•205 



12£ oz superphosphate was applied; tor 401bs. potash, 4£ oz. sulphate of 

 potash; for 40 lbs. nitrogen as sulphate of ammonia 11 oz. of sulphate of 

 ammonia; for 40 lbs. nitrogen as dried blood, 16£ oz. dried blood. It 

 was found convenient to weigh out a number of packets containing 12 J 

 oz. superphosphate and another series containing 4£ oz. phosphate of 

 potash, 'these were carried to the ground and the packets belonging to 

 each plot laid out against the beds and checked before opening. They 

 were then opened, the contents mixed on a sheet of brown paper, or in 

 a dry, clean tray, with a few pounds of dry earth to increase the bulk, 

 and then the mixture was carefully distributed over the bed. Mr. 

 Watts' directions, as given above, will probably be useful to those who 

 propose to experiment in the same way. Ho stated also that it would 

 be well to put samples of all the manures into dry clean bottles that they 

 might be analysed. As Thomas Phosphate was not obtainable at the 

 time, Mr. Watts suggested that plot 17 should get 3£ lbs. of wood-ashes 

 with 12^ oz. superphosphate and 11 oz. sulphate of ammonia ; and that 

 plot 18 should have If lbs. of wood-ashes, and the same amount of phos- 

 phate and ammonia as No. 17, This would give 1,000 lbs. and 500 lbs. 

 respectively of ashes per acre. 



The tobacco from the different plots were labelled, and dried at 

 Hope. Through the kind consent of Mr. Zurcher, it was then sent to 

 Montpelier to be cured, and afterwards to be submitted for the opinion 

 of the expert on the estate. Although it is scarcely to be expected that 

 the first year's trials will be worth much, they will be a guide to future 

 experiments at Hope. 



At High Elevations, — Tobacco grows spontaneously at 4,000 feet 

 in the Hill Gardens so magnificently, that it is proposed to cultivate a 

 small patch there next season, and ascertain its value. 



Expert. — The engagement of an Expert in curing tobacco at Mont- 

 pelier at a high salary is justified as a mere matter of business. It 

 would be a great boon to the whole island, if an Expert of like charac- 

 ter could be attached to the Hope Gardens to demonstrate in his work 

 there to all comers the manifold minutiae ot the process of curing. 

 When there was no work that required his presence at Hope, he could 

 travel through the island, giving public demonstrations, examining 

 tobacco undergoing curing at different estates, and affording advice 

 and assistance in every way to any who should seek it. 



Instruction. — At present our means of instruction are very limited, 

 but every one who receives seeds may also have the Bulletin(May, 1889 

 No. 13), written by a Cuban Expert, dealing with the cultivation and 

 curing of tobacco. 



Tobacco Beetle. — A complaint having been received of the destruc 

 tion done to cigars by a minute boring beetle, samples of the infested 

 cigars were sent to England. Mr. A. G. Butler of the British Museum 

 kindly made a report on them.* The only effectual remedy in factories 

 seems to be to store the cigars in tightly-fitting cases, and to prevent 

 old tobacco from lying about and harbouring the insect. 



• Bulletin, May to July, 1898, page 105. 



