this may be conveniently utilized in 

 checking the number of hands on a bunch. Possibly the 

 same arrangement is found in other varieties besides the 

 Chinese or dwarf banana. 



