360 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS, 



November 15, 1919. 



EDITORIAL (^ 



^. ■ 

 Head OFFrcK vjs^ 



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 jipplications 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 Commissioner of SirFrahcis Watts, K.C.M.G., 



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



SCIENTIFIC STAFF. 



Scientific Assistant and 



A ssistant Edi tor 

 Bntomologist 

 Mycologist 

 Assiilant fbr Cotton Research 



W. R. Duulop. 



H. A. BaUan, M.Sc. 



W. Nowell, D.I.C. 



S. C. Harland, B.Sc.+ 



CLERICAL STAFF. 



Ohief CUrk 



OUrical Assistants 



Typist 

 Assistant Typist 



A. G. HoweU. 

 fL. A. Corbin. 

 ■lor. 



Foster. 

 Miss B. Robinson. 

 Miss W. Ellis. 



fL. A. Cor 

 { P. Taylor 



Ik. R. C. 



AstistaiU for Publications A. B. Price. Fell. Journ. Inst. 



^Provided by the Imperial Department of ScieiMfi'; and 

 Industrial Research. 



^qricultiirat Mtm 



Tot. XVIII. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 1919. No7458. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Contents of Present Issue 



The editorial in this number deals with West 

 Indian fish jsupplies, and indicates the .steps that niight 

 Toe tfiken to increase the local production. 



An article, which describes the impressions of an 

 American chemist in regard to the sugar industry in 

 Barbados and British Guiana, will be found at pago.s 

 354 and ^55. 



An interesting article on tho manuhol vaVue of 

 ■cotton bush appears at page :J.'58. 



Insect Note.s in this issne deal wllh entomology 

 in PtU) Rico. 



River Estate, Trinidad. 



The recent convention of planters at the (loveru- 

 laent ICxperimental Estate in Trinidad appears to have 

 furnished an ' excellent refutation of certain adverse 

 criticisms lately made in regard to the value of the 

 work carried out there. Mr. H. C. Warner said it was 

 hard to suggest any experiments more useful than those 

 being conducted by the excellent and etticient staff, 

 while Mr. Kdgrr Tripp stated that they all appreciated 

 the interesting work being carried out, and the hos- 

 pitality extended to the visitors that dav. 



The report of this meeting, which appears in the 

 Fort-of-S/)ain Gazette for October 18, 1919, goes on 

 to refer to the experiments in progress. In the first 

 place mention is made of the projected iir.provement 

 of the coolie barracks, ard the arrangements made for 

 the cultivation o( provision crops on adjacent lands. 

 In regard to the experiments proper, reference is made 

 to the field record of individual cacao trees. These 

 show individuality in cacao in a striking manner. 

 Of perhaps still greater interest to planters were th-i 

 'shade' -and ' no-shade' experiments. At present it 

 appears that ' no shade ' gives the better results. In 

 addition to these, there were to be seen the dist.ajipo 

 planting experiments, and the experiments in budding, 

 both which have yielded useful results. 



Opportunities for New Settlers in the West 

 Indies, 



From a putely British standpoint, the more rapid 

 development of the tropical colonies is desirable in 

 two directions : first, it would mean an increase in the 

 supply of raw material for home consumption and 

 manufacture; secondly, it would mean good openings for 

 British capital, and possibly for British settlers also. 



From most British points of view the first is far 

 more iinporLiiiit. than the second, though this appears 

 to be overlooked recently by the West India. Commit- 

 tee Circular m an article dealing with West Indiiin 

 (ievelopment. 



That publication is very optimistic as regards 

 the openings for intending settlers in the West 

 Indies, and gives (juite a misleading intprpret'ition 

 of a recent lecture on the subject by Sii- Francis 

 Watts. 



The Financier {or October l-'i, 1919, contains a 

 more complete report of the lecture, which was deliver- 

 ed in London under the auspices of the West India 

 Committee and Overseas Club. Keference to this 

 will make it clear that Sii^ Francis Watts was merely 

 cautious on a .subject that has in the past led others 

 into disrepute through their being undulj' optimistic. 



While it is true that there are very large areas of 

 land available for settlers in the West Indies, it is also 

 true that the communications are often inadequate, and 

 generally speaking, so is the labour-supply. 



As Sir Francis Watts j)ointcd out, the We*!=t 

 Inilian colonies are composed of settled coinniunitiesi 

 Most of the land worth cultivating without large 

 expenditure of private and public money has been 



