62 



THE AGrJCULTUEAL NEWS. 



Februaky 17, 1906. 



WEST INDIAN FRUIT. 



ST. LUCIA BANANAS. 



In a recent lettei" to the Imperial Commissioner 

 of Agriculture, Mr. J. G. Moore, Curator at St. Lucia, 

 reports as follows on the progress made in two exjjeri- 

 mental plots of bananas at Union Experiment Station : — ■ 



Plot 'A' contains i acre, and was planted in April 190-5 

 with suckers from the St. Lucia Botanic Station, at 9 feet 

 by Hi feet apart. 



Plot 'B' contains 1 acre, and was planted in May 190-5 

 with suckers from Bai'bados, the distance apart being the 

 same as in jilot 'A.' 



The land occupied by these plots had previously been 

 cropped with Sea Island cotton, and no special cultivation 

 was given. A considerable number of the suckers fiist jilanted 

 were killed by a boring insect (? l^omarus bituho-culaUis), 

 and sui>iilies were necessary to replace them. The following 

 notes, made during the early part of .January 1900, show the 

 conditions of these plots about eight months from planting: — 



Number of plants 



Plants fruiting 



Bunches ripe (or already cut) 



Bunches with ten hands ... 



,, ,, nine hands 



„ eight „ 



,, ,, seven hands or less . 



The bunches of saleable sizes are 87 per cent, of the total. 



THE COLONIAL FRUIT SHOW. 



The Colonial Fruit Show was opened at the Royal 

 Horticultural Hall, Vincent Square, Westminster, on 

 December -5, 190-5. 



In its issue of December, Tropical Life writes of 

 the West Indian section of the Exhibition as follows: — 



Under the auspices of the "West India Committee, 

 tropical fruits representing the West Indies made a very 

 eftectivo show, the stalls extending as they did the entire 

 length of the spacious new hall facing the main entrance. 

 The exhibits also included Trinidad cigars shown by 

 Messrs. James Pliili|i it Co., which w-eie awarded a gold 

 medal at the Ciystal Palace Exhibiti<jn last summer. 



The Pioyal ihiil Company, and the AVest India Fruit 

 Compan}-, had a fine collection of fruit on show, including 

 ' claret bananas ' a bunch 'if which we afterwards saw in 

 a shop window foi- sale. There is no doubt, these exhibitions 

 have been a great hell) in introducing West Indian fiuits to 

 the public on this .side. 



The West India Committee's stall Included exhihlts fioni 

 the Agricultural and Commercial Society of Grenada, whose 

 economic products were particulaily well put up, and from the 

 Pioyal Agricultural Society of Jamaica ; while the smaller 

 exhibits included the Jamaica cigars of the Golofina 

 Tobacco Company, recently awarded the Grand Prix at the 

 Colonial Exhibition; and oranges and grape fruit from 

 ^Messrs. Aston W. Gardner & Co. A special feature was 

 made of West Indian limes, which it is claimed are infinitely 

 superior for all purposes for which lemons are now used. The 

 delicacy of flavoiu-, aroma, and the juiciness of West Indian 

 limes make them preferred to lenrons by those who have 

 tried them. 



WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY AT TOBAGO. 



The following interesting messages have recently 

 passed between the inhabitants of Tobago and the 

 Governor of Trinidad, b}- means of wireless telegraph}": — 



To his E.rci llenri/ the Governor. 



The inhabitants of Tobago, now for the first time in 

 telegraphic communication (through Trinidad) with the 

 mother country, wish the first message sent to England to 

 convej- to His JIajesty the King an assurance of their 

 devoted and affectionate loyalty. 



The Hon. the Colonial Secretary — to the Warden of Tohv/o. 



I am directed b}' his Excellency the Governor to 

 forward, for the information of the inhabitants of Tobago, 

 the following message from the Secretary of State for the 

 Colonies : ' I am conunanded by His JIajesty the King to 

 request you to convey his thanks to the inhabitants of 

 Tobago for their loj'al sentiments, and his congratulations on 

 the establishment of "wireless" telegraphic communication 

 with this colony.' 



Tlie Warden of Toha^jo — to the lion, the Colonial Secretary. 



Telegram received. I desire to express, on behalf of the 

 inhabitants of Tobago, their grateful apiireciatiou of His 

 Majesty's most gracious message. 



The Demerara Daily Chronicle, in its issue of January 

 16 last, states that for messages not exceeding twelve words, 

 exchanged between these two islands, the charge is 2s., each 

 word over twelve costing 2d., and for othcial messages, the 

 charge will be at one-half these rates. The scale of charges is 

 high, but, no doubt, as the traffic develop.s, it will be found 

 practicable to reduce the rates. 



