A FORTNIGHTLY REVIEV\^ ^^Z 



OF THE BOTaM^ 



IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR THE WEST INDIES. ^^•*''^' 



"Vol. VII. No. IG^. 



BARBADOS, OCTOBER 3, 1908. 



Price Id. 



CONTENTS. 



Agi'iciiltiual Hunk in I lu' 



Phili|i|iiiit's 



Bai-l);uliis i\'M.-<a)its' A^ri- 



cultuiiil Sliow 



Cdtt'ee in Ceylon 



Cottim and Cocoa-nuts in 



the .Society Islands ... 

 Cotton Notes :- 



Lancashire Cotton Con- 

 ference 



Sea Island Cotton in the 



United States. ,l'.H)7-« 



West Indian Cotton ... 



Crystallized Frnits 



Departmental Hejiorts :- 

 British (iiiiana ; Botanic 



(iardens. 1!)07-,S 

 Ceylon ; Koy.al Botanic 



(iardens, l'.M)7 



IVIont.serrat : Botanic 

 Station, etc., I!MI7-.S... 



Dei>artnient News 



Fish of the Carihliean Seas 

 Forage Crops in the 



Philippine Islands ... 



Gleanini^s 



Insect Notes : — 



Dil)tera, The 



Lettuce Cultivation 



Maize-shellini' Machine ... 



The Value of iu-coi-ds. 



^yS EW enterprises nvike much prntji-css until 

 tlie things with which tliey (hvil arc 

 ineasiirecl and reconled, so that aecnratc 

 oc comparisons v<m br made. This is eminently true 

 O^ alike of the chemical and physical sciences and of 

 ,^ many forms of industrial work, including agricultural 

 CQ operations. 



H- 



CJ When towards the close of the eighteenth cen- 



tury James Watt induced the owners of the Cornish 



mines to substitute his engines for the form then in 

 use, he took as payment for tliese engines one-third of 

 the saving effected in the coal consumed. This arrange- 

 ment led to accurate measurement?, not so much with 

 the idea of saving fuel, but in order to ascertain tht- 

 amounts to be paid. When, in 1800, this weighing of 

 the coal ceased, the character of the work fell off and 

 the coal consumption increased. Soon afterwards an 

 accurate system of recording and reporting was again 

 introduced, with such e.Kcellent results that it is said 

 that the practice of keeping accurate records is thought 

 to have been attended with more benefit to the district 

 than any other single event, e.Kceptiiig only the inven- 

 tion of the steam-engine itself 



In connexion with planting industries in the West 

 Indies, measurements, weighings, and records are in 

 many cases very imperfect, so that progress is retarded 

 thereby, and it is more than probable that the above 

 experience might be repeated by agriculturists in these 

 isl.md!;. The analogy is fairly close between weighing coal 

 and weif'hino- canes. In the case of the Cornish miners 

 the weighing was undeitaken for a specific purpose, but 

 was ultimately found to have important collateral 

 results. Doubtless the question frequently arose:. 

 ' What is the good of weighing the coal ? It does not 

 make it give more heat 1' But the results were tangible 

 and inqportant, and so witli the weighing of canes it 

 would soon be found that the results more than repaid 

 the cost. 



It is not difficult to predict some of the directions 

 in which the weighing "f canes would yield remunera- 

 tive results. Observations have shown that the work 

 done by cane mills is extremely irregular, and that very 

 great losses may remain undetected unless close records 



