348 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



NOVEMBEK 3, 1906. 



GLEANINGS. 



Schfiol shows will be held in Trinidad this mouth as 

 follows : Scarborough (Tobago), November 7 ; Port-of-Spain, 

 November 16 ; Arima, November 20 ; San Fernando, 

 November 23, Princes' Town, November 30. 



A total area of 41] acres has been planted in Sea Island 

 cotton on the Land Settlement estates in St. Vincent. The 

 Agricultural Instructor reports that the condition of the 

 cultivations is, on the whole, pronii-sing. 



Mr. Edgar Beckett, Agricultural Instructor in British 

 Guiana, has reported that an excellent crop of ground nuts is 

 being produced at La Bonne Mere plantation. Many of the 

 soils around Mahaica and Mahaicony are suited to the 

 cultivation of this crop. 



The pure-bred Hereford bull, belonging to the St. Lucia 

 Agricultural Society, is to be sold by auction on November 7. 

 The upset price will be £1-5. The sale will be made subject 

 to a written promise from the buyer that the animal will not 

 te removed from the colony for three years from date of sale. 



A plot of Vanilla plaivfolia, about -j^ acre in area, was 

 formed at the Botanic Station in St. Vincent last year, plants 

 of the physic nut {Jatroplia Curcas) being used as supports 

 for the vines. Vanilla appears to do well in the island, but 

 at present only Mr. P. F. Huggins, of Bellewood, has 

 attempted the cultivation. (Annual Report.) 



Messrs. Pickford ct Black, of Halifax, Nova Scotia, have 

 written to the Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture as 

 follows : ' After you left Halifax we had an incjuiry for copra 

 and cocoa-uut oil in 10- and 1.5-ton lots. Possibly you would 

 be kind enough to ask some of the people w-ho sell these 

 goods to quote us prices, f.o.b. our steamers, and also to send 

 us a small sample to show the quality of the articles.' 



Mr. Thomas Thornton, A.R.C.S., Travelling Inspector 

 in connexion with Cotton Investigations, gave a lecture on 

 cotton growing in the Council's Hall, St. Croix, on October 3. 

 After giving a short account of the origin of the British 

 Cotton-growing Association, he discussed the principal points 

 in regard to the cultivation of Sea Island cotton, which 

 might, he stated, be profitably grown in St. Croix. 



Messrs. Henry W. Frost i Co., of Charleston, report, 

 under date of October 6, that the total receipts of ' Islands ' 

 cotton, so far this season, are only 73 bales. 'The factors 

 have not sampled any cotton as yet, consequently there is 

 absolutely nothing offering for sale. What the probable 

 opening prices will be, it is difficult to say until the crop 

 begins to move.' 



With a view to encouraging the cultivation of cotton 

 along the best lines by small growers in Nevis, Mr. J. O. 

 Maloney, Junior Assistant to the Agricultural Suiierintendent 

 in Barbados, has been temporarily appointed an Instructor 

 in connexion with cotton cultivation. Mr. ^laloney left 

 Barbados for Nevis on October 27. 



Not long ago Mr. G. C. Wyatt, agent of the British 

 West India Fruit Company at Princes' Town, supplied 

 Palmiste estate, the property of Mr. Norman Laniont, with 

 5,000 banana suckers. At the present time there are about 

 8,000 more at Mr. Wyatt's residence for the same estate, 

 where it is intended to jiut 100 acres under banana cultiva- 

 tion. (Trinidad Mirmr.) 



The Collector-General in .Jamaica reports that, although 

 the coffee industry is overshadowed by the enormous 

 p>roduction in Brazil, the high mountain coffee of Jamaica 

 and the small settlers' productions are of sufficient value to 

 ensure this product being reckoned as one of the i-sland's 

 staples. The value of the exports of this commodity during 

 1905-6 was £131,28.3, as against £85,173 in the previous 

 year. 



Professor Harrison has written to the Board of Agri- 

 culture in British Guiana, that the executive officers of the 

 British Cotton-growing Association ' concur entirely in the 

 view that there is, owing to climate and soil conditions, 

 little or no hope of the successful cultivation of Sea Island 

 and Egyptian cottons in British Guiana. They recognize the 

 importance of continued experiments with the native varieties 

 of cotton, with the view of improvement in the staple of the 

 cotton.' 



During the past few years a serious disease of lemons, 

 known as the ' brown rot,' has caused considerable anxiety to 

 lemon growers and shippers in Southern California. 'This 

 disease has been under investigation by the California 

 Agricultural Experiment Station, and has been found to be 

 due to a fungus (P//thiar//stis citrojihthora, Sm. li: Sm.). 

 Infection takes place by swarm-spores both on the tree and in 

 the washing tank, and the disease spreads very rapidly in 

 damp, warm weather. {Botanical Gaiette, Vol. XLII, p. 215.) 



In his Annual Report on the Revenue and Customs 

 Department in Jamaica for the year 1905-6, the Collector- 

 General states : ' The total exports of pimento for the last 

 three years were: 1903-4, £88,847; 1904-5, £136,969; 

 1905-6, £80,268. This is a product which is not affected by 

 competition, Jamaica being practically the only place where 

 the spice is produced. The fluctuations, therefore, are 

 governed only by supply and demand.' Pimento was account- 

 able last year for 4 '5 per cent, of the total value of the 

 exports of the colony. 



In reference to the note on the Jamaica pimento market, 

 in the Agricultural A\'ws (Vol. V, p. 201), it may be 

 mentioned that, according to the Jamaica Daily Tdegraph, 

 a syndicate was 'formed to enable Jamaica producers to 

 dictate the price of the spice, instead of leaving the question 

 to the caprice of foreign speculators.' It is the opinion of that 

 journal that 'pimento will always find a ready sale, provided 

 the price does not' exceed — at all events appreciably exceed 

 — 3f/. per lb.; and the directors of the .syndicate have no 

 desire or intention to advance the price beyond that figure.' 



