43* 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [December i, X889 
tssssasssssssssssssssas i r i i u j = 
wards about 15 miles, some distance beyond Bodden 
Town. S ed is con.-tantly brought from the mainland 
and the inhabitants have been most persevering in 
their efforts to re-establish their coco-cut walks, but 
it is of no avail. A grove may do well for a time, 
and produce a crop of fruit, but suddenly it is attacked, 
the disease often first seizing the tallest and finest 
palm. Or, again, the palms may all die off when they 
are from 6 to 10 feet high, without producing any 
fruit. The disease is quite independent of the direc- 
tion of the wind, travelling as often against it as with 
it. The outer leaves first show signs of the disease, 
gradually turning yellow, but I had several palms cut 
down, and invariably found that it was the bud leaves 
which were actually affected at the apex, and as the 
disease gained ground the outer leaves lost their green 
oolour. Sometimes on cutting the stem right through 
just above the ground, it appeared perfectly untaiued 
and smelt and tasted sweet. At other times when the 
disease had made more progress, though the stem 
section looked white, it smelt and tasted sour, and 
this occurred even when only the upper portion of the 
"cabbage" was discoloured. The discoloured portions 
Were of a purplish b ack colour, eventually becoming 
quite black. There was no sign of either the scale 
insect or the beetle which attack the Cuco-uut Palm 
in Jamaica. In the early stages of the disease there 
is no appearance of an insect, hut after decay has set 
in, various insects may be 'ound such as ants a small 
beetle called the "coco-nut fly" and a white larva 
which may be that of the coco-nut fly. The only 
remedy that I cau suggest is to take up each diseased 
coco nut palm by the roots and burn the whole of it, 
n ot, stem and leaves on the spot were it was growing. 
To oe effectual, it should be made compulsory by a 
local regulation, and some one should be appointed 
to tbiok that this plan is the only chance of getting 
rid of it. And, I repeat, every single diseased palm 
without any exception, where it is found, must be 
exterminated. I suspect that the disease is due to the 
presence of a bacterium, and it is possible that it may 
gain access to the tissues through the stomata of the 
tender bud-leaves. Lime and phosphate probably en- 
courage the disease, and it would be well to try the 
application of cattle-manure by digging it in round 
round the roots, or, if this is not available, decaying 
weeds and other vegetable matter. 
I creased attention might be given to various 
products, and a fair trial made of the cultivation of 
coffee. Common or Arabian Ooffee appeared to do 
well, but it shou'd be p'anted under shade trees. 
Liberian Ooffee would no doubt succeed much better 
than Arabian and sell well in American markets. In 
Johore Liberian Ooffee from the 3rd to the 4th year 
yields about 3 cvvts. p^r acre, and after that from 
5 to 6 cwts. If any persons wish to start this culti- 
vation, seed could be supplied from the Jamaica Gar- 
dens. Information as to planting, &o„ is given in the 
Jamaica Bulletins Nos. 4, 5 and 6, and though these 
articles refer to Arabian Coffee grown on the moun- 
tains, the general method of cultivation can be easily 
ascertained and applied to Liberian Coffee grown at 
sea-level. Hand-pulping Machines are made by ordinary 
carpenters in Jamaica and could therefore be made 
also in the Cayman Islands from a pattern. It would 
probably be advisable to export common coffee in 
parchment, but Liberian Coffee should be thoroughly 
cleaned. (See Kew Bulletin, No. 23, Nov. 1888.) 
In cultivating products beyond the actual needs 
of the inhabitants, it will be well to give the first 
place to such as not only suit both soil and climate, 
but also are readily exported to foreigu markets. For 
instance, probably no island in the West Indies is more 
suitable for the cultivation of pine-apples, if well 
drained ar :is are chosen for planting, but the fruit 
does not la t lcug, and the means of transport are 
both limited and uncertain. It is not advisable there- 
fore to extend the cultivation of anything quickly 
perishable, unlp s it can be preserved by some means. 
