370 



THE AGRICULTURAL XEWS. 



NoVEMEEll 2'J, 1919. 



of the Empire. The nurubfr has increased from 122 

 i)) 1892 r,o :>;52 in 191>;. 



A considerable amount of attention was given in 

 the Address to botanical work on the sugar-cane. 

 Reference was made to the seedling selection work of 

 Harrison and Bovell in the West Indies, and to 

 Barber's work in India. Harrison's experience suggests 

 a special line of research, viz., to ascertain the cause 

 in the increase in vegetative vigour and yield that 

 follows a first cros? in the sugar-cane, only to disappear 

 Sn'later stages. 



tl_ 



I Concerning cotton, .Sir Daniel again makes refer- 

 ence to West Indian research, instancing the recent 

 work of Harland in St. '\'incent. This investigator has 

 shown that by following certain lines of selection, 

 it is possible to isolate a pure strain of Sea Island 

 ■cotton with a weight of lint per boll 31 per cent, 

 gi-tater than that of the ordinary sorts in cultivation. 

 In connexion with West Indian cotton, attention is 

 also drawn to the successful work on Internal Boll 

 disease. The investigation of this disease, has, in the 

 words of Sir Daniel, ' entailed wide research, and 

 illustrates the great complexity of problems in tropical 

 plant pathology, as al.so the need of correlation, and the 

 combination of knowledge obtained by simultaneous 

 action from several points of view.' 



A very large amount of cotton research has been 

 carried out in Egypt, chietiy by Balls, and in India, 

 notably by I^ak. This work has been of a highly 

 twhnical character, and has had far-reaching results. 



In regard to rubber. Sir Daniel referred to the 



great value of breeding experiments with llevea. A 



start has only just been made, and progiess will be 



Blow compared with that attained in the case of annual 



erops : but the work has been started. For instance, at 



the Henoratgoda < lardens in Ceylon, there are fifty 



Hevea tnes whose individual latex-yield has been 



recorded for every tapping since June 1908. One tree 



marked No. 2 has yielded an amount, of rubber far in 



excess of .any other tree. In 1912 seeds and .stumps 



taken from this tree were established. When 



the trees are fit for tapping and the. good yiolders are 



detfiinined, the poor yielders will be cut out and the 



remainder reserved for seed purposes. 



Jt is not possible within the compass of this 

 article to make referoiicc to all the matters dealt with 

 In Sir Diniel Morris's Address, but our review would he 

 incompleto without some reference to the excellent 

 botanical work done within the Empire in connexion 



with wheal. The researches of Biti'en at Cambridge. ' 



of the Howards in India, and of Backhouse (.form- | 



erly of the John Innes Institution) in the Argen- 

 tine, have been of the most valuable character. 

 Bitf'en, for instance, bred a wheat which yielded 

 an average of eighty-six bushels per acre com- 

 pared with thirty-two bushels, the average yield of 

 wheat in the British Isles. While the layman may ' 

 not appreciate the scientific side of this work, he will 

 scarcely fail to l)e impressed by th'_- importance of the ^ 

 economic results. 



It is one thing to breed plants, and another thing 

 to grow them on a commercial scale. A serious factor 

 to be contended with is disease and the attacks of 

 insect pests. Breeding experiments help in over- 

 coming this difficulty through the isolation of resistant 

 strains, as in the case of Biffen's rust-resistant 

 wheats; but to a great extent we have to rely upon 

 the plant pathologist in these matters. An instance 

 of the sort of work accomplished in this connexion has 

 already been given : other notable instances are afford- 

 ed by Nowell's work on loot diseases and on the red 

 ring of coco- nuts; by Borers on cacao canker ; by j 

 Butler's vvork in India on the diseases of the sugar- I 

 cane ; and by Sharpies work in the Federated Malay 

 States on maladies of the Hevea rubber tree. 



As Sir Daniel Morns points out, these and 

 previous references show in what vast fields 

 of enterprise botanical science has rendered signal | 

 service to the Bmpire. As regards the future, he 

 says : ' if we enlist the best intellects imbued with 

 the true spirit of progressive research, we shall ensure 

 a continuance of discoveries that have proved so 

 effectual. We must also call to our assistance some 

 of that wonderful energy develope<l during the war 

 and divert it to the great work before us.' 



SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



IMPRESSIONS OF A SUGAR CHEMIST 

 IN THE FRENCH WEST INDIES. 



In February of this year, Dr. C A. Browne, ( 'hemiat of 

 ihe New York Sugar Trade L:ibi)ratory, paid a visit to Guade- 

 loupe and Martini(|ue with the object of visiting the various 

 sugar factories and plantations in tliose islands. An account 

 of these visits apjiears in J'lit/s Alunit .S//,i;iir for .Septein- 

 bcr lis, 1919. J)r. Mrowne's impressions in regard tu the 

 sugar industry of British (5uiaiia and Jiarbados were 

 reviewed in the last issue of the A^Hail/nrtrl Ncrvf. 



In Guadeloupe and Martinifjue ibu sugar indii.stry 

 appears to suffer under certain disabilities whii-h are more 



