ToL. 1. Xo. 10. 



THE AGKICULTUE.\L NEWS. 



155 



TRIXIDAD: BULLETIN OF ^fISCELLANEOUS 

 I^'FOR^fATIOX, JULY 1902. Edited l.y My. J. H. 

 Hart, F.L.S. 



Mr. Hart Iia.s continued the puljiication of this quarterly 

 Bulletin for .several years, and he desei-ves great credit for the 

 time and attention devoted to it. The present number is 

 fully equal to its |)redecessors and contains a mass of infor- 

 mation of a usefnl character. It is recorded that a slight 

 quantity of the dust from the recent volcanic eruptions fell 

 at Trinidad and the sky line was obscured Iiy a tliick fog. 

 The seismograph at tlie St. Clair Station registered only 

 'small disturbances.' Jlr. Hart states that, as the result of 

 the comparatively small e.Kjieriments with .seedling canes at 

 St. Clair, 'the Harliados Seedling B. 208 stands at the 

 head of the list for sugar contents as grown side by side 

 with the Trinidad varieties.' 



SIR A ITS SETTLEMENTS .- A GRIC UL TURA L 

 BULLETIN. 



This is a comparatively new monthly publication edited 

 by Mr. H. N. llidley, M.A., F.L.S., Director of P.otanical 

 Gardens and Forests in the Straits Settlements. 



It contains interesting notes on the cultivation of 

 rubber and gutta percha trees, timber trees and other 

 important economic productions of the far East. In the 

 number for .June, 1902, ]Mr. Fvidley discusses plants yielding 

 volatile oils likely to be remunerative in tlie Straits and 

 Federal Malay States. The trade and market rei)orts, as 

 also the meteorological reports are useful features of this 

 Bulletin. 



LE CACAO, SA CULTURE ET SA PREPARA- 

 TION. By Dr. Paul Preuss. Augustin Challamel, Paris, 

 1902. 



This work consists of an extract, in French, of a larger 

 treatise by Dr. Preuss entitled Eipeflltion narh Central uiul 

 Siid-Amerika, and deals solely witli the growing and curing 

 of cacao. In its jiresent form it will no doubt 1)g more 

 accessible to West Indian readers than in the fuller German 

 edition. 



As the local practice both as regards cultivation and 

 curing vary a good deal in various parts of tropical America, 

 the author treats the subject under the various localities 

 visited. Thus there are seiiarate chapters on cacao in 

 Surinam, Trinidad and Grenada, Venezuela, Ecuador and 

 Central America. The work is well printed and illustrated 

 and forms a most valuable contributiim to the literature of 

 the subject. All interested in cacao whether as planters or 

 as experimenters, should find time to study this work so as 

 to obtain a comprehensive view of the pre.sent condition of 

 cacao culture in the New World. 



FEEDS AND FEEDING— A HAND-BOOK FOR 

 THE STUDENT AND STOCK.UAN. By Professor 

 W. A. Henry, Director uf the Wisconsin A<jriei(l(iiral Experi- 

 ment Station. 



During late years a large number of experiments on the 

 feeding of animals have been carried out at the Experiment 

 Stations of the United States, Germany and elsewhere, the 

 results of which are to be found in the numerous Imlletin.s 

 issued by these Stations. For the most part they are inac- 

 cessible to the general [lublic. The need therefore of a modern 

 work on the subject in which all these results are collected 

 and set out in such a manner as to appeal to the practical 

 man is evident. It is to till this distinct gap in the literature 

 of the subject that the author has put forward the volume 

 before u.s, a work of more than 600 pages. 



The book is divided into three jiarts, — animal nutrition, 

 feeding stuffs, and the feeding of farm animals, the two 

 former being of more immediate interest to the student than 

 the _ farmer. In the section dealing with feeding those 

 portions concerning the horse and dairy cow will proliably be 

 of greatest use to West Indian readers. It is interesting to 

 note that the American exiierience as to the value of 

 condiments in stock feed is negative, no advantage in their 

 use Ijcing shown in the exiieriments. We cordially recom- 

 mend this volume to all interested in stock in these Colonies 

 as a valuable work of reference for the practical agriculturist. 

 It should also find a place in the various public libraries in 

 the West Indies. We may add that the work is published by 

 the author at Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America, 

 at .'J2.00 per copy. 



ST. VINCENT SOUFRIHRE. 



We have receive<l from The Times Printing Office, 

 S^t. Vincent, a small pamphlet containing 'An account of the 

 Eruptions of the St. ^'incent Soufriere (with wood cuts) by 

 Mr. P. Foster Huggins.' This is an interesting record of the 

 events that accompanied the eruirtions of 1812 and 1902 

 with, in addition, a table of soundings in the crater lake in 

 1896 and 1900 and two diagrams showing sections through, 

 the Soufriere mountain fi'om East to West. 



TROPICA L A GRIC UL TURIST. 



This 'Monthly ;\[agazine of information regarding 

 products suited for cultivation in the Troi»ies' has just} 

 conqileted its twenty-first year. It is published at the 

 Observer Ofiice Ceylon, and is one of the bsst known publi- 

 cations devoted to tropical agriculture. We heartily 

 congratulate ilessrs. Ferguson on their long-continued and 

 successful efforts to assist planting industries in the tropics. 



Insect Moults. Insects on hatchinj; from the eo-^ 

 are very small and grow in size as they become older. The 

 outer skin being only elastic to a certain extent dt>e.s not 

 allow of a great growth in size, and so has to be periodically 

 shed as the size of the body increases. This oiieration of 

 skin-casting is generally known as moulting. The whole of 

 the harder outer layer of the body is throwni off, togetlier with 

 the lining of the air tubes and the alinientary canal. The 

 insect then emerges with a white soft .skin which allows for a 

 certain amount of expansion. The number of moults during 

 the life of an insect is very variable in different species, 

 amounting in some to as many as twenty-five. More gener- 

 ally the number lies between four and eight, but is dependent 

 on a variety of conditions. 



