22? 



Cotton Seed— The Secretary read letter from the Island 

 Chemist stating that as a result of his examination of the cotton 

 seed which had been treated with Corrosive Sublimate dip at 

 Hope Gardens he was of the opinion that there was no evidence 

 that the seed was damaged by the Corrosive Sublimate direct. 

 It was very questionable to his mind whether the Imperial Depart- 

 ment were wise in recommending the Corrosive treatment to 

 planters as a routine procedure. 



Rat Virus — The Secretary read letters from the Colonial 

 Secretary's Office as follows : — (a) Intimating that the Governor 

 had now approved of the Chemist's proposal for the establishment 

 of a Rat Virus Service and for carrying out work for testing the 

 varieties of Rat Virus in the market. The Chemist asked that 

 the Secretary be instructed to write to the Governor to communi- 

 cate again with the Mexican Government with regard to the Rat 

 Virus they had offered, a previous sample of which had been 

 received but which had become inert on the way. 



(b.) Milk Withe Experiments. — Authorising the sum of £10 to be 

 paid to Mr. W. B. Hannan to carry out experiments in getting 

 rubber from the Milk Withe in Upper Clarendon, the amount to 

 be charged under a new sub-head of the Government Laboratory 

 on condition that a corresponding saving was made under the 

 Chemist's vote. 



(e.) Vanilla— The Secretary read letter from the Rev. John 

 Maxwell reporting that he with Mr. Palache and Mr. Mennell had 

 visited the districts of Mulgrave and Retirement in northern St. 

 Elizabeth, to give instruction in Vanilla curing, and stating that 

 they had been told that the vanilla in the woods bore pods with- 

 out artificial fertilisation, and that he had sent a few cuttings to 

 Mr. Fawcett to have a report made about it. Mr. Fawcett said 

 the Vanilla sent was Vanilla anaromatica, not the Vanilla of com- 

 merce, Vanilla planifolia. Mr. Fawcett stated it was quite common 

 to find the native species bearing pods and that even the 

 commercial Vanilla had been fertilised by natural means at Hope 

 Gardens and at Castleton. 



Prickly Pear — The Secretary read letter from the Colonial 

 Secretary's Office enclosing copy of letter from the Commissioner 

 of the Turks and Caicos Islands with regard to the economic uses 

 of Prickly Pear. The Secretary said this was being published 

 in the Agricultural Journal. 



Cotton Cultivation. — The Secretary read letter from Messrs. 

 Kerr & Co., Montego Bay, to His Excellency the Governor, 

 referred to the Board for consideration, stating that the firm had 

 decided to do all they could to encourage the growing of cotton 

 by the peasantry, and were prepared to erect a gin and buy all 

 the cotton that was produced. First, however, some practical 

 steps to teach the people how to cultivate cotton would require to 

 be taken, preferably by practical demonstration, and if the 

 Board of Agriculture or the Government could see its way to 