Prepared articias 1 : k o arrowroot, tapioca, guava jelly, 
can easily be stored until favourable opportunities 
occur for exporting them. Again, there is a good 
market for yams at Colon and Port Limon; the value 
of this export in Jamaica has risen from £48 4s. 3d. 
in 1881 to £15,978 18s. 3d. in 1887. Banauas, O auges, 
and Mangoes would pay well, if there were schooners 
sailing regularly to New Orleans. 
W. Fawcett, 
Director of Public Gardens and Plantations, Jamaica. 
♦ 
THE SPROUTING OF SEEDS. 
We take the following condensed summaries "On 
the influence of Certain Conditions upon the Sprouting 
of Seeds," from the July Bulletin of the Agricultural 
Experiment Station, Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y., 
wherein, with a few to determine, will be found full 
details of the experiments made on the circumstances 
and conditions affecting germination, and a discussion 
on the results obtained : — 
Influences of Constant and Vanible Temperatures. — 
Different results are obtained from the same sample 
of seeds under different variations of temperature, of 
which the daily mean is essentially the same. — 
Sprouting takes place more quickly under essentially 
constant temperature of about 74° than under a tem- 
perature ordinarily variable, which gives about the 
same mean.— Rapidity of sprouting is particularly 
marked in Beans and Peas, — As the mean temper- 
ature becomes lower, rapidity of Sprouting becomes 
slower. — Greater rapidity of sprouting does not ap- 
pear to be correlate ! with greater per cent, of total 
sprouting — Constant temperature, of the degree here 
mentioned, does not appear to give greater percentages 
of sprouting; at least, the variation in this respect 
between the constant and variable temperatures is no 
greater than that which is usually obtained from tests 
conducted under identical conditions. In the seven 
tests with Beans, however, there is an average gain 
of 5 per cent, in favour of those under constant 
temperature. 
Influences of Different Quantities of Water upon 
Sprouting.— The quantity of water applied to seeds 
under test may make a remarkable difference in the 
results.— Sprouting is decidedly more rapid in tests 
which receive less than the usual amounts of water 
given in greenhouses. This is markedly the case in 
all the tests, with the expection of three indifferent 
and comparatively unimportant instances. — Per cent, 
of sprouting is much greater, as a rule, in the drier 
tests. — The addition of water above the amount to 
keep the earth simply moist, is injurious.— The wide 
differences between the results of the wet and moist 
tests are not necessarily due to the routing of the 
seeds in the wet tests. This is shown in the tests 
with Cucumber seeds, in which the drier tests gave 
similar or even smaller totals than the wet tests. 
Influences of the Soaking of Steals before Sowing.— 
Great gain in rapidity of sprouting, counting from 
the time of planting, may be expected as a rule, if 
seeds are previously soaked in water ; and the longer 
the seeds are soaked, within reasonable limits, the 
greater is usually the gain in rapidity of sprouting. 
This fact is interesting, in face of the experience that 
very profuse watering after sowing gives an opposite 
result. — This gain in rapidity of sprouting in soaked 
samples is really fictitious, however, inasmuch as ger- 
mination actually begins in the soaked seeds before 
the dry samples are sown. In truth, the soaked seeds 
are sown earlier than the dry ones. If this advance 
in period of sowing is added to the date of sowing 
of the dry seeds, it will be found that dry seeds, as 
a rule, sprout fully as early as soaked seeds, and 
many times much earlier. — Total amount of sprouting 
does not appear to be influenced by soaking. — Similar 
results are not to be expected from all species of plants. 
Influences of Character of Soil upon Sprouting. — 
"Variations in' results of testing may sometimes be ex- 
pected in consequence of character of soil in which 
the tests are made. In the present instance, low re- 
sults in potting soil as compared with tests in sand, 
appear to be due to the greater amount of water 
held in the earth, causing the seeds to rot. The 
results may, therefore, be studied in connection with 
those upon the influence of varying amounts of 
watering. 
