328 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



OcTOBEu 17, IOCS- 



EDITORIAL NOTICES. 



Letters and matter for publication, as well as all 

 specimens for naming, siionld be addressed to the 

 Commissioner, Impeiiul Department of Agriculture, 

 Barbados. 



All applications fur Copies of the ' Agricultural 

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

 the Department. 



Local Agents: Messrs. Bow en & Sons, Bridge- 

 town, Barbados. London Agents: Messrs. Dulau & 

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

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

 Agents will be found on ])age 3 of the cover. 



The Agricultural iWu'.s; Price Id. per number, 

 post free 2d. Annual subscription payable to Agents, 

 2.S. 2d. Post free. is. id. 



Bermuda Arrowroot. 



Reference is made in the Annual lic/xirt {1907}- 

 on the Bermudas, to the fact that the arrowroot produced 

 in the colony, though falling ofl'in (]uantity of late years, 

 still emtinues to hold its premier position on the mar- 

 ket. One arrowi^ot factory e.xists at Bermuda. This 

 is equipped with modern plant, and is capable of 

 ile.iling witii a large quantity of the commodit}'. It is 

 stated that the cultivation and nianuricture of arrow- 

 root could be increased, and that this would add 

 materially to theagiicultural prospeiity of the islands. 

 The retail price on the London market of the Bermuda, 

 product is about 2s. Gd. per lb. as compared with Is. 9d. 

 per If), for St. Vincent and other arrowroots. 



Iigriciiituriil Hmujj 



C' 



Vol. VIL SATIJRD.IY, OC'TOl 



17, 1908. No. 169. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Contents of Present Issue. 



Attention is drawn in the editorial to ow or two 

 points of especial interest among those dealt with at 

 the late Lancashire Cotton Conference. 



Sugar-cane seedlings D. 130 and B. 3()(j have for 

 some years been under cultivation in JIauritius, and 

 from tlie returns recorded at the Experiment Station, 

 it is evident that the Demerara seedling is best suited 

 to the conditions prevailing in tlie colony. The sugar 

 industry of Formosa is undergoing considerable 

 development (pp. 322-3). 



The methods followed in the cultivation, manur- 

 ing, etc., of pine-apples in Floiida are described on 

 page 324. 



On the following page will be found a brief lepoit 

 on the progress made iluring the past year in the 

 various agricultural industries of Dutch (luiana. 



Under ' Cotton Notes '(page 32(i) there appears 

 an interesting article dealing with tie use of the 

 horse cultivator in coinie.xiou with cotton growing. 

 A machine ol' the type described has | roved very use- 

 ful on a cotton estate at Tobago. 



A further portion of Mr. P.mIIoh'.s article dealint^ 

 with the Order of insects ktioun as the Diplera is' 

 gi\en on page 330. 



The methods which .are in use fo- i btaiuing new 

 varieties of Agricultur.d plants are describe I under 

 'Science Notes ' (page 331). 



School Shows at Trinidad. 



Five School Horticultural Shows were held at 

 different centres in Trinidad during 1007-8. At each 

 of the shows there is a section for produi-e from peasant 

 holdings, in addtion to tiiat for exhibits from school 

 gardens. 



The produce'sent in to the shows of the past year, 

 although less in quantity, is described as having been 

 distinctly betterui quality than in past years. This 

 especially applies ti) the section for peasant proprietors. 

 The Jiispector of Schools at Trinidad, in his latest 

 report mentions that one of the hot i-esults of the 

 establishment of these annual shewn has been the 

 awakening of the small holders of land to the possibili- 

 ties of vegetable culture on a market scale on their 

 holdings. The increased production of green vege- 

 tables would not only add to the material prosperity of 

 the peasantry, bit also su[)[)ly a real need in most of 

 the West Indian Islands, where the sutiply of green 

 vegetables is iiivor 

 school garden work 

 practical results,-' 



too great. It is evident that 

 at Trinidad is having useful and 



Quinine as a Preventive against Malaria. 



With the c)-oper.ation of the Governor of Uganda, 

 returns have htely been collected from Europeans 

 resident in that ''rotectorate, with the object, if possible, 

 of obtaining defi'iite information as to the best time 

 and manner in which ([uinine should bo taken as 

 ;i preventive ag.-inst malarial fever. 



The trials (Stended over a period of twelve months, 

 and 217 persons sent in regular reports. The returns 

 were collated atthe end of the year, and a summary of 

 the results is gi en in the Uganda Otpriid Gazette of 

 August 1 last. 'Iho lowest precentage of fever, viz., 3r3, 

 was e.\perienceda!Hong persons taking (]uinine in daily 

 doses of 5 grains. Where 10 grains were taken twice 

 a week, the perc-'ntage of fever cases was (J5'S, but fell 

 to .50 per cent, vith people taking 1.5 grains of the drug 

 every eighth or ninth day. Again the proportion of 

 fever cases w^as4(!-5 per cent, when ipiinine was taken 

 irregularly. Tiese results are not .so valuable .is might 

 be the case if he conditions were more fully controlled, 

 since the nunl)ers of people following the different- 

 systems wercnot equal. It is probable, however, that- 

 the system jf taking small daily doses of quinine- 

 is the best uuler such conditions. 



