YoL. VII. No. 163. 



THE AGRICULTUKAL NEWS. 



235 



^*^ 



NATURE TEACHING. By Francis AVatts, C.M.G., p.Sc, 

 etc. Issued undi')- the Authurili/ of the Convinimoner of Arjri- 

 culture for the West Indies. iSecond Edition. Price 2.<!. 



llecognizing tlie importance of training the youngfr 

 generation in the West Indies to take an intelligent interest 

 in agricultural pursuits and in a knowledge of the principles 

 underlying the ordinary tillage and cultural operations, ettorts 

 were made, early in the history of the Imperial Dei)artment 

 of Awriculture to encourage and facilitate the establishment 

 of a system of agricultural teaching in the Elementary and 

 Secondary schools of these colonies. In order to (pialify 

 elementary school teachers to give the light kind of instruc- 

 tion, courses of lectures on the subject, including jiraf-tical 

 demonstration work, were, in many islands, provided for 

 them, while by tlie offer of scholarships and by provision for 

 the services of lecturers, much has been done to extend 

 agricultural teaching in the Secondary .Schools of the West 

 Indies. Further, in order that a thoroughly suitable text- 

 book, well adapted to West Indian conditions, might be 

 available to teacliers, the first edition of Dr. Francis Watts' 

 ' Nature Teaching ' was prepared and issued in 1901. 



Of late years it is gratifying to note that the teaching of 

 AgriculturalScience has been gaining in popularity among 

 school managers and teacher-i in these colonies, and since in 

 large numbers of cases the working of school gardens is being 

 carried on in conjunction with the lessons given liy the 

 teacher, the practical side of the subject is kept well to the 

 front. Under these circumstances the appearance of a revised 

 and enlarged edition of ' Nature Teaching ' (of wluch an 

 English edition, modified to suit British conditions, was 

 issued in 1903), should be especially welcomed. 



The book extends to ^-iO pages, and is written in a very 

 clear and interesting style throughout. The information 

 oiven has been well selected, while its arrangement and 

 presentation are sucli as to give the maximum amount of 

 assistance to the teacher. In the course of the nine chapters 

 into which the Ijook is divided, the subjects of plant life and 

 o-rowth the soil, its composition and thevarious conditions 

 fntiuencing its fertility, manures, insect life, etc., are treated 

 at considei-able length, and in a manner well calculated to 

 arouse the interest of the pupils. The first .section of the 

 book deals with the seed, its parts, and conditions for germina- 

 tion and this is followed by chapters which treat, in order, of 

 the root and its uses ; the stem and its structure, with illus- 

 trated descriptions of the methods of grafting and budding ; 

 leaves, their structure and uses, water in plants, the relation 

 of plants to the atmosphere, and the food of plants ; the soil, 

 its composition, water in soils, etc.; manures and their use, 

 nitrogenous manures, mineral manures, leguminous plants and 

 nitioii-en, etc.; fiowers and fruits, uses of the different parts of 

 a rtower, insects and flowers, disper.sal of seeds, variation in 

 seedliuf's, etc.: weeds ; and finally the last ehapter deals with 

 insect itfe, and gives an account of the life-history of fine or 

 two representative insects, with notes on general methods <if 

 treatment for those that are destructive to growing crops. 



The importance of practical demonstration w-ork in teach- 

 ing agricultural science is kept \\ell in view, and at the close 

 of each chapter is gi\en a series of exercises and experiments 

 which illustrates the principles discussed. Some of the experi- 

 ments described are such as c|u best be carried out in 

 school garden plots, but w-hen Ihese are not available, it 

 is shown that a good deal can be' done by means of boxes and 

 pots alone. 



The book is illustrated, and at the close a glossary of the 

 scientific terms employed, together with several appendices, 

 have been added. The latter de^l with the habits of plants, 

 classification of leaves, fxuits, etc., and have been inserted in 

 order to make the book as coinplete as possible for the 

 piu'poses of reference. 



There is no doubt that pupils who have been carefully 

 guided through the course of work contained in Dr. AVatts' 

 book will not only have had their powers of observation 

 developed and strengthened, and have learned to take an 

 active and intelligent interest in plant and insect life, but 

 they will also have gained a clear understanding of the various 

 factors which influence the growth and health of agricultural 

 crops, and accjuired a fair amount of elementary scientific 

 knowledge that may serve as a sound basis for future stmly. 



CACAO AT TRINIDAD. 



The United States Consul at Trinidad has senc in 

 the following report on the uacao crop of the colony 

 during hisfc season : — • 



The cacao crop of Trinidad for the year 1907 was- 

 a very full one. Official iigui'es show an export of 

 41.03t<"."J01 lb., an increase over the previous year of 

 12 400 660 lb. These shipments were valued at approxi- 

 mately'!?S,900,000. Of this amount, how-ever, the sum of 

 •ifl 300,000 is to be credited to Venezuelan cacao, which was 

 brought here in small boats from that country to be prepared 

 and shipped to foreign markets. Of the 251,7.55 bags of cacao 

 shiiiped from Trinidad, 114,749 went to New York; 134,611 

 to Kurope (principally France); and 2,388 bags to Canada. 

 ( 'onsidering the high prices that the produce has realized, it 

 is a very'gratifying croji. ]''or the month of .January, 

 46 139 bans were exported, which is very nearly treble the 

 output for January of the pre\ious year. 



Thi> present outlook for a large crop during 1908 is 

 encouraging. Considerable interest has been manifested 

 here, in the past year, liy both the government and the 

 cacao planters in making a strong effort to eradicate the 

 fungus diseases and insect pests affecting the cacao trees. 

 The^'ijlanters are giving more attention to the treatment of 

 the soil, cover crops, shade, wind belts, pruning, etc., and 

 endeavouring not only to maintain the high market 

 jiosition which Trinidad cacao has enjoyed for some years, but 

 to improve it. i 



The Demeram Aiyost/ in a lengthy editorial article 

 draws attention to the increasing depletion of the accessible 

 forest resources of the colony, as the result of indiscriminate 

 and reckless tree felling by Indians and others. With the 

 provision of transport facilities new sources of timber could 

 be reached in the interior, but in the meantime, it is urged 

 that more stringent regulation,-, controlling the felling of 

 timb T and the planting of young trees should be made, and 

 enforced by the aid of officers appointed to carry them out 



