60 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



Febkuaky 17, 190G. 



GLEANINGS. 



At a general meeting of the Grenada Agiicultural and 

 Commercial Society held on November 24, 1U05, Mr. R. I). 

 Anstead, B.A., the Agricultural Superintendent, read a scheme 

 for a Prize Holdings L'omi)etition, which it was agreed to start. 

 Mr. Anstead was thanked for his suggestion. 



The Port-qt-Spain Gazctlc', in its issue of January 9, 

 states that the latest novelty in vegetables is a black potato, 

 which has been sent to Messrs. Sutton, the famous seed 

 merchants of Reading, England. This eccentric tuber came 

 from Congo, and is said to have an excellent flavour. It is 

 especiallj- recommended for ornamental cookery, and in salads. 



In its issue of January 20, the Demerara Ar(josy 

 writes as follows : ' Broom corn is being cultivated at the 

 Penal Settlement and at Suddie, where it is growing fairly 

 well. The corn is harvested, and sent to the Georgetown 

 jail for conversion into brooms. The Inspector of Prisons 

 hopes that a marketable article will be produced, and that 

 eventually there will be a demand for the dried corn.' 



Last year, the Harvey Engineering Conipan}-, Limited, 

 erected the first patent Naudet process plant in the West 

 Indies, which worked through the whole crop and gave 

 a result ahead of the work done by the ordinary mills during 

 the previous year. This jdant has been extended and 

 imiiroved so that a still better result is looked for in the 

 coming crop. {Glafjow HerahJ, December 30, 1905.) 



As a result of experiments made under the au.spices of 

 the Board of Agriculture with regard to rice cultivation, his 

 Excellency has approved of the free distribution to bona fide 

 rice planters of not more than 1 gallon of the various kinds 

 of rice seed which are regarded as being best adapted to the 

 S3-stems of milling and curing practised in this colony, and to 

 the production of the best cjuality of rice both for local 

 consumption and export. Applications should be sent to the 

 Superintendent of the Botanic Gardens. (Demgrara Da'dij 

 Chvonkle, January 30, 190G.) 



At the monthly meeting of the Board of Agriculture 

 in Jamaica, held on December 12, 1905, his Grace the 

 Archbishop moved the following resolution which was 

 unanimou.sly agreed to : ' That the Board of Agriculture is 

 satisfied of the fact that the successful development of various 

 industries in Jamaica will largely depend upon the advice 

 and guidance of a competent entomologist, and therefore 

 earnestly recommends the Ciovernment to make ]>rovision for 

 the apiiointment of such an officer at the earliest po.ssible 

 opportunity.' 



Si)eaking of labour-saving appliances, the I'ovt-of-Spain 

 dazi'tte of January 10 last, says that a steam jilough has been 

 installed on the Colonial Company's plantation, ' Harmony 

 Hall.' In the Caroni district sinnlar ploughs have been at 

 work for some time, and have given excellent results. The 

 company's premier estate, the Usine St. Madeleine, is well 

 equipped with this and all other labour-saving appliances., 



A notice by the Superintendent of the lioyal Botanic 

 Gardens, Trinidad, appeared in the Trinidad Roi/al Gazette 

 of January 25, to the etTect that 120,000 plants of cuttings 

 of various kinds of seedling sugar-canes are now available 

 for distribution to planters. These plants have been tested 

 at the Experiment Station, St. Clair, and will be delivered 

 free of charge from February 1, the applications being taken 

 in the order received. 



The following is extracted from a letter of the 

 Agricultural Superintendent in St. Kitt's to the Imperial 

 Commissioner of Agriculture : ' The two ginneries at 

 Spooners and Stone Fore are in full work, and the lint 

 in both places is clean and appears to be of good quality. 

 Large returns of seed-cotton are being reaped on most of the 

 estates, and ever}- effort is being made to pick the cotton so 

 as to get the land in readiness for planting cane. Shipments 

 of cotton are going on by every mail.' 



Jlessrs. Wolstenholme &, Holland, Liverpool, writing 

 under date of January 11 last, regarding the cotton market, 

 state : ' During the past fortnight a moderate business has 

 been done in Sea Island descriptions, and prices continue 

 firm. Our latest advices from Savannah state that the 

 market there was quiet, with holders refusing to accept lower 

 prices. Spinners, however, had withdrawn from the market, 

 and it seemed likely that factors might have to accept easier 

 rates. Estimates of the crop now reach 100,000 bales.' 



The following is an extract from a letter, dated 

 January 12, 190G, from the Secretary of the AVest India 

 Committee to the Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture, 

 relative to the formation of an association for furthering, 

 the sale of West Indian produce : 'We understand that an 

 association is about to be formed in London with the object 

 of furthering the .sale of West Indian produce of all kinds on, 

 a larger scale than heretofore. It is stated that the old 

 established firms of the Pure Cane Sugar Company, and 

 Me.ssrs. James Philip it Co., which for over twenty years have 

 devoted themselves to the sale of such commodities, are to 

 be taken over by the association, and developed considerably.'' 



In a note on the banana trade, the Fo7-t-of-Spain Gazette 

 in its issue of January 23 last, contains the following- 

 extract from the JJostan Herald : ' The importations of 

 bananas at the port of Boston have been very heavj' during 

 the past year, being 1,057,052 bunches more than in 1904-. 

 The total receipts for the year were 3,9G4,101 bunches, 

 against 2,906,419 bunches for 1904, and 3,037,279 bunches 

 in 1903. Prices ruled fairly low during the early part of 

 the year, owing to the very heavy sui>ply during the best 

 season, but soon became higher, and closed the year at the 

 highest point, almost on a level with a range of i)rices at the 

 end of 1904. The United Fruit Comjiany has had 122 

 arrivals at the port of Boston during the year, including 

 ninetj'-six from .Jamaica, sixteen from Costa Rica, and ten 

 from San Domingo. 



