WisceilancoiiH. 



[Mat 1908. 



West Indian Bulletin (Vol. VIII, No 3), a 

 full account of the system of working of 

 this Bank is given. 



At the recent Agricultural Conference, 

 allusion was made to the Barbados Sugar 

 Industry Agricultural Bank. This was 

 established about; a year ago, in order 

 to can y out the administration of the 

 free grant of £80,000 made in aid of the 

 sugar industry of the island by the 

 Imperial Parliament. The Directorate 

 consists of the Colonial Secretary (Chair- 

 man), one member elected by the Legis- 

 lative Council, four members elected by 

 the House of Assembly, and one by the 

 Agricultural Society. Loans, which can 

 only be expended in connection with the 

 cultivation and management of the 

 estate (except with the express permis- 

 sion of the Directors), are made to 

 planters at 6 per cent, interest on the 

 security of the growing crops. 



Although the fund managed by this 

 Bank was originally granted ' in aid of 

 the sugar industry,' yet planters whose 

 chief crop may be cotton, are not debar- 

 ed from obtaining assistance from the 

 Bank, provided they keep within the 

 letter of the law by planting some sugar- 

 cane. 



In this connection, too, it may be men- 

 tioned that, in continuance of previous 

 efforts in the same direction, an Act 

 (No. 4 of 1907) to regulate advances in aid 

 of the cotton industry was brought into 

 force in the Leeward Islands during the 

 past year. Its operations have been 

 confined chiefly to Montserrat, Nevis, 

 and Anguilla. Advances are made to 

 large and small estates, but in most cases 

 the borrowers are persons of small 

 means. 



Considerable interest has lately been 

 aroused in Trinidad as the result of an 

 anouncement by Sir Henry Jackson, 

 that he contemplates to lay before the 

 Legistative Council a scheme for the 

 establishment of a Government Agricul- 

 tural Loan Bank. Some years ago a 

 People's Bank, as it was styled, was 

 established at Trinidad for the benefit 

 of small holders and occupiers of land, 

 and for a short time it did good work. 

 Unfortunately, however, it fell through, 

 but its temporary existence demonstrat- 

 ed the real necessity of some institution 

 through which the peasant proprietors 

 of the community might obtain assist- 

 ance without being obliged to resort to 

 money lenders. The announcement 

 made by the Governor of Trinidad is 

 apparently very acceptable to those in 

 the colony, who have continued, to urge 

 the establishment of some such means 

 of agricultural credit. 



The presumption that the scheme to 

 be introduced by Sir Henry Jackson 

 will be under Government control, is 

 considered to be the best guarantee of 

 its future success, for, unfortunately, 

 the co-operative spirit does not at pre- 

 sent seem to be sufficiently strong in 

 these colonies to allow of the establish- 

 ment of co-operative banks on the 

 Baiffeisen system. 



An Agricultural Bank, started under 

 Government auspices at Trinidad, will 

 be watched with considerable interest 

 in the neighbouring colonies, and its 

 success would prove a starting point for 

 the establishment of similar institutions 

 in other parts of the West Indies, and 

 in British Guiana. 



It may be mentioned that the question 

 of Agricultural Banks has occasionally 

 come up for discussion in British Guiana, 

 where, owing to the large number of 

 small rice growers in the colony, insti- 

 tutions of this nature should prove 

 especially helpful. With a view to 

 meeting the requirements of these rice 

 growers, it has been suggested that 

 arrangements for advances might be 

 made on the lines of the cotton loans iu 

 the Leeward Islands, or that efforts 

 should be made to start co-operative 

 loan banks on the lines of the one at pre- 

 sent working in Jamaica. — Agricultural 

 News, Vol. VII, No. 152, February 22, 1908. 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



By C. Drieberg. 

 M. G.— Why are you thinking of intro- 

 ducing new nitrogen plants when we 

 have so many indigenous and natural- 

 ized genera, such as Crotalaria. Indi- 

 go f era, Mucuna, Vigna, Tephrosia. Des- 

 modium, &c, many of them weeds ? In 

 the same way we have as leguminous 

 shade trees Sesbania, Cajanus, Ery- 

 thrina, Pongamia, &c. What we want is 

 a careful study and report on such plants 

 as are likely to serve the " planter " and 

 cultivator generally for green manuring. 

 Even the famous Cow-pea of America, 

 and velvet-bean of Florida have been 

 apparently with us always, though un- 

 recognised under their native names of 

 li-me and wauduru-me- We are too apt 

 to look abroad, and neglect the resour- 

 ces at hand. 



F. D.— The condition you describe is 

 known as "reh" in India. Fortunately 

 it is not so common here as there, the 

 possibility of its removal has been a 

 great problem. The means of ridding 

 soils of alkaline salts came up at meet- 

 ings of the Tangalla and Hambantota 

 Branch Agricultural Societies in April 



