88 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS 



Maboh 22, 1919. 



EDITORIAL : ^t 



Head Office 



'.<-yr* 



NOTICES. 



— Barbados. 



Letters and matter (or publication, as well as all 

 gpecimens for naming, should be addressed to the 

 Commissioner, Imperial Department of Agriculture, 

 Barbados. 



All applications for copies oi the 'Agricultural 

 News' and other Departmental publications, should be 

 addressed to the Agents, and not to the Department. 



The complete list of Agents will be found on 

 page 4 of the cover. 



Imperial Commissioner of Sir Francis Watts, K.C.M.G., 



Agriculture for the West Indies D.Sc, F.LC, F.C.S. 



SCIENTIFIC STAFF. 



Soienti/ic Assistant and 



Assistant Editor 

 Mntomol agist 

 Mycologist 

 ^Mi'*"',? fen- Cotton Research 



OLBRICAL STAFF. 



fW. R. Dunlop.* 

 \ReT. C. H. Branch. B.A. 

 H. A. BaUou, M.Sc. 

 W. NoweU, D.I.C. 

 S. C. Harland. B.Sc.+ 



OUnciii AssigtatUi 



Typist 



AsHstaitt Typist 



^.instant for Publication^^ 



A. G. HoweU. 



rL. A. Corbin. 

 -P. Taylor.* 



Ik. R. C. Foster. 

 Miss B. Robinson. 

 Miss W. Ellis. 



-A. B. Price, Fell. Joaru. Inst. 



*iiecoiidtd for Military Servict, 



f Provided by the Imperial Uepurtinetit of ^ientifi-: and 

 Indnffriul Research. 



vlgricultiirul |leui^ 



?0L XVIIL SATURDAY, MARUH 22, 1919. No. 441. 

 NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Contents oi Present Issue. 



The editorial is the thiixl and concluding portion of 

 Work of the Future, iuid dcalR with some other crops 

 than sugar-cane. 



Under Insect Notes on page 90, some notes are 

 printed concerning certain insect pests of tropical crops. 



A nematode worm attacking nee is noticed under 

 Plant Diseases on page 94. 



On page 91 there will be found an account of 

 auocesaful experiments in onion growing. 



Olose Season for Cotton in Nevis. 



In theAgriculhiral News, December 1-4, 1918, atten- 

 tion was drawn to Ordinances in force with regard to 

 cotton in various West Indian islands. A despatch 

 from Major Burdon, Admin.strator of St. Kitts-Nevis, 

 has been received by the Imperial Commissioner of 

 Agriculture for the West Indies, to the effect that a 

 close season for cotton, from March 1 to March 81, has 

 been proclaimed for the island of Nevis. 



The article referred to above, pointed out that in 

 St. Kitts a close season of six weeks had already been 

 proclaimed, the dates differing according to the districts 

 into which the island has been divided for the purpose. 

 It cannot be too strongly emphasized that such a 

 close period is necessary in every one of the cotton- 

 growing islands of the West Indies, if the production of 

 Sea Island cotton, and its preservntion from insect 

 pests is to be a success in the future. 



Government Cotton Ginnery at St. Vincent. 



From information recently forwaided by Mr. W. N. 

 Sands, Agricultural Superintendent, St. Vincent, it is 

 evident that the Government Ginnery in th^t island 

 is doing a large amount of good work. 



In the first place, it purchases on a co-operative basis, 

 as was noticed in the Agricultural News, Vol. XVII, 

 No. 224, all the seed-cotton from small growers, some 

 2,280 in number; and besides this, it gins and bales about 

 85 per cent, of the entire cotton crop of the colony. In 

 the next place, it expresses the oil from all the cotton 

 seed obtained from the crop, a large amount of which 

 used formerly to be shipped to Baibados. From the 

 Ginnery also is distributed selected seed for planting 

 purposes, amounting to 14,;)85 It), in the season just 

 closed. 



Besides de;iling in this way with the cotton crop 

 a laige proportion of the cojn crop is now handled ut 

 the Ginnery, where also other products, such as peas 

 and beans, are fumigated and stored. 



It may be mentioned that another Blackstone 

 Crude Oil Engine.'a duplicate of the one in use, is being 

 installed to relieve the steam ''nginf: and hojlpr, which 

 have done good service. 



Sarawak Bean (Dolichos Hosei). 



With reference to this plant, a note on which was 

 published in the previous issue of this Journal, 

 Mr. A. J. Brooks, Agricultural Superintendent, St.Lucia, 

 states that numerous applications have been received 

 for seed, but that very few seeds have been found. He 

 has been able to distribute plants by root division, 

 establishing the portions in pots until a strong tool) 

 system had been developed. 



In a later communication Mr. Brooks states that 

 he has found that the plant shows a tendency to produce 

 seeds if supports are provided for it to climb on. As 

 it is certainly a valuable plant as a cover dressing, this 

 information is of interest. It should thus be possible to I 

 d>stribut<- seed for further trial in other islands. 



