TEE AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



tendency to plant suckers of too large a 

 size which fruit prematurely should be 

 guarded against. 



Diseases. — I have noted the following 

 enemies of the pine at work in this Island : 



Mealy Bug. — This is well known. It 

 attacks the fruit as well as the leaves. 

 It causes spots in the fruit. Fumigation 

 with Hydrocyanic Acid is to be tested on 

 certain infected plantations. 



Pineapple Scale. — This mainly attacks 

 the roots and the stem beneath the sur- 

 face of the soil. The leaves appear yellow 

 and the plant has an unhealthy appear- 

 ance. This seems to be due to injuries 

 to the root-system by the attack of the 

 scale. Suckers from infected plants 

 should be fumigated before planting. 



Blight. — This mysterious desease is 

 only too well known by pine-growers. 

 It seems worse where drainage is de- 

 ficient. The American authorities claim 

 to have found a fungus. The putrefac- 

 tive rotting has been traced to a Bacterium 

 in the Government Laboratory. What- 

 ever the precise cause, the disease is con- 

 tagious, and affected plants should be 

 carefully removed and burnt. Plenty of 

 lime should be applied to the spot and 

 the soil left vacant for a year. 



Puccinia Disease. — The Assistant 

 Chemist is now studying a fungoid pest 

 which is quite prevalent on pines in 



Jamaica. It appears to be a typical 

 " puccinia " or rust fungus, and is un- 

 doubtedly a serious pest. The disease is 

 still under observation and experiment. 



Young Plants Susceptible to Fertilisers. 

 — Placing a little fertiliser beneath each 

 sucker has resulted in two instances in a 

 very serious loss owing to the injurious 

 effect produced. Care should be used in 

 applying fertilisers to young plants. In 

 Jamaica such help is rarely needed until 

 the plants have made some appreciable 

 growth. 



Over Propagation. — The great demand 

 for pi ne-8 ackers has put a premium on 

 forced vegetative growth. The consider- 

 able number of unfruitful plants to be 

 seen on some cultivations may probably 

 be due to this cause. Experiments to test 

 this and the general heredity of the pine- 

 sucker are being started. 



Conclusions. — Pines can be grown to 

 perfection in Jamaica on a large scale- 

 Hundreds of acres are available which 

 only require attention lo the natural re - 

 quirements of the plant to secure certain 

 and profitable results. Meanwhile, thou- 

 sands of pounds are being wasted through 

 lack of information and experience of 

 local conditions. Success is certain, if 

 the necessary care and attention is given 

 to the essential conditions which the pine- 

 apple demands for its healthy growth. 



Orange River Irrigationm 



A BIG SCHEME. 



A COMPANY with a capital of a quar- 

 ter of a million, it is stated, is being 

 formed in London for the purpose of 

 irrigating 136 square miles of land at j 

 Kheis, in Griqualand West, having a i 

 froiltage of about 11 miles to the Orange 

 River below its junction with the Yaal. 

 The land is said to be capable of yielding 

 abundant foodstuffs and cereals, and the 

 company — the Orange River Irrigation 

 Company — are determined upon carrying 

 out the work on the most modern plan. 

 A weir over 700 yards in length has 

 already been constructed across the Orange 

 River, and a canal has been dug for a 



length of two miles. A water race, 20 

 feet wide and 700 yards in length, has 

 been constructed from the weir to feed 

 turbines and pumps for lifting water into 

 I the service reservoir, from which a canal 

 will be made to irrigation 6,000 acres. 

 The pumps are capable of lifting six 

 million gallons of water daily with a 

 turbine to drive them. A site has been 

 laid out as a township near the works, 

 and it is anticipated that electric power 

 will be generated by the turbine for driv- 

 ing threshing machines, grinding mills, 

 saw mills, electric light and working 

 stamps. 



