Feb. 1, 1904.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
509 
home bullocks with loads of firewooa or poles and 
palm leaves for new hats. Farther down the street 
are the shops of the silk or cloth seller, the brass 
and tin workers, and countless provision shops. 
Here and there in the midille of the broad street 
squat groups of pearl cutters, whose business it is on 
small wooden tables and with a primitive bow-drill 
to pierce pearls for stringing and to cut into some- 
thing like presentable roundness the rough iiregulur 
pearl-like lumps which are found not in the flesh of 
the oyster, but attached to the inside of the shell. 
THE BREAK-UP OF THE CAMP. 
So for some two months the business goes on, till 
the divers are worn out by diving and the pearl 
merchants are satiated with their purchases. Then 
the Government Agent is appealed to to proclaim the 
closing of the camp, and when he does so almost 
in a day the whole big population " fold their tenta 
like the Arabs and as silently steal away," and in 
a very few days the once busy camp is left only to 
the jaikals to scavenge up the refuse and to prowl 
among the great mounds of fresh oyster shells which 
have just been added to the accumalatious of so 
many years' fishing. 
FUTURE IMPROVEMENTS IN THE FISHEBY, 
The whole thing is intensely interesting and 
picturesque, but afterwards it leaves much to think 
about and much to hope for, 'i he thing has been 
going on in the same way for centuries, and would so 
oontiiiue if the busy Western mind were not now 
taming to thoughts of how to improve on this old 
system, to make the harvest of the sea more regular 
in its occurrence, to economize the present vast ex- 
penditure of human energy now wasted in fetching 
up the oysters from the depth of the sea, and to 
extract the peai Is from the oysters with greater 
rapidity, certainty, and with greater security that 
the Government gets its proper share, and with 
greater regard to sanitary conditions. 
The whole thing is now at last about to change, 
and the points which I have just enumerated are 
to be attended to. Professor Heidman, with Mr. 
Hornell, is about to give ns a long and full report 
on their careful investigations of the life-history ofl 
the pearl oyster in these seas ; they are about to tel 
ua why the crop is so uncertain, and how it may be 
made more continuous. Mr. Dixon and others are 
busy in bringing to fruition certain schemes for 
dredging up the oysters and for mechanical extraction 
of the pearl from the gathered oysters, 
GROUND NUTS IN THE WEST 
INDIES. 
Blf WILLIAM G, FREEMAN, A.K.C.S., B.,SO., F.L.S., 
Soieutifio Assistant, Imperial Department of Agricul- 
ture for the West Indies, 
The ground nut, known also by a variety of other 
names such as earth nut, pea nut, monkey nut, piudar 
and pistache (Martinique and Guadeloupe), Erdnuss 
and Bcrfief/it/ (German), is the fruit of Araclds luj/jogaea, 
Linn, an annual trailing plant of the Leguminous 
order (Lerjuminosae). The ground nut ia now grown 
throughout the tropics, the United States and in 
Southern Europe. It has been cultivated for such a 
long period that no records exist as to its native country 
and indirect evidence has to be sought. The genua 
Arachis contains biAt seven species, and six of these 
are definitely known to be natives of Brazil. This 
and other evidence points to Brazil being the native 
country of the ground nut, the only other member of 
the, genus. The plant is remarkable for its habit of 
burying its seed pods in the ground to ripen. This 
fact, whilst of interest from a natural hiatory point 
of view, is also of economic importance, as it inoreaacs 
very conaiderably the oost of harveatiug the crop. 
The general characters of foliage, flower and fruit 
are sufficiently well indicated in the illustra- 
tion. The plant naturally trails on the surface 
of the ground. In some varieties the pods are borne 
along the trailing branches or vines, whilst in others 
they occur mainly at the base of the main stem. This 
apparently unimportant difference ia also of economic 
value, as the varieties bearing pods along the vines 
are more troublesome to harvest than the others. 
Ground nuts are cultivated to a limited extent 
in various parts of the West Indies. At present tbey 
are grown mainly for their value as an article of diet, 
whilst their more important use as a source of oil for 
cookiug purposes and as a source of oil-cake is practi- 
cally ignored. In view of the very large importation 
of oil, oil-cake and oil-meal into these colonies, it 
would seem that more attention might be given to the 
cultivation of this plant, not necessarily in the first 
instance for export purposes but to satisfy homo 
demands and to help, to some degree, towards that 
self-support which has so often been urged on West 
Indian planters, as one of their first duties in the 
present period of depression. 
The objects of this paper are (1) to bring together the 
ascertained facts relative to the cultivation and use of 
the ground nut as at present practised in the West 
Indies ; (2) to describe the uses made of the plant in 
the West Indies and also in other parts of the world ; 
(3) to endeavour to indicate how the locally grown 
ground nut might be utilized to replace some of the 
expensive imported oil-meals, etc.; (4) to diacuaa the 
value of ground nuts as an article of export. 
CULTIVATION. 
Soil. — A light, well tilled soil appears the most 
suitable for the ground nut, and lime ia apparently 
essential. When the nuts are intended for export, for 
dessert purposes, they should preferably be grown on a 
light-coloured soil ; dark soils spoil the appearance of 
the husks, and lovter the value of the nuts sometimes 
by as much as £1 per ton. Ground nuts thrive well on 
ight, rich, volcanic soils in St. Vincent, on poor, friable, 
calcareous soils on the windward coast of Barbados, 
and on sandy soils at Oarriaoou. Good crops have also 
been obtained on heavy black land both in Barbados 
and Grenada, but in these cases the cost of harvesting 
the crop is very heavy. 
Preparation of the Soil. — The land is usally well 
tilled, with hoe and fork, lo a depth of about six 
inches. This is best done before the rainy season sets 
in. A supply of pen manure ia often added, either 
immediately before sowing the ground nuts, or during 
the cultivation of a previous crop. One grower, for 
instance, in Barbados, practices a rotation of ground 
nuts and yams ; he manures the ground well each , 
time before planting yams, but does not directly 
manure the nuts. 
Planting Season. — A moist condition of the ground 
being essential for the germination and tne successful 
growth of the young plants, seed is usually sown before 
the onset of the rainy season. At St. Kitt's the planta 
meet with most success if planted in May, and in 
Barbados and Carriacon J une is the usual month. On 
the other hand, Mr. L. C. Thorpe of Pointe Mnlatre, 
Djminica, reports good results from American seed 
sown iu September, the crop being reaped in the 
following March. 
Soii;inij. —The nuts are shelled and the seeds set from 
one to three feet apart, and about three inches deep. 
At Carriacou tlje widest planting is in vogue and the 
seeds are sown two together. At other :localitie3 
they are usually sown singly, and closer together. 
Some cultivators soak the husked seeds for about two 
hours before planting, but this practice is not generally 
adopted. The seeds are covered with soil, lightly 
pressed down by the foot and a little loose mould is 
sometimes raked over the impress of the fjot to 
prevent the sun " caking the soil and hiuderiug the 
spring of the young shoots, 
