42 



PARA GRASS versus GUINEA GRASS. 



Some time ago, a penkeeper in St. A.nn stated that a weed 

 which he called " White Head" was growing up through his Guinea 

 Grass, and killing it, and that he was therefore substituting Para Grass 

 for Guinea Grass. 



Lately, another Correspondent writes as follows, to complain of this 

 same weed : — 



"Can you tell me anything about the enclosed. It is a ' weed' that, 

 I am told, made its appearance in St. Ann shortly after the '81 hurri- 

 cane, and has become a great nuisance in the Guinea Grass pieces ? 

 Stock eat it readily, and on the Commons it is not out of place Sheep 

 are so fond of it they soon eat it out, but in Guinea Grass it does damage, 

 suppresses the grass, and costs a good deal for cleaning." 



The weed is one of a number of different species which are known 

 sometimes as " Button Weeds." This particular species, Spermacoce 

 tenuior, is very widely distributed throughout the West Indies, and tro- 

 pical and sub -tropical America. 



Careful watching and instant killing may keep it out, but there is no 

 means of exterminating it, if it has once got possession of a field of 

 Guinea Grass. 



On enquiry as to the success of the Para Grass in St. Ann, the fol- 

 lowing reply has been received : — 



" I have planted Para Grass and am still planting it in all my Guinea 

 Grass pastures, as it is the only grass that kills the White Head Weed. 

 It is a perfect success. On wet soil plant the Para Grass about 14 

 inches apart and on dry soil 6 inches. If time is given, on the very 

 poorest soil, it will take strong root and kill even hog- meat and other 

 bad creepers. The above grass fattens quicker than Guinea Grass, pro- 

 duces much heavier crops and lessens cleaning expenses. When 

 thoroughly established, it requires no cleaning, and, of course, this gives 

 it a pull over all other feeding." 



The whole subject of grasses for fodder is so important to Penkeepers 

 in the Island, that in this month's issue is reprinted a most valuable 

 article from the Kew Bulletin on Tropical Fodder Grasses. 



THE VANILLA MARKET. 



The extraordinary advance in the price of vanilla which has been 

 going on for some months is sufficiently peculiar to warrant a. review of 

 the causes that have brought about the ruling quotations. 



Mexico, the country from which, originally, all the vanillas of com- 

 merce were derived, has long ceased to have any direct interest for the 

 European vanilla-dealer. The bulk of that portion of its crop which is 

 exported finds a sale in the United States, and it is only when an abun- 

 dant Mexican supply causes an overplus to be thrown upon the Euro- 

 pean market, or when, in scanty years, the United States have to sup- 

 plement with Eastern vanilla the want that Mexico is temporarily una- 

 ble to fill, that the condition of the Mexican crop arouses a certain 

 amount of interest in England and France. 



In normal times the European vanilla supply is drawn from the 

 islands in the Indian Ocean that cluster around Madagascar, to wit, the 

 English possessions of Mauritius and the Seychelles Islands, and the 



