A FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW 



OF THE 



IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR THE WEST INDIES. 





YoL. XVIII No. 448. 



BARBADOS, JUNE 28, 1919. 



Pkice l(f. 



CONTENTS. 



... 201 



l!if> 



Pagb. 



Agriculture in Barbados 197 

 Banana Stalks, rtiliz:\tion 



of 



Cainphor Trees in the 



West Indies 



Citrus Cankei', Suscepti- 

 liility of a Non-Rutac- 



eous Plant to 



Cotton : — 



Otticial Cotton Stan- 

 dards of the United 



Stales 



Sea Island Cotton Mar- 

 ket 



Department News 

 Deparmental Reports ... 



Gleanings 



Insect Notes : — 



Batocera Rubus 



Protection of Stored 

 Grain from Insect 



Attacks 



Items of Local Interest 196 j 



Market Reports 208 



Megass for Paper-Making 205 I 



200 



. 19« 



. 198 



195 



. 198 



204 



202 



202 



Pagk. 



.. 200 



205 



200 



200 



Notes and Comments ... 

 Oil and Agriculture in tlie 



West Indies 



Papaws 



Plant Diseases: — 



Investigation of the 



Froghopper Pest and 



Disease of Sugar-cane 206 



Plant <^)uarantine. Some 



Ditticulty ill Enforcing 



Poultry Manure 



Quarantine Ori Plants in 

 the Inited State.s, New 195 



Ro.sellii Fibre 201 



Soy Beans... 201 



Sponges, Cultivation of ... 194 

 Sugar tndustry : — 



Cant- Planting mt the 

 Flat in St. Croix ... 

 Immune Variety of 

 Suyar-cane for Porto 



Rico 



Velvet Beans for Stock 

 Food 



203 



20:^ 



207 



Oil and Agriculture in the West Indies. 



'iTHERTO West Indian industries have 

 been almost entirely awricaltuial. All 

 classes in nearly every island have been 

 dependent upon planning in some form or other. 

 The position is now altered. To-day v^e have to 

 recognize a developing mineral oil industry. 



It is true that in the case of Trinidad the pro- 

 duction of oil is not a new development. It was in 

 full swing as early as 1911. But it is only within the 

 last year that a greatly iuereased production has 

 taken place there. This has been due to an increase 

 in the depth of bore of already establisheil wells, and 

 to the operation of new companies. 



Comparatively near to Trinidad, there have been 

 remarkable oil developments, just recently. in 

 Venezuela. This has been encouraging, especially to 

 underwriters and company promoters It means that 

 this part of the world, including the West Indies, is 

 being boomed as a safe and profitable oil field for the 

 investment of capital. 



At no distant date boring will be commenced in^ 

 Barbados. A company has already obtained certain 

 concessions. In the other islands there are rumours 

 and suggestions of oil production being possible, and 

 taking everything into consideration, one is bound to 

 recognize the dawn ot a new and profitable day in the 

 history of West. Indian industrial development. 



Before proceeding to consider what effects oil 

 production has upon agriculture, it may be of intereefe 

 if we say something of the origin and location of 

 oil. rhese remark.s must be brief and of 

 a general character, as the subject is one that 

 requires special knowledge and experience for 

 an adequate treatment. Concerning the origin of 

 oil, it is generally recognized that petroleum is derived 

 from marine animal remains and fossil sea-weeds. It 

 is probably a sorb of distillate resulting from the 

 combined effect of steam and enormou.s pressure. This 

 production of oil may be going on to-day in Nature's- 

 laboratories far down in the earth. If that be the case, 

 the depletion of oil fields is a less serious matter than 

 the depletion of coal fields. At any rate there is no 

 question that we have in the past under-estimated the 

 stores of oil that ate available. In this Journal some 

 few years ago attention was fre pientl}' called to the 

 possibility of alcohol being required to meet the 

 shortage of petrol at no distant date. To-day there are 

 very few indications of a shi>rtage of oil fue'-; of" 

 mineral origin.'' •''. 



