October, 1909.] 



315 



Edible Products. 



the old canes ofyore. Now there is such 

 a variety of good and rich cane that 

 every estate owner can choose the variety 

 which best suits the quality of his land, 

 or his climate, and even suit the time 

 when he wants to harrvest them. He can 

 choose early ripening varieties for the 

 beginning of his crop, and late ripening 

 ones for the end, and so dispose during 

 the whole course of his grinding time of 

 green, fresh and sound cane at its highest 

 point of sugar content and vigour. Not 

 contented with the results already ob- 

 tained, Mr. Kobus is steadily busy breed- 

 ing new varieties in order to replace the 

 existing ones if perchance these might in 

 their turn degenerate or become attacked 

 by some new infectious or other disease. 



This brilliant success accounts a great 

 deal for the excellent Java returns of 

 the last few years, and we can safely say 

 that the sereh disease has not only total- 

 ly disappeared, but has had the un- 

 expected advantage of providing Java 

 with a supply of canes much better and 

 more resistant against drought or wet 

 weather, against insects and disease, 

 than has any other country, and, more- 

 over, has the experience in how to create 

 new varieties if the existing ones fail. 

 It is obvious that only tropical countries, 

 where the cane attains its full maturity 

 and flowers every year, can obtain the 

 same results, and that for non-tropical 

 countries the raising of new varieties 

 will meet with much more difficulty. 



TIMBERS. 



TREE PLANTING AT ANTIGUA. 



(Prom the Agricultural Neivs, Vol. 

 VIII., No. 185, May, 1909.) 



Compared with many other of the 

 West Indian islands, Antigua is singu- 

 larly destitute of woodland, or even of 

 small groves of trees. This lack of suit- 

 able vegetation tends to give the hill- 

 sides and waste places a somewhat barren 

 appearance, and the lack of shelter that 

 would be provided by extensive wooded 

 areas increases the tendency of the 

 island to suffer from drought. Tree 

 planting on a large scale would not only 

 improve the appearance of the landscape, 

 and provide a source of timber and fuel, 

 but would also be of advantage in provid- 

 ing shelter belts of woodland, and have 

 a certain amount of influence in modify- 

 ing the dryness of the atmospheric con- 

 ditions, and economising the water 

 supply by reducing evaporation. 



Some efforts in this direction have been 

 made by the Agricultural Department, 

 and two afforestation plots have been 

 started in the neighbourhood of the 

 Botanic Station. One is situated to the 

 north of the Station, and is about H 

 acres in extent, The second plot is to 

 the east of the station, and about j-mile 

 distant. It is some 2| acres in area. 



The plots were established in 1902 ; the 

 soil is poor in both, and they are fully 

 exposed to the prevailing trade winds. 

 They had received very little cultivation 

 at the time of planting, and are similar in 

 character to the bare hillsides in the 

 island, so that from the progress which 

 the trees have made, some deductions 

 can be drawn as to the results which 

 would probably follow tree planting on 

 other waste spots. 



The plot situated to the north of the 

 Botanic Station has made the best 

 growth, and the shelter that it at 

 present affords to the Station has had a 

 markedly beneficial effect. In the year 

 1907-8, the growth of the trees in the plot 

 to the east of the Botanic Station 

 showed marked improvement. It would 

 appear, however, that it is advisable, in 

 planting trees on land where the soil is 

 poor and the situation exposed, to give 

 a greater amount of cultivation during 

 the first years of their growth than was 

 given to the two plots attached to the 

 Botanic Station. The results so far 

 attained also indicate that expenditure, 

 within reasonable limits, on starting 

 woodlauds in bare districts of these 

 islands will, in course of time, be amply 

 repaid, in view of the advantages to be 

 derived from their establishment. 



In 1905, two wind-breaks of forest trees 

 were planted to the north-east and 

 south-east of the Antigua Botanic 

 Station. These have made good growth, 

 and now afford considerable shelter to 

 the gardens. 



The efforts that have been made on 

 Arbor Day in each year to encourage an 

 iuterest in planting out young trees, on 

 the part of all classes of the community, 

 have also had good effect. In this way 

 laige numbers of young trees have been 

 planted in the Victoria Park, aud at 

 other spots in and around the town. 



The example which has thus been set 

 would appear to have encouraged a 

 considerable amount of interest in tree 

 planting at Antigua, and numerous 

 enquiries are received at the Botanic 

 Station on the subject. Mr. Thomas 

 Jackson, Curator of the Station, haa 

 lately sent in some interesting and 



