13G 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



May 2, 1908 



EDITORIAL NOTICES. 



Letters and matter for publication, as well as a" 

 sjiecimens for naming, should be addressed to the 

 Commissioner, Imperial Department of Agriculture, 

 Barbados. 



All applications for Copies of the 'Agricultural 

 News ' should be addressed to the Agents, and not to 

 the Department. 



Local Agents: Messrs. Bowen & Sons, Bridge- 

 town, Barbados. London Agents: j\Iessrs. Dulau & 

 Co., 37, Soho Square, W., and The West India Com- 

 mittee, 1.5, Seething Lane, E.C. A complete list of 

 Agents will be found on page 3 of the covei-. 



The Agricultural News: Price Id. per number, 

 post free 2(7. Annual subscription payable to Agents, 

 2.S. 2d Post free. 4s. 4d 



^riciilturHl ^xm 



Vol. VII. SATURDAY. .M.^V 



1908. No. 1.5 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Contents of Present Issue. 



In the editorial of the present issue, some informa- 

 tion is given in relation to those blood-sucking flies 

 which are responsible for the conveyance of various 

 tropica! diseases. This is a subject; which is engaging 

 a great deal of attention at the present time. 



Particulars in regard to the trade in, and consump- 

 tion of sugar in the Fnited States will be found on 

 page 130. Notes on the following page discuss the 

 shortage in the Cuban sugar crop, and the result of 

 experiments in strip))ing sugar-cane, carried out in 

 Hawaii. 



The question is being raised as to the possibilitv of 

 developing an export trade in bananas from India" to 

 England. E.xperimental shipments of citrus fruits 

 from New Sout,h Wales to London have given promis- 

 ing results (page 132). 



The great value (jf seed selection woi-i< in cotton 

 growing is evident from the brief article ' Cotton Seed 

 Selection at. Barbados ' on jKige 1.34. Other notes on 

 the same page lefer to cotton growing in Jamaica, and 

 the present, state of the cotton market. 



Interesting methods now coming into |ir.ii-ti<-i'. of 

 obt.aitiuig nitrogen from' the atmosphere, are de-'^cnhed 

 on page 13.'), wheie also appears a brief article dealing 

 vith the importance of potash as a plant food. 



Oil p.igc 141 will l)c found an address recently 

 delivered in yVntigiia by Dr. Frarcis Watts on the 

 subject of Agiic'ultiirai InsiriictKiii iii l''.leii.enliny 

 Schools. 



Department Publications. 



The inde.x and title-page for binding Volume VI 

 of the Agrlcaltarcd Nevs Ave issued as a supplement 

 to the present number. 



Re])orts, for the year l'.»0b-7, of seven of the 

 Botanic Stations of the West Indies are now on sale by 

 all the Agents of the Department. In the cases of 

 Grenada, St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Doniinica and 

 St. Kitt's, the price of the reports is Qd . each number. 

 The rej)orts on Montserrat and the Virgin Islands, 

 respectively, -are issued at 3(/. eaidi. As already 

 mentioned in reviews whicii have appeared in the 

 Agrieultural News, the above reports are exception- 

 ally full, and contain a good deal of interesting matter. 

 They are, in each ease, prefaced by a history of the 

 particular Botanic Station, and are well illustrated by 

 reproduction of photographs. 



Preservation of Green Colour in Plants. 



The ])reservation of plants su as to maintain their 

 natural green colour has been successfully carried out 

 by Professor Trail, of Aberdeen University, who 

 describes in the Kew Bulletin (No. 2, 1908) the 

 method followed by him. 



The plants to be pi-eserved are steeped for a time 

 in a solution of copper acetate in acetic acid, whereby 

 compounds of chlorophyll with copper are formed. On 

 removal from this solution, they are washed in fresh 

 water, dried in the air, or transferred to a preservative 

 fluid. 



The best results were obtained when the plants were 

 boiled for a short time in the solution. The average 

 time reijuired in the boiling ])rocess is about five 

 minutes, the most refractory plants requirng no more 

 than twenty minutes. The green colour so fixed is 

 quite permanent and almost natural. 



Cattle Trade of British Guiana. 



The cattle breeding and export industry of British 

 (juiana has developed within the past nineteen years. 

 In 1.S.S7-S the imports of cattle into the colony 

 niunbered 1.223 head, while only forty-eight were 

 exported. The impt>sition, in the following year, of 

 a duty of s^lO per head of cattle imported appears to 

 have stimulated the development of a local breeding 

 industry, with the result tliai during the ten years 

 l.snO-lflOO, the exports of cattle fidiu' British Guiana 

 continually tended to equal or exceed the imports. 

 l.,ast year the export:^ readied 1,3)^!) while the imports 

 were reduced to one solitary head. 



'l"he Government of Piritisli Guiana has I'eceiveii 

 a cdminimicnt iou from a firm of Brazilian merchants, 

 suggesting the possibility that an export tnidc in 

 cattle might be developed between the colony and 

 llrazil, and stating that arrangements might be made 

 whereby a large number of animals could regularly be 

 taken, if terms were agreed upon. 'I'he matter is now 

 under consideiation by the Royal Agricultural Society 

 of the colony. The poor transport facilities available 

 for conveying the cattle are likely to prove the chief 

 difficulty in the way of developing a profitable industry 

 in t his manner. 



