152 



rETE AjRICTtltitral yrKWB, 



May 17. 1919. 



EDITORIAL lt|M|i; 



Head Offick 



^ N 



OTICES. 



• — B&RUADOS, 



Letters and matter for publication, as well as all 

 Bpecimens for naming, should be addressed to the 

 Commissioner, Imperial Department of Aj^iculfcure. 

 Barbados. 



All applications for copies ot 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 Commissimi,er of Sir Francis Watte, K.C.M.G.. 



AgricvUnre fnr the West Indies D.Sc, F.I.C.. F.C.S. 



8CIKNTIFI0 STAFF. 



/<',ientific Assistant and 



Assistant Editor 

 Antomologist 

 Mycologist 

 Atsistaut for Cotton Research 



fW. R. Dunlop.* 

 \Rev. C. H. Brauoh, B.a. 

 H. A. Ballou, M.Sc. 

 W. Nowell, D.I.O. 

 S. C. Harknd, B.Sc.+ 



OLERICAL STAFF, 



€hMf Clerk 



Clerical Assistants 



Typist 

 Assistant Typist 



Assistant for Publications 



A. G. Howell. 

 fL. A. Corbin. 

 Taylor.* 

 R. C. Foster. 

 Miss B. Robinson. 

 Miss W. Ellis. 



A. B. Price, Fell. Joum. Inst. 



j-L. . 

 P.' 

 iK. 



♦Seconded for Military Service. 



^Provided by the Imperial Department of Scientifi,!; and 

 Industrial Research. 



Vol. XVIII. SATURDAY, MAY 17. 1919. No. 445. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Contents of Present Issue. 



Theediliirial draws attention to some aspects of 

 the work of plant pathologists which are .sometinies 

 apt t'> be overlooked by the general public. 



Insect Notes, on page 1.54, contain two articles of 

 Interest in connexion with the campaign for the 

 destruction of the cotton stainers, drawing attention to a 

 parasite fungus found on dead cotton stainers both in 

 Antigua and St. Vincent. 



A note on implemental tillage and motor plough- 

 ing, on page 1.57, will be found very suggestive as to 

 some problems conneciwJ with the que.itiou under 

 conditions exif-ting in the Wesfe ItidicH, 



Dr C. A Barber. C I.E. 



In a tetter recently received by the Imperial 

 (Joramissioner of Agriculture for the West Indies, 

 Dr. Barber states his intention of shortly resigning the^ 

 position which he now occupies a.-s Sugar-cane E.xperb 

 to the Govcrnmetit of India. It will probably h<j 

 remembered that Dr. Barber's first investigations on 

 sugar-cane wore undertaken in the West Indies, when 

 he wa.s Superintendent of Agriculture in the Leeward 

 Islands. During recent years he hivs been in ch.irge of 

 sugar-cane investigations in India as Sugar-cane Expert. 

 His work has been a scientific research into the botanical 

 characters of sugar-cane seedlings produced oa 

 Mendelian principles, which, under the various soil and 

 climatic conditions of the different cane-growing dis- 

 tricts of India, may yield larger crops and contain a 

 greater percentage of sucrose than the indigenous 

 varieties hitherto cultivated. This work has frequently 

 been referred to in previous numbers of this Journal. 

 It IS not too much to say that fir. Barber really laid 

 the foundation of scientific investigation of sugar-cane. 



Dr. Barber has also made valuable contributions 

 to botanical knowledge by his researches into the life- 

 history of sevenil Indian plants, of which we may 

 mention his investigation with regard to the very 

 interesting manner of growth of the sandal wood tree. 



Wormseed Oil. 



An article in the Verjumery and Essential Oil 

 Record, March 1919, draws attention w the natural 

 resources of India for the production of essential oils 

 and drugs, and the considerable extension of the 

 industry in recent years. 



One of these drugs, which can apparently be 

 produced profitably and in large quantities in India, is 

 wormseed oil, derived from the seeds of Chrnopodiavi 

 ambrosioides and C. anthelnninticxmn. The \'alue of 

 this oil is well established in tlie treatment of 

 ankylostomiasis or hookworm disease, an active 

 campaign against which is now being waged, as our 

 readers doubtless know, in many of the West Indian 

 islands. 



In the Agriculliorcd News, March 8, 1!)19, 

 attention was directed to the use of wt)rmseed oil in 

 the treatment of ankylostomiasis as reported from 

 Fiji, and the common occurrence of C. ambrosioides in 

 the.se islands was noticed. 



The article referred to abo\'e says that the greater 

 p.ar6 of the oil has hitherto been distilled ui the State 

 of Maryland, but that the seed is h.arvested also iu 

 considerabUi quantity in Florida. Wherever it is 

 cultivated for oil production regard must be paid to 

 the fact that ('hcnopodium grown in different places^ 

 and oils distilled by different processes, have varying 

 degrees of efficacy in the treatment of ankylostomiasi.s. 

 It is suggested that, in ordo' to ascertain the best) 

 oils for prescription, physicians should obtain infor- 

 mation as to the sources of the oil used, and, if 

 po.ssible, the method of distillation. Such an indication 

 from tho.se employing the drug would doubtless be of 

 value to anyone entering the field of production. 



