THE AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



459 



their vines supply liumus, and their pro- 

 duce sells well, and can be fed to the 

 Indians and stock. Asking for some 

 specific information as to the varieties, 

 from his personal experience, Mr. Wilkin- 

 son replied : — 



" The ordinary Indian pea, which 

 blossoms and seeds in the winter is an 

 excellent nitrogen giver ; it stands no 

 frost however. 



" The JiOuisiana cow-pea is the best as a 

 vegetable for the table, it is best fir 

 orchards, and its vine is an excellent 

 fodder. It should do well, I think, up- 

 country. It makes good dholl. It is a 

 rank grower on the ground. 



" The Florida bean, and the Bourbon or 

 Mauritius give good feed for stock, both 

 in vine and in beans, and they should do 

 well in many parts up- country. They 

 keep good for three or four years. They 

 do well between mealies. Sow the 

 mealies as usual, and when they are about 

 two feet high plant the beans between the 

 rows. I use a single " Eureka " planter, 

 supplied by Messrs. North & Son. They 

 sow the seed and the fertiliser capitally. 

 When the mealies are ripe get them off, 

 and there will be an enormous amount of 

 splendid first-class fodder for cattle. They 

 would give a splendid crop for ensilage. 

 If desired for this purpose they could also 

 be planted with mealies. 



" The black-eyed American pea has a 

 thick growth, and keeps green into 

 winter. It is probably capable of stand- 

 ing a little frost. It is a pea for the table 

 when green, and it is suitable for dholl." 



The Date Palm. 



"The date palm ought, I think," said 

 Mr, Wilkinson, " to be cultivated along 

 the coast. It should do well along the 

 small streams where the wild palm grows. 

 The wild date bears sometimes at six or 

 seven years old from suckers. I am getting 

 some suckers of the date palm from 

 Teneriffe to plant out experimentally." 



During my visit I had the pleasure of 

 meeting Mr. Wilkinson's son, Mr. Gilbert 

 Wilkinson. Much of the management of 

 Ihe estate falls to Mr. Gilbert Wilkinson, 

 and I shall give some of his observations 

 on various matters which cropped up in 

 conversation. 



Cane Rats. 

 About cane rats, which are monsters, 

 reaching three or four pounds in weight, 



he told me that so timid are they, that 

 they will not cross a bare place of two or 

 three yards. Hence a breadth of that 

 width, kept clear of long grass round a 

 field of cane, provides perfect protection 

 from those destructive rodents. 



Locust Poisoning, 

 Mr. Gilbert Wilkinson is a great be- 

 liever in arsenic poisoning for locusts. It 

 appears that he was the discoverer of that 

 system now so popular among the coast 

 planters. His discovery resulted thus : — 

 When locusts first made their appearance 

 some five years ago he used to drive the 

 insects towards sheets of iron supported 

 on edge, and so arranged at an obtuse 

 angle as to lead to the apex of the trap or 

 the crush pen which they constituted. At 

 the apex was a pit filled with treacle, and 

 into which the locusts tumbled and were 

 destroyed. The insects he happened to 

 notice were intensely fond of the treacle, 

 and it occurred to him that diluted treacle, 

 mixed with poison, might be used with 

 good effect, and so permit of the enormous 

 work involved in the erection of screens 

 and the beating of the locusts up to the 

 screens, etc., being dispensed with. He 

 put his theory into practice, and substi- 

 tuting arsenic and caustic soda for cyanide 

 of potassium, the poison he first used, 

 which evaporates, it succeeded even 

 beyond his expectation and hopes. 



Prickly Pear. 

 This pest of the vegetable kingdom he 

 destroys by inserting into a small slit 

 made in one of the leaves as much of a 

 mixture of arsenic and caustic soda as will 

 go on the point of a penknife. 



Horsesickness. 



Mr. Gilbert Wilkinson has found an 

 indigenous drug with which he is con- 

 fident horsesickness can be stopped. '1 his 

 IS his procedure. From the beginning of 

 December until April the temperatures 

 of all his horses and mules are taken 

 regularly every morning. One of the 

 stable coolies does the work, and presents 

 the temperatures, properly tabulated, of 

 every animal. If in any case a tempera- 

 ture of 101 is recorded, then the drug is 

 administered. On one morning a horse 

 showed 105''. He was dosed, and in 

 three or four hours the temperature was 

 down to 101. No further bad symptoms 



