•2G-2 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



December 6, 1&02. 



EDITORIAL NOTICES. 



Letters and matter for puljlication, as well as all 

 siieeiiiieiis for iiaiiiiii;;; slumld Ue atlilres.se(l to the Commis- 

 sioner, Imperial Department of Agriculture, 

 Barbados. 



It is [lartieularly requested that no letters be addressed 

 to any member of the staB' liy name Siieh a eourse may 

 entail delay. 



Communications should always be written on one side 

 of tlie paper only. It should be understood that no contri- 

 butions or specimens will, in any case, be returned. 



All application for copies of the 'Agricultural 

 News' should be addressed to the Agents, and 



not to the Department. A complete list of tlie London 

 and Local agents will be found on jiage 272 of this 

 number. 



Corresj)ondents sending newspapers should lie careful to 

 mark the paragraphs they wish to bring under notice. 



gl0ricultural ^leiuH 



Vol. I. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1902. Xo. 17. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Requests for Information. 



On November 10, a correspondent in Trinidad 

 wiotc asking to be supplied, 'either directly, or 

 through the columns of the Aqriciiltiirftl A^eicn, with 

 an analysis of caeoa-nut maal.' In response to his 

 recpiest the notes on page 259 of this number have 

 l)ecn published. The Dejiartiiicnt is prepared to supply 

 whenever possible, inforniatiou on agricultural questions, 

 and the ooliinms of the A(/ri((dtar(il A^cics afford a 

 leady means of giving a wide })ublipity to facts of 

 interest throughout the West Indies. We trust otlier 

 leaders will avail themselves of this method of obtain- 

 ing help on any matters, in wliic^h it may lie within 

 the jiouiT ol this Department to assist them. 



School Gardens. 



In our last issue we drew attention to the 

 promising condition of one School Garden in St. Lucia, 

 recently started and carried on by the energy of 

 nian.iger, le.ieher and scholars. At Trinidad the niove- 

 ment was taken up earlier, and it is gratifying to find 

 that there are now 14!) school gardens in the Colony, of 

 which no loss than 78 were of sufficient merit to obtain 

 the (Government l^onus at the last examination. Some 

 of the faults in the gardens and the best metiiods of 

 remedying them are ilealt with on page 209. 



Pests on Lime Trees at Dominica. 



The scale insects which did so much h;inu to lime 

 cultivation in Mont.serrat some years ago, though 

 present in Dominica, do not yet seriously affect the 

 trees, and the}' may never do so as the climatic condi- 

 tions appear adver.se to their rapid increase. While 

 this is a subject for congrattilation, it must not be 

 assumed that the lime trees in Dominica are free from 

 pests inimical to plant life. The climatic conditions 

 which tend to keep in check scale insects specially 

 fiivoiu' fungoid growths, and it is from this quarter that 

 the lime cultivation in Dtiminica is already suffering. 

 If measures are not taken to combat their attacks, the 

 matter will probably become very serious to ])lantei-s 

 in a few years. 



In the majority of cases these fungoid attacks are 

 due to carelessness in pruning, and in omitting to apply 

 covering such as coal tar to the fresh wounds. In 

 many instances in prtuiing the trees, no att<'mpt is 

 made to cut or saw off branches close to the main stem, 

 but usually .about a foot of stem is left. This dies, and 

 is at once attacked by a fungus, which establishes itself, 

 spreads to the living tissues and slowly, but surely, 

 kills the tree. 



Planters often do not realize the real cause of the 

 ill health of their trees, because the ill effeets which 

 follow bad pruning are not visible to the eye for some 

 long time after the fungus has gaiiu'cl an entr}-. 

 Planters would do well to look carefully into this 

 matter, and adopt remedial measures to plants now 

 suffering. They should prune luore carefully in futvire, 

 and regularly a)ij)ly some covering to all wounds and 

 cuts on the trees. For a fuller discussion on this 

 question see the pamphlet Hciwrnl Tirdtmcni of 

 Fun<j()id I'i'stf', recently issued by tliis l)e])artment. 



Creosoted Timber in the West Indies. 



In those tropical countries where hard wood i.s 

 unobtainable, the use of creosoted timber is to be com- 

 mended. A good illustration of its value is to be .seen 

 in the case of the tele])hoiU' system in Antigua. Here 

 ordinary ])itch ]»ine was formei'ly used for posts, when 

 it was f lund necessary to renew the lines about every 

 three years. 



Creosoted pitch pine j)osts were tried and somo 

 have now been in use for five years, and are still 

 perfecti}' good and ap])ear safe for some years to come. 

 Although costing mori' in the first instance, there 

 is considerable economy in the long run. 



The imj)ortation of creosoted pitch pine in the 

 ordinarv course of business is to be desired, it would 

 then tiuil extensive^ a])i)licatiori in buihiing, for tlofir 

 joists, sills and similiu- work, as well as work exposed to 

 the weather, such as fencing. 



A brief review of a recent publication dealing with 

 the general question of the decay oi' timber is given on 

 page 01 of this Journal. 



