Tol. V. No. 98. 



THE AGR[CULTUKAL NEWS. 



21 



PUNGOID DISEASE OF THE BANANA. 



The followiiio; information in regard to a fungoid 

 disease of the banana is extracted from an article in 

 the Trinidad Bulletin of 2Iiscellaiie<nit^ Ivfornudlon, 

 for January 1904, on the cultivation of bananas : — 



Where the disease caused by a fungus known as 

 J/arasmius semiustus is prevalent, the cultivation of bananas 

 becomes a very difficult matter, and good bunches are 

 seldom produced. In such cases, it is better to refrain 

 from attempting the cultivation than to run the risk of 

 ■decimation by disease. In some districts this disease is 

 found to do a large amount of damage, while in others its 

 -action is not sufficient to be taken into account. This is 

 possibly due to the character of the soil, for it is a noticeable 

 fact that bananas suffer but little from this cause on rich 

 soil, while on poor and gravelly lands they suffer very 

 severely and bunches suitable for export can seldom be 

 obtained. It is important that planters should always 

 procure plants from lands not infected by disease, as there 

 is little doubt that it can be carried from place to place by 

 means of suckers from an infected area. There are large 

 tracts of land in Trinidad, where the disease is practically 

 unknown, which already produce fruit in quantity. In 

 vuisuitable soils in dry districts the fruit is inferior principally 

 from this cause. 



FRUITING OF BANANAS. 



The matter of timing the fruiting of bananas so as 

 to get the fruit in during^ the period of highest prices 

 is of the utmost importance to growers. The following 

 is extracted from an article on this subject in the 

 ■Journal of the Jamaica Agricultaral Socicti/, for 

 December 1905: — 



The price of bananas is a very important one to us. 

 It varies according to the demand for bananas in northern 

 markets, and, unlike many other crojis, the prices remain year 

 after year remarkably uniform during the same months of 

 the year. From the beginning of March until the end of 

 June (four months) the prices are substantial and pay 

 handsomely. It has been the object of the most advanced 

 banana growers so to conduct their cultivation as to get as 

 many bunches as possible marketed in these months. On 

 many plantations the bulk of the fruit is brought in and 

 sold within that jieriod; but by far the most of the banana 

 trees growing in Jamaica fruit in the four months following 

 these, July to October, because this is the natural season for 

 them to fruit if left to themselves. No man, however, should 

 be called an agriculturist who does not try to cultivate his 

 crops and so manage them that he gets his crops in when the 

 market most wants the product. It should therefore be the 

 business of every banana grower to study the science and 

 practice of banana growing. He can learn this partly from 

 his own observations of his plants, by studying the results 

 from his soil and locality, from whatever any successful 

 neighbour does, or from study of the agricultural publications 

 where the subject is dealt with. 



We know no more important sul:>ject, among nianj' 

 subjects of importance to us at the present time, than this 

 timing of bananas, and yet, strange to say, it has been one of 

 the most neglected, probably, we think, because few have 

 realized until lately, when competition became so severe, the 

 full importance of timing bananas. Even after this was 

 realized, the proper system of working bananas to fruit in 

 the spring has not been understood. The length of time that 

 ratooning bananas take to mature has never been closely 

 •observed until lately. 



AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRIES OF 



GRENADA. 



The following is extracted from the Annual 

 Report on the colony of Grenada for the year 1904 : — 



The staple products of the colony are cacao, spices 

 (chiefly nutmegs), and cotton. There is a certain amount of 

 sugar-cane and coffee cultivated for local consumption and 

 a small quantity of kola nuts (value about X300 per annum) 

 for export. 



A record has been kept of the cacao crops for the years 

 ending September 30, since 1878, and the average crops for 

 quinquennial periods from 1880 to 1901, inclusive, are given 

 below : — • 



The bag averages 180 lb. 



The crop for the year under review was the largest on 

 record, viz., 67,225 bags, exceeding that of the previous year 

 by 4,206, and the five years' average by 7,561 bags. 



SPICES. 



Owing to the absence of uniformity in the packages in 

 which spices are shipped, a comparison by crops is not so 

 easy as in the case of cacao, so the figures, by weight, of the 

 quantities exported are resorted to for comparison : — 



Average for five years ended December 31, 1901 

 Exported in 1902 (Nutmegs 5,999 cwt.) 

 „ „ 1903 ( „ 6,911 „ ) 

 „ „ 1901 ( „ 5,900 „ ) 



Cwt. 



1,624 

 6,839 

 7,959 

 6,915 



The output of 1901 was, therefore, about 1,000 cwt. 

 less that in the preceding year, a result which is doubtless 

 attributable to the irregular incidence of the rainfall in the 

 year under notice. 



OINTMENTS FOR THE TROPICS. 



The following suggestion has been offered by the 

 Barbados Branch of the British Medical Association in 

 regard to the preparation of ointments for use in the 

 tropics : — 



As lard, almond oil, and spermaceti soon become rancid 

 in tropical climates, the Branch would advise their exclusion 

 in the preparation of ointments, and the substitution, where 

 possible, of soft paraffin with 10 per cent, hard paraffin pv 

 purified lanolin. In the case of citrine ointment, white 

 paraffin is required. 



