206 



forcing trade, be able to secure the present prices for unmixed 

 Harrisii bulbs of £5 to £6 per lOOO for many years to come." 



Onions. — "These comprise in value about three-fifths of the total 

 output of produce from Bermuda : during the year under review 

 400,138 boxes were shipped, valued at £62,454." 



Potatoes. — "The figures for 1904 shew that the potato at any 

 rate pays for the labour expended upon it : 23,417 barrels were 

 imported from Canada and the United States, valued at £7,260 ; 

 assuming that one-fourth of these were sets for planting, the cost 

 would be about £1,815. Against these, 31,134 barrels were ex- 

 ported, valued at £23,805: shewing a yield of 5} barrels to one 

 planted and a balance in favour of the colony of £22,020. This 

 year 28,590 barrels were shipped yielding £21,214". 



Tobacco. — Professor Dunstan states as follows : " It may be 

 pointed out that although 5d. per lb. is quoted for the sample of 

 Connecticut wrapper leaf it does not follow that it will ultimately 

 pay best to cultivate this variety. The Connecticut leaf is not 

 economical as a wrapper and for this reason is falling out of 

 favour with cigar manufacturers, and it may be taken as a gene- 

 ral rule that a ' filler ' of the Cuba type and a wrapper of the 

 Sumatra type, are what is principally in demand for the cigar 

 trade at the present time. 



" Having regard to the fact that it would be useless to intro- 

 duce to Bermuda, as a new crop, anything that yielded less than 

 50 per cent, on the outlay it was decided by the Board to proceed 

 with a preliminary experiment in growing tobacco under tent 

 cloth on the lines practised in Florida and Connecticut as it was 

 seen by the reports of United States Department of Agriculture 

 that these tobaccos were being sold for from 6/ to 10/ per lb. The 

 writer had also seen bales of wrapper tobacco opened at Jamaica 

 which had cost 10/ per lb. A sum of £lOO was granted by the 

 Legislature for this experiment, which was commenced in April." 



Oranges. — " The destruction of citrus trees in Bermuda by scale 

 insects is almost complete ; the extreme virulence with which these 

 parasites attack their host is almost beyond belief. 



In view of the desirability of resuscitating the growing of oranges 

 in the colony, having regard more especially to their added value 

 during the tourist season, special efforts have been made to settle 

 the question as quickly as possible of whether it is possible to give 

 back to Bermuda her lost oranges. 



As a result of close observation and of previous experience it 

 soon became evident that the solution lay in the selection of a 

 variety immune, or in some degree resistant to the scale insect. 



It has come within the writer's experience among citrus trees in 

 Jamaica to observe that the " Navel" orange enjoyed almost com- 

 plete immunity from the attacks of scale insects, and moreover 

 was a very satisfactory all round fruit to grow. 



And now, judging by the behaviour of this variety in the collec- 

 tion at the Public Garden, the statement may be recorded that it is 

 only a question of time, or rather of the rate at which they can be 



