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Society and the Board of Management had voted £10 for a supply 

 of seeds such as corn, beans and peas, and potato slips to help 

 the people to plant food-stuffs whenever rains came. The Secretary 

 had made arrangements for centres of distribution and notice to 

 be sent him from various points whenever sufficient rains fell for 

 planting purposes. As this money, however, had not gone very 

 far, he had asked the "Gleaner'' for £10 from their fund. 



Instructors — In connection with what was said in the Minutes 

 regarding Instructors, the Secretary read letter from Mr. Cradwick 

 which showed that the arrangements for the defining of the 

 boundaries to suit travelling arrangements and for the Instructors 

 meeting with each other in connection with certain Branch 

 Societies, were now complete and agreeable to the various In- 

 structors. 



The following reports from the Chemist were submitted : — 



1. Proposal to establish Jamaica Rat Virus Service. 



2. Selection of Distillers to attend special Course. 



3. Syllabus of Distillers Course. 



4. Publication of Report on experiments by the Sugar Ex- 



periment Station for 1 906-7. 



I. The Secretary was instructed to write the Government that 

 the Board recommended that the Rat Virus Service be authorised, 

 the preliminary expenses to be met from the vote for the ordinary 

 services of the Laboratory. 



No. 3 was directed to be circulated and Nos. 2 and 4 were 

 approved of. 



The Director of Public Gardens and Plantations presented re- 

 ports as follows : — 



1. Instructors — Reports and Itineraries. 



2. Hope Experiment Station. 



3. Letters from Mr. Cradwick. 



1. Stating that Mr. John Lockett in the Agricultural Journal for 

 January, February and March, 1907, had drawn attention to the 

 fact that some of his cocoa trees were, in his opinion, killed by 

 Fiddler grubs, and these grubs killed trees that were the finest of 

 a fine group : and in the Journal for April, 1907, Mr. H. C. Bennett 

 had written an article confirming Mr. Lockett's opinion. Mr. 

 Cradwick said that for the last three months he had carefully 

 investigated the matter and after visiting Mr. Lockett's plantation 

 and examining dead and dying trees which Mr. Lockett was of 

 opinion had been killed wholly and solely by the Fiddler Grubs 

 he remained still more strongly of opinion that these grubs and 

 other similar grubs did not attack the roots of healthy trees but 

 only such trees as had been injured and were unhealthy through 

 growing under wroug conditions. 



The Chemist said that he was of opinion that the grubs attacked 

 perfectly healthy trees in certain soil. 



This report was directed to be circulated. 



2. Mr. Cradwick asked that he might get supplies of cane tops 

 of the new seedling varieties for distribution in the district of Saint 

 Mary and Portland where the settlers grew cane for sugar making. 



