328 



THE AQRICULTUBAL XEWS. 



OcTOEEr. 18. 1919. 



^EDITORIAL 



Bead Office 



NOTICES. 



— Barbados 



Letters and matter for publication, as well as all 

 'Bpecimens for naming, should be addressed to the 

 Commissioner, Imperial Department of Agriculture, 

 '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 fo-jnd on 



;page 4 of the cover. 



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



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



SCIENTIFIC STAFF. 



■ iSei«nti/ic Assistant an'i mt d r. i 



Assistant Editor W. R. Dufllop. _ 



XiUomoloyist H. A. Balbu, M.Sc. 



Mycologist W. Nowell. D.I.C. 



Assistant for Cotton Research S. 0. Harlaud, B.Sc.+ 



Chief Clerk 



'dertcal Assistants 



Typitt 

 Assistant Typist 



Atsistant for Fublications 



CLERICAL STAFF. 



A. G. Howell. 

 L. A. Corbin. 



or. 

 Fos;er. 

 Miss B. B^biuEon. 

 Miss W. Ellis. 



A. B. Price, Fell. Journ. Inst. 



(L. A. Cor 

 { P. Taylor 



Ik. R. C. 



^Provided by the Imperial Department of Scientific and 

 Industrial Research. 



gigricultiiriTi |liviu^ 



■Vol. XVIIl. SATURDAY, OCTOISKTI 18, 1919.~No.T56^ 

 NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Contents of Present Issue. 



'i'hi: editorial in this number deals with the m<in- 

 Eev in which plants adjust them.si^lvea to soil salinity, 

 and the manner in which they are affected by salinity. 

 Special consideration is given to the coco-nut and the 

 augar-cane. 



Mr. W. N. Sands, F.L.S. 



The Agricultural Superintendent, St. Vincent, 

 Mr. \V. N. Sands, F.L.S , has resigned, and is about to 

 leave that island, to take up tho post of Assistant 

 Economic Botanist on the staff of the Agricultural 

 Deparimeni of the Federated Malay States. 



Mr. Sands ha* been twenty years at work in the 

 West Indies in C'lnnexion with agriculture. On the 

 recommendation of the Director of the Royal Gardens, 

 Kew, he was a{)paiQted Curator of the then recently- 

 established Bo'.anic and Experiment Station iu Antigua 

 in 1S99. He was promoted in 1904 to the position of 

 Agricultural Superintendent in St. Vincent. 



Though his stay in Antigua was comparatively 

 ,*hort, his energy and zeal in connexion with the 

 agricultural in'jert-sts of the islandare still remembered, 

 especially in the extension of the then newly intro- 

 duced cotton industry. 



His work in St. Vincent for the past fifteen years 

 has aided the development of agriculture in 

 many varied ways. Especially are his efforts for the 

 improvement of Cotton Cultivation, and for se- 

 lection and preservation of the best variety for local 

 employment in that island, worthy of attention. His 

 observations on the life-history of the cotton staioer, 

 and the work concerning its control by the des- 

 truction of its wild food-plants, have also been ot great 

 benefit to the Cotton Industry, not only in St. Vincent, 

 but in other islands as well. 



In other directions, too, Mr. Sands has materially 

 assisted in furthering the agricultural prosperity of St. 

 Vincent. The success of the Oovernment Ginnery, and 

 the Government tJranary is largely due to his tactful 

 management: and ihe Land Settlement Schrmo, which 

 is now working viell, owes also a great deal to the way 

 m which he handled the subject. 



It may be noted that Mr. Sands has contributed 

 several papers of much interest on various subjects to 

 the M^est Indian Bulletin. 



The record of the twenty years" service given by 

 Mr. Sands to West Indian agriculture is one of good 

 work, well done. 



An interesting article appears on page '525, 

 Hor.se Marmalade (a species of Desmodium) so-called 

 l)y the (Jubans on account of the relish with which the 

 plant is eaten by horses. 



A review of a recent lieport on the l>epartment 

 of Agriculture, Trinidad, appears on pige 'V.V^. 



Insect Notes in this issue comprise two articles of 

 a somewhat entertaining though instructive character 

 on ' popular entomology.' 



Private Land Settlement in Antigua. 



The reference to this land settlement scheme as 

 a private concern is made to distinguish it from the 

 •Government scheme already estfiblished. The private 

 scheme has been arranged by the well-known firm, 

 Messrs. Henckell, Du Buisson i*c Co., who have large 

 central factory interests in the West Indies. 



Mr. J. .lacksun, Agricultural Superintendent, 

 Antigua, is responsible foi the main ideas as regards 

 the working of the new scheme, and his suggestions 

 have been approved by the firm mentioned above. 



The land on which the peasants will be . settled is 

 situated on Tomlinson'.'^ Estate, and is between 80 and 

 100 acres in area. The price that will be charged per 

 acre is between .£10 and .Cl'2. 



