



A FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW 



OF THE 



IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR THE WEST INDIES. 



Vol XVIII. No. 438. 



BARBADOS. FEBRUARY 8, 1919. 



Price Id. 



Almvib Cuba 4.S 



Acacia Seeds, Vitality of 41 

 Agriculture in Barbados 43 

 Oamphov Tree? in the \\ est 



Indies — A Correction 41 ' 

 Cotl'ee, Toxic Piincijilet. uf 41 

 Cot.tfin: — 

 CotK'K Legislation in 



St Vincent ;!8 



<' •tt.n Seed DistriVjiirion 



ill Kgypt :W 



Se;i. Island Cotton Market 3S 

 Sh;( Island Cotton Pr'>- 

 ■ liiction in the West 



Indies 



Department News 



Departmental Repon^ 

 Ep 'ki.iic, A Curious Local 



Gleanings 



(Tra.>se> for Paper-niakini;, 



South African 



Insect Notes: — • 



Suggestions lia- Mosquit ■. 

 Control in a West 

 Indian Island ... ... 



Page. Pa 



Items of Local Interest ... 

 Liming, Effect of on ('rop 



Yidds 



Maizi- Inter-cropped "with 



LtL;umes 



Market Reports 



.Moulds in the Soil, The 



Actiiin of ... 



Note.- and Comments ... 



Paper Yarn 



Plant Diseases: — 



Tli.^ Root Disease or Red 

 Viin'j Disease of Coco- 

 nut Palms 



.■5S» .Sisal Cultivation in British 



:')' East Africa 



4.T .Sterilization <£ Seed-Beds 

 Sugar Industry: — 



Tin- Standardi/ati.ui -r 



Miil.-isses 



Tlic Sugar Fact, iries in 



Antijjua and St. Kitis 

 1 tili,:ation of Mc'asses 

 Vam Cultivation. An 

 Experiuient in 



4:: 



41 



35 

 48 



411 

 41". 



47 

 44 



37 



42 



The Action of Moulds in the Soil. 



,HE term 'mould is applied to varioiis 

 Sjspecies of fungi isolated from the soil, which 

 ^belong to widely scattered groups and ni> 



shurp limitation is to be placeil on the use of the 



teri>i. 



The importance of the action of moulds in ohe 

 soil has been the subject of investigations by Selman 

 A. Waksman, of the Departmeii' >f Soil Bacteriologs 

 N'ew .lersey Agricultural Expci nuent Station, and he 

 has recopded the results he obtained in a paper in 

 Soil Science, August 19ls. The i|uestion is of general 



intere.=t to ngriculturists in relation to soil fertility; 

 a ri'suuie of the paper is therefore given bslow. 



When a group of micro-organisms is studied ia 

 relation to soil fertility, the question is — what part 

 do they play in the nitrogen changes in the soil, pro- 

 duced as a result of their activity.^ From the early 

 period of investigations on the microbial inhabitants 

 of the soil, up to four or five years ago, the 

 attention of soil bacteriologists was chiefly directed to 

 the study of bacteria, neglecting other groups of micro- 

 organisms to which the term moulds is applied. It hiis 

 only been in very recent years that the great abun- 

 dance of other micro-organisms besides bacteria in the 

 soil has been demonstrated, and an attempt made t<> 

 explain their part in soil fertility. 



It has been definitely established that moulds 

 together with protozoa, algae, etc., are common 

 inhabitants of the soil, and form a large and im- 

 portant group of the soil flora. Hundreds of 

 species of moulds have been isokted from the 

 Soil, and it has been found that man_v moulds 

 occur in different soils under different topographic, 

 climatic, and soil conditions. The same species has 

 been isolated from soils in different European countries 

 and from soils in various parts of America. New 

 species, never met witli before, have been isolated from 

 ■joil, serving as a proof that some of them at least are 

 typical soil organisms. 



ft has also been found that moulds develop readily 

 ;ii acid soils, and are more active in forest and in com- 

 pact poor soils, while bacteria predominate in loose soiW 

 rich in nutrient matte-; . cultivated and fertilized. In fact 



