Edible Products. 



312 



[October, 1909. 



sacks by placing them iu ditches for 

 some 24 to 48 hours previously to planting. 

 This sprouted rice is then planted in the 

 water and mud of the rice fields and re- 

 quires that the field should be made dry 

 until the rice is sufficiently advanced to 

 take a little water. All grasses grow so 

 luxuriantly in our alluvial lands that 

 it seems absolutely necessary to pull 

 these grasses out by hand, and " grassing 

 rice " is one of the conspicuous and ex- 

 pensive features of the culture in our 

 alluvial lands. This British Consular 

 Report may be found interesting and 

 will contain some suggestive points to 

 our Louisiana rice planters. 



GROUNDNUT TRIALS IN THE 

 WEST INDIES. 



(Prom the Agricultural Netvs, Yol. VIII., 

 No.' 187, June 26, 1909.) 



Recognizing that groundnuts might 

 possibly become a valuable source of 

 profit to small holders and others in the 

 West Indies, the Imperial Department 

 of Agriculture has made several efforts 

 to encourage their cultivation on a more 

 extended scale in many of the islands. 

 These efforts have included the introduc- 

 tion and trial of a number of new 

 varieties of nuts from the United States. 



In 1907-8, seed nuts of two new 

 varieties, ' Dixie Giant' (a nut remark- 

 able for its large size), and ' Tennessee 

 Red,' both of which appeared to be pro- 

 mising for West Iudian conditions, were 

 imported and trial plantirgs were made 

 at the Botanic or Experiment Station 

 in St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Dominica, 

 Montserrat, Antigua, and St. Kitt's- 

 Nevis. Unfortunately, however, the 

 results— speaking generally — were not so 

 good as were hoped for. 



In the trials made at St. Vincent in 

 1907, ' Dixie Giant' gave a return at the 

 rate of no more than 5 cwt. per acre, 

 although sown in rich well-manured land. 

 The plants were slightly attacked 

 by a rust fungus. The few seeds of 

 4 Tennessee Red ' that were available 

 germinated badly and died out. 



At St. Lucia, in the same year, a trial 

 was made with the ' Dixie Giant ' ground- 

 nut, and 40 pints of nuts were obtained 

 from 3§ pints of seed. The nuts were 

 harvested in December, but many of them 

 germinated before they were ripe. This 

 indicates that planting should be done at 

 a time to throw the ripening period into 

 the dry season — between February and 

 May. 



At Dominica, where large areas of soil 

 suitable for the cultivation of this 

 crop exist, the two varieties under trial 



in 1907 gave somewhat better results 

 than in some of the other islands. The 

 ' Dixie Giant ' nuts, which were planted 

 early in September, took seventeen 

 weeks to mature, and 6| lb. of cured nuts 

 from 2| lb. of seed. In the case of 

 'Tennessee Red ' 3 oz. of seed yielded 1 lb. 

 3 oz. of nuts. Neither variety was 

 attacked by any pest or disease. 



At Montserrat, in the case of ' Dixie 

 Giant 'only 4 lb. of nuts were obtained 

 from 2£ lb. of seed. Moreover, many of 

 the nuts contained shrivelled kernels. 

 ' Tennessee Red ' did somewhat better. 



Pair results were obtained at Antigua 

 with both the imported kinds in 1907. It 

 is believed, however, that the land was 

 unsuitable, being too heavy for the crop. 

 The foliage of the plants was much 

 attacked by caterpillars. 



At St. Kitt's, the groundnut plants 

 grew well, and developed a large amount 

 of foliage. Unsatisfactory weather, how- 

 ever, interfered with the proper matur- 

 ing of the produce. 



The experiments with groundnuts were 

 continued in 1908 at the same centres. In 

 addition to the ' Dixie Giant ' and ' Ten- 

 nessee Red,' two other kinds, viz., 

 ' Spanish ' and ' Carolina Running,' both 

 imported from the United States, were 

 included in the trials. The 'Spanish' 

 is a very small nut, but one that in the 

 United States is very popular, both 

 among growers, and on the market. It 

 grows well on poor soil, and takes but a 

 comparatively short time to mature its 

 produce. The plants are of an erect 

 habit. ' Carolina Running ' is reported 

 to be a prolific bearer in the States, and 

 yields nuts of a fairly large size. 



At St. Lucia the four kinds of nuts 

 were planted in Occober, 1908, but the 

 results proved dissappointing. ' Carolina 

 Running' was the only variety which 

 germinated well and produced a crop 

 which was harvested on February 

 11, 1909. The yield was at the rate of 

 504 lb. per acre. 



The report on the trials made at 

 Dominica states that the soil on which 

 the groundnuts were grown, was 

 carefully prepared beforehand. With 

 the exception of the plot on which 

 the 'Dixie Giant' nuts were planted, 

 the soil was very light and fine 

 in texture, which offers the most 

 favourable conditions for this crop. 

 The land planted with 'Dixie Giant' 

 nuts was of comparatively heavy natuie, 

 and this, no doubt, had a detrimental 

 effect upon the yield of nuts obtained. 



All the four kinds of nuts were sown 

 in July. The ' Spanish,' ' Carolina Run 

 ning ' and ' Tennessee Red ' varieties 



