756 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [May 1, 1900. 
PLANTING IN THE WEST INDIES. 
DR. morris's plans. 
An agricultural Conference wa.s lield in Barba- 
dos in January, under the presidency of Dr. Mor- 
ris, Commissioner of tlie Imperial Department of 
Agriculture for the West Indies, who described 
in his address the expeiimental work which was 
being done in the at;ricultural interests of tlie 
West Indies. In the sugar industry, for example, 
beside the raising of new canes and the cheapen- 
ing of the manufacture, there was t!ie reduction 
of the cost of cultivation to be eo sidered, and 
it was expected that the present costly system of 
manuring might be modilied without affecting 
the yield. The value of green manuring for fer- 
tilising cane lands was to be rc-exainined, and 
the cost of cultivation might also be leduced by 
increased attention to rotation and catch crops, 
thus growing to a larger extent than at present 
the food stuffs and supplies imported from other 
countries. Next to sugar, cacao is the most im- 
portant production of the West Indies, Trinidad's 
export of that product showing a steady increase 
in value year by year. This is an industry tint 
otters good profit to the planter ; it requires little 
labour, compared with sugar, and is adapted for 
large and small cultivators. At Grenada, St. 
Lucia and Dominica, where many small growcis 
have already started planting cacao, the Imjic- 
rial Department will afi'onl advice and assistance 
by means of travelling instructors, atid establish 
model plots in each district as object lessons in 
the right methods of cultivation. A new coffee 
estate of about 200 acres, at an elevation of 2,500 
feet, has been opened in Dominica by a Ceylon 
cott'ee planter. If this undertaking should be suc- 
cessful, Dominica may regain its former position 
as the producer of some of the finest coffee in the 
New World. The first-class coffee grown in the 
Blue mountains of Jamaica lias been little affected 
by the recent fall in piices. Fruit cultivation 
continues to expand i!i Jamaica, and producers 
througiiout the island must at once make arrange- 
ments to meet opportunities, which will arise, of 
Bhipping large quantities of fruit, wlien the new 
direct steamship service .shall comnienco ia Janu- 
ary next, for it is understood tl;at the owners of 
the steamers are to be purcliasars of produce and 
not merely carriers. While bananas and oranges 
will be the principal products taken, there wiil 
be an increasing demand for many of the minor 
products which are at present luxuries iu the En- 
glish markets, and cultivators will do well to ex- 
tend their plantations, pacing the greatest at- 
tention to the quality of their produce. — Imperial 
Institute Journal. 
THE DELGOLLA ESTATE CO., LD., 
(IN LIQUIDATION.) 
The liquidation of this estate by Mr. 
Munton is now closed, and the result is a 
loss on realisation of about Rl35,00y out of 
the capital of R220,000. The shareholders 
have, iu other words, had about RloS^ paid 
back for each paid-up share of R400. At one 
time, Delgolla seemed a most promising 
property, having not only flourishing cacao, 
but also coconut palms ; but the cacao proved 
a great disappointment after a few years, 
and a purchaser liaving been found for the 
estate, it seemed very wise '>l liquidate. Mr. 
John Guthrie has audited the liquidator's 
ftccounts and all is now closed. 
TEA CROPS AND MANURING. 
Once again we are indebted to Me.ssrs. 
Freudenberg & Co. and Mr. Joseph Fraser 
for the results of the very careful and 
elaborate series of inaniu'iug experiments 
made by the latter on Pitakande estate. 
(See page T-jI ) This is the second year 
of the experiments. Planters who file our 
montldy ought to refer to the May ntnnber 
of last year for t!ie analyses of the average 
of the severjil plots, to compare with that 
of No 6 [)lot by Mr. Cochran, given on 
page 75:3. Mr. jj'rasei-'s own remarks on 
the results will be specially considered ; but 
it is evident th.it the observ.itioiis nuist be 
continued fur one ortwoye;ir.s more, before 
any very definite conclusions are arrived at. 
In this connection we also call attention to a 
couple of letters arising out of our recent 
article on "M.iauring " and "Overproduction" 
• — see page lol. 8ome of these are suggestive 
and useful. Two writers seem to shew that, 
lea-ving out "tea not in bearing," the aver- 
age production iier acre has, on the whole, 
increased. It seems not to be realized that 
we had ;i practical piu'pose in viev.^ we insist 
tliat the aereag.? of tea ])laiited on rorest-land, 
evesi iu liigh districts, is appi'eciablc ; that 
there are absent proprietors and shareiiolders 
who are liable to be carried away by the 
general cry for '•manuring" and that it is 
worth while to shew such proprietors— getting 
probably not less than 500 lb. tea per ax;re— 
that they ought to leave well alone and take 
encouragement from the old field on Loole- 
condura. Very different is the case of the 
estates on which Mr. Fiaser has been 
experimenting : but, on the other hand, we 
are bound to put his opinion on record, as 
now sent to us, to the effect that " generally 
all tea at medium and low elevations wiil 
have to be manured if yield and quality are 
to be kept up, even if jjlanted in vii'gin soil. 
The forcing and exhaustive nature of the 
climate is so great at these elevations, both 
in regard to organic matter and solub.le or 
available plant food, that the yield sooner or 
later invariably falls off." 
Laugh Cf.dars of Liobaxon'.— On p. 106 of the 
Gardeners' Chronicle reference was made to the.'^e 
noble trees, from Transacticnis of English Arbori- 
cultural Society, vol., part ii. " Dimensions were 
given of different trees, the one growing at West 
Wycombe being stated to have a quarter girth 
of 71 iiichcs, or nearly 24 feet at 5 feet in cir- 
cumference from the ground, the larg(.>st Cedar 
ever seen by any arboriculturist present when the 
trees were inspected last August." It may in- 
terest ihose gentlemen, or other readers of these 
pages, to learn tiiat at Goodwood may be seen, 
without doubt, the finest specimen in the country. 
It lias one clean stem, the girth at 5 feet from 
the ground being no less than 29 feet 6 inches. At 
this point, liowever, it is where the massive limb 
cnnnience to divert from tlie stem. The smallest 
measurement of the latter taken at 3 feet 
from the ground, exceeds 25 feet 11 inches. The 
height is rather more than 100 feet; spread of 
branches 130 feet. This specimen, together with 
many others, was planted in 176D. Richard Par- 
ker, Goodwood, — Gardeners' Chronicle, 
