58 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



January 20, 1906. 



The exiwrts of sugar from Britisli Guiana for the year 

 will amount to, approximately, 113,000 tons. The quantity 

 of sugar on hand unshipiied at date is less by about 7,000 

 tons than the quantity on hand on December 31 la.st year. 

 The exports for the previous three years were: 1904, 

 108,137 tons; 1903, 132,916 tons; 1902, 121,230 tons. 

 [Deinerara Argusy, December 30, 190.J.) 



GLEANINGS. 



The Port-of-Spain Gazette, of December 30, states : 

 ■' From general inquiries we gather that this is the heaviest 

 jear for cacao export that has been known for a long time. 

 Apart from quantity, the quality, too, is exceptional.' 



The following items occur in the list in the Annital 

 Report for 1901-5 of the exports from St. Vincent: Cassava 

 starch, £1,379; vegetables, £2,340 ; ground nuts, £1,2.58 ; 

 farine, £343. All the above-mentioned items show decided 

 increases as compared with the values for 1903-4. 



The tobacco industry in Southern Rhodesia is considered 

 to have passed the experimental stage, and various qualities 

 of leaf are securing a steady sale locally, the tobacco grown 

 from Turkish seed having already established a good reputa- 

 tion. {Trojyical Lite, December 1905.) 



Sea Island cotton with perfect preparation and selected 

 staple has brought full prices during the week; but poorly 

 prepared grades, with ordinary staple, have been sold at 

 a slight discount. Lower grades have been in request all the 

 week. {Cotton Trade Journal, Savannah, Georgia, December 

 9, 190.5.) 



' The quantity of ground provisions imported into 

 ■Grenada during 1904 has been of sutHcient volume to justify 

 their separate inclusion in the statement of imports. These 

 provisions nearly all come from St. Vincent and Barbados. 

 The value of the imports of ground provisions in 1903 was 

 £309 ; in 1904, £843.' {Annual Report on Grenada.) 



A correspondent in Dominica writes: 'Is there any 

 known oljection to planting Coleus among cacao? One 

 particular kind grows most )irofusely here and will greatly help 

 to keep down the grass. I do not care to try it without first 

 hearing if it is likely to prove more injurious than the grass.' 

 It would be intere.sting to have the observations of readers 

 of the Agricultural A^etos on this point. 



At a meeting of the West Indian Committee of the 

 British Cotton-growing Association held on December 8, 1905, 

 says the Textile Mercury, it was reported that five different 

 samples of the new croj) coming forward from St. Vincent 

 tad been received, and, with one exception, these were 

 pronounced to be the best samples of cotton yet received 

 from that island. 



In reference to the note in the Agricultural News (Vol. IV, 

 p. 396), it may be mentioned that an opportunity was recently 

 given to the members of the .\ntigua Agricultural Society to 

 visit the Botanic Station. The company was conducted 

 through the station by Dr. Watts and Mr. .lackson (the 

 Curator) who directed attention to many objects of interest. 

 From the Botanic Station the members proceeded to the 

 Cotton Factory, and afterwards visited the Experiment Plots 

 at Skerretts. This e.xample might be followed in other 

 islands, as it is likely to do good in increasing the usefulness 

 ■of the work of the Imperial Department of .Agriculture. 



From the official returns showing the quantities and 

 values of the exports from Jamaica during the quarter ended 

 September 30, 1905, it appears that very satisfactory 

 increases are recorded for annatto, bees'-wax, honey, cotl'ee, 

 divi-divi, bananas, cocoa-nuts, and oranges. The exports of 

 ginger, kola nuts, lime juice, pimento, rum, and sugar during 

 the quarter show decreases as compared with the corres- 

 ponding period of 1904. 



Some time ago it was announced that the Canadian refiners 

 would pay for Dritish West Indian sugar the price at which it 

 was selling in New York, thus preventing the growers from 

 participating in the preference accorded by the Dominion 

 tariff. " An intimation has, however, been received from 

 Messrs. Pickford k Black, of Halifax, N.S., that the 

 Canadian refiners will accept all sugars on the same terms 

 as last year. 



In an article on the .Jamaica coffee industry, the Journal 

 of the Jamaica Agricultural Society says: 'The preservation 

 of our coffee industry lies in the moderate-sized and 

 large plantations which grow cotfee on the best lines, and 

 also buy from the smaller people around, curing it with the 

 best ability available. What is wanted is careful growing 

 careful picking, careful pulping, careful fermentation, careful 

 washing, careful curing, careful drying, and, most of all, 

 careful despatch.' 



The Jamaica Daily Telegraph, of December 16, 1905, 

 has the following : ' A rarity in the way of bananas was 

 produced on an estate near Ilichmond a short time ago. The 

 rarity consists of a stalk on which there are two bunches of 

 bananas with four navels protruding from the stalk. Many 

 of the fruit men on the north side say that it is the first 

 time they have seen such a freak in the way of bananas.' 

 It may be mentioned that a similar freak was figured in the 

 Agricultural Xews (Vol. II, p. 24-5). 



According to the Annual Riport on Trinidad for 1904-5, 

 ' these best (jualified to form an opinion consider that an oil 

 field of considerable importance underlies the surface of 

 a large portion of the colony, the oil-bearing beds being well 

 defined at various depths from the surface. Other industries, 

 such as the mining of manjak, are being prosecuted with 

 success, and the fact that Trinidad possesses .so many 

 subsidiary sources of prosperity is a potential ground for 

 believing that her present progre.ss will be maintained and 

 increased in the future.' 



