136 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



May 3. 1919. 



EDITORIAL 



Head Office 



NOTICES. 



— Barbados. 



Letters and matter for publication, as well as all 

 specimens 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 CommissiMier of Sir Francis Watte, K.C.M.G., 



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



SCIENTIFIC STAFF. 



Recent Plant Legislation in Grenada. 



Attention has been drawn in recent issues of this 

 Journal to legislation prohibiting the importation of 

 citius plants; or parts of them into several of these 

 islands, in order to guard against the introduction into 

 them of diseases afiecting citrus trees, f specially lime 

 trees. 



A similar Proclamation dated April 1, 1919, has 

 been issued in Grenada by the Governor of the Wind- 

 ward Islands, prohibiting the importation into that 

 colony of citrus plants and parts of citrus plants, includ- 

 ing their fruit, from any country or place other than 

 the colonies of Dominica, ilontserrat, and Sc. Lucia. 



The exceptions above noted are made because 

 those islands are known to be free from the dreaded 

 'blossom blight i>r 'wither tip' disease of citrus trees, 

 and because the lime cultivation in those islands 

 is under the constant inspection of the otticer.s of the 

 agricultural departments. 



Seientific Assistant and 



Assistatit JEditor 

 : Bntomologist 



Mycologist 

 . Auistaut for Cotton Research 



fW. R. Dunlop.* 



(.Rev. C. H. Branch, B.A. 



H. A. Ballou, M.Sc. 



W. Nowell, B.I.C. 



S. C. Harland, B.Sc.+ 



CLEEIOAL STAFF. 



Clkitf CUrk 



Clerical Assistants 



: Typist 



. A$sistant Typist 



. Auistant for Publxcatums 



A. G. Howell. 



rL. A. Corbin. 

 \ P. Taylor.* 



[K. R. C. Foster. 

 Miss B. Robinson. 

 Miss W. Ellis. 



A. B. Price, Fell. Jonm. Inst. 



*S€Conded for Military Service. 



■^Provided by the Imperial Deparimeid of ScieiitiH': and 

 Industrial Research, 



Agricultural ^linuji 



Vol. XVIII. SATURDAY, MAY 3, 1919. No. 444. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Contents of Present Issue. 



The editorial is a continuation of the subject 

 treated of in the previous issue. 



(.'n page 138 will be found an interesting article 

 summarizing investigations as to the food of the 

 mongoose in Trinidad. 



A continuation of the article on lime cultivation 

 in Dominica appears on page 142. 



The improvements possible by the application of 

 sciphcev to cacao pioduction form the subject of an 

 ai-ticl^ on page 141. 



Onion Growing in Dominica. 



The following interesting note has been contri- 

 buted by Mr. .T. .Tones, Agricultural .Superintendent, 

 Dominica: — 



'With reference to the article on onion growing in 

 Dominica, which appeared in the Agricultural News, 

 No. 441, page 91, it may be stated that the experiments ~ 

 at Spring Hill have yielded further information on the 

 important matter of the production of seed in the West 

 Indies. 



'It was noticed in the article referred to that 

 Mr. Seignoret raised a large number of sets from Tene- 

 ritfe onion seeds imported in November 1917. Num- 

 bers of these were successively planted from July to 

 December 1918, the month of September excepted. 

 While all did well, none showed any tendency to pro- 

 duce seed until December, when a considerable 

 proportion did so, and the seeds are now ripening. 

 It would appear that,' after the sets are twelve 

 months old from seed, the natural habit of the onion, 

 which is a biennial, asserts itself, and there is a strong 

 inclination to produce seed. It is practically certain 

 that seed production is a matter of age of the bulb, 

 and of season, and that once these have been determin- 

 ed, it should be possible to produce onion seeds in these 

 islands regularly, and in sufficient '|uantities to meet 

 local requirements. 



'After seed production will come the matter of 

 seed selection, and it is well known th^t, without selec- 

 tion, varieties of onions are very liable to deterioration.' 



Phosphate in Barbuda. 



On several occasions samples of rock from Barbuda 

 have been analysed, and found to contain a consider- 

 able peicentage of calcium phosphate. 



A note has recently been received at the Imperial 

 Department of Agriculture from Mr. A. E ('ollens. 

 Acting Government Chemist and Superintendent of 

 Agriculture for the Leeward Islands, in which he gives 

 the analysis of rock received from Barbuda at the 

 Government Laboratory, Antigua. The analysis shows 



