248 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



August 9, 1919. 



«"*■■ 



.<fe. 



I .-«» 



EDITORIAL 



Head Office 



5 NOTICES. 



/>-i' 



— 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 Commisximier of 

 Agriculture for the Vf'est Indies 



Sir Francis Watts, K.C.M.G. 

 D.Sc.F.T.C, F.C.S. 



SCIENTIFIC STAFF. 



Scienti/ic Afsistant aud w t> r\ i 



Assistaut Editor ^^ ■ ^- ^^"^"P- 



E.domologist H. A. Balbu, M.Sc. 



Mijcol'iiiit VV. Nowell, D.I.C. 



Assista'>~t fur Cotton Research S. C. Hailaiid, B.Sc.t 



CLERICAL STAFF. 



A. G. Howell. 



Chief Clerk 



Cltrical Assiatiints 



Typist 

 Assistiid Typist 



A instant for Fublications 



(h. A. Corbin. 

 ]P. Taylor.* 



Ik. R. C. Foster. 

 Miss B. Robinson. 

 Miss W. Ellis. 



A. B. Price, Fell. Jonrn. Inst. 



^Provided by Ihe Inipfrlnl JJeparltneut of Scientific and 



Industrial Hesearclt. 

 *Seioi»ded fur Mditary iServict. 



^griruhural Hnufi 



Vol. XVIII SATURDAY, AI'GUST 9, 1919. No. 451. 

 NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Contents of Present Issue. 



In the editorial in this issue, an attcmjjt is made 

 to explain the fkcline in the sugar content of central 

 factory canes in Antigua and St. Kitts. 



The question .is to whether Criollu cicuo is 

 disappearing from cultivation is dealt within an article 

 on page 244. 



Insect Notes in this i>sup consist of ,in article on 

 some insfct pests in ( 'ostit llica. 



On page 2.')4, will bo fouud an illustraiud .irticle 

 on the subject of the wither-tip of limes in Trinidad 



A Floating School 



Dr. Sambon of the London School uf Tropical Medi- 

 cine is reported by the West India Comuiittrc Circular 

 to have advocated the establishment of ;i floating school 

 of medical research f.ir the West Indies. This idea has 

 been thought of before in connexion with agricultural 

 rest^arch. Id would certainly seem feasible Co fit a vessel 

 v.ith the necessary laboratory and ottice accommodation 

 fur such purposes, but it is feired that the cost of upkeep 

 and the initial expenses would be prohibitive at any 

 rate for the present. Yet the idea has much to com- 

 mend it . It v.ould mean that scientific workers would 

 be in constant personal cimmanicition with the 

 different islands. In the case of agricultural research 

 this would be productive of very great benefit especially 

 for a central institution like the Imperial Department 

 of Agriculture. Ic might b-^ possible to incorporate in 

 such a floating research school, a section of marine 

 investigators who would have ample opportunities for 

 developing the resources of the se i in the neighbour- 

 hood of the different island.*. It will be interesting to 

 see whether Dr. Sambon's suggestion is taken up 

 seriously by the authorities concerned. 



Brimstone Tree of Sierra Leone. 



An inteiesting tree, known botanically as 

 Mitragyne stipulona, occurring in Sierra L^one .and 

 throughout nearly the whole forest area of tiopical 

 Africa, is d-^scribed in the Kt' it- Bulletin of Miscdlan- 

 eoiis Ivfonn'ition (Nos. 1 and 2, 1919). It is referred 

 to ;xs a ver}' large forest tice, without buttress roots, 

 gi-owing to a height of 1-50 feet, and a diameter of 

 over 6 feet at the base. The bole is straight and 

 generally 40 to .50 feet to the first branch. The bark 

 is grey, rough and stringy. The tree yields a very 

 durable, useful, timber ; flooi.s built of this wood may 

 be seen in Freetown u]) to 100 years old. It i.^ of a 

 vellow colour — hence the name — when freshly sawn, 

 but turns much browner with age. Young saplings 

 are preferred to any other for rafters in native thatched 

 houses. A decoction of the btrk is used as a cure 

 for malaria, and the natives, foot-sore by long march- 

 ing, bathe their feet in water in which the b-uk has 

 been boiled. The leaves of this tree are the only ones 

 used to wrap up kola nuts. The reason for this 

 selection is not e.\plained. As far as inforinition is 

 available, we have nospecimfns of this interesting tree 

 in the West Indies. 



Costs of Production in the Sugar Industry. 



iSomr impoitarit factors ha\e been (lis ;lo.sed in a 

 report issued by the Hniterl States Tariff" (/ommission - 

 and dealt with in S lu/iir {\>v filny ]91!l. (Jomprehen- 

 sive tables were prepared showing the total cost aad 

 segregated items of cost for every factory from which 

 leturns were received. They :;ovcr the cane industry 

 of Cuba, in Hawaii, in Louisiana, in Porto Rico and 

 the beet sugar in the continental United States. 

 Figures are als) given showing the difl'erenc^ between 



