408. 



THE A(3RICULTURAL NEWS. 



December 26, 1908. 



EDITORIAL NOTICES. 



Letters and matter for publication, as well as all 

 specimens 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: IMessrs. Bowen & Sons, Bridge- 

 town, Barbados. London Agents: Messrs. Dulau & 

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

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

 Agents will be found on page 3 of the covfer. ■ 



The Agricultural Neivs: Price Id. per Dumber, 

 post free 2d. Annual subscription payable to Agents, 

 2s. 2d. Post free, 4,s. id. 



tl 



Vol. VII. SATURDAY, DF.CEMREl! 2G, 1908. No. 174. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Contents of Present Issue. 



The editorial (which has been contributed bv 

 Dr. Longfield Smith) deals with the courses of instruc- 

 tion in Natural and Agricultural Science given at 

 Harri.'^on College, Barbados. 



Some interesting notes on E.\poriment Stations, 

 and the ettbrts made to improve agricultural conditions 

 in the tropical territories of the United States will be 

 found on paei' 403. These are followed by a brief article 

 on the Soy Bean. 



The results of an exhaustive investigation, carried 

 out by the U. S. Dupartuient of Agriculture, on the 

 <lc'cay of oranges in transit, show that mechanical 

 nijuiHs to the fruit wrrc m large part responsible for 

 the subseiiuent decay (page 404). 



.\ number of fibres from the (!old Coast have 

 been well reported on at the Imperial Institute (page 

 405). 



The value of certain leguminous plants as agents 

 for the improvement of the soil, when under-planted in 

 cacao and rubber plantatu)ns, is discussed un ])age 407. 



A suci-essful Peasants ' Agricultural Show was 

 lately hold at Barbados (page 409). 



Particulars relating to the ' fruit Hies ' of different 

 countries will be found under Insect Notes (page 410). 

 Attention may also be drawn to the article on page 

 415 ' New Rubber Plants for the West Indies. ' 



Experiments in Molasses B'eedihg.- " 



The results of experiments carried out in Germany 

 as to the amounts of molasses that may with advantage 

 be fed to horses and cattle are worthy, of notice. For 

 cattle it was found that 6 ft. of molasses per 1,000 ft. 

 live weight is probably the maximum daily allowance 

 that should be given, although' s ft. were fed without 

 evil effects. Horses doing considerable work were fed 

 with molasses with encouraging results, the ration beine 

 mixed in the proportion of 7i ft. of corn, 7 ft. of bran, 

 and 5 ft. of molasses. It was noticed that on this diet 

 horses perspired very little during hot weather. Even 

 when 10 ft. of molasses per day were given to the horses, 

 no evil effects were noticeable, but some difficultv was 

 experienced in getting the animals accustomed to it. 



Destruction of Scale Insects at St. Lucia. 



Experiments carried out at St. Lucia to test the 

 effectiveness of different strengths of kerosene wash for 

 the destruction of the orange snow scale {Chionaspix 

 citri) are described' in the latest Annual Report of 

 the Agricultural Superintendent of the colony. 



The stock solution of wash consisted of 1 gallon of 

 kerosene, 2 ft. whale-oil soap, and 1 gallon of water. 

 Six lime trees infested with scale were sprayed with 

 the wash at different strengths, — 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 

 () gallons of water being added respectively, for the 

 different trees, to the stock solution given above. The 

 results show that when only 1, 2, or 3 gallons of 

 water are added to the original preparation, the wash 

 is thoroughly effective. When the stock solution 

 is diluted with 4, 5, or 6 gallons of water, satisfactory 

 results may be expected in spraying on a large scale, 

 more especially if a second spraying is given about 

 ten days after the first. 



The lime trees suffi'red no injury as the result of 

 spraying even with the strong stock solution. 



West African Rams and their Progeny. 



It is apparent that a good deal of interest is being 

 takiii by stock-keepers and others in the several colonit'S 

 in the tour West African rams recently imported bv the- 

 Imperial Department of Agriculture. One of the rams 

 was purchased by a large sheep owner in St. Vincent 

 and another has just been sold to an estate owner in 

 Barbados. The other two are on service, one at the 

 Stock Farm at the Agricultural School. St. Lucia, and 

 the other at the Lunati(.' Asylum Farm, Barbados, 

 jirnicipally for the benefit of peasant proprietors. 



ihiring the current year an estate proprietor who 

 had the service of one of these rams for his Hock has 

 been very successful in raising some exception.dlv Hne 

 iambs, most of which ho has disposed of for sliipmont 

 to the other islands. He states that he expects to 

 have several more for sale early in the coming year. 



The lambs breii from a good Barbadian wooliess 

 sheep, as the result of a cross with one of the African 

 rams, show considerable inijjrovcment, and grow much 

 quicker than those froni tJi'e ordinary ram that is gene- 

 rally used, while the prices that can be obtained for such 

 lambs are much higher. 



