M'? 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



A1..1ST 10, 1916. 



EDITORIAL JJ 



Head Office 



W^A^ NOTICES. 



— Barbados. 



Letters and matter for publication, as well as all 

 -specimens for naming, should be addressed to the 

 Commissioner, Imperial Department of Agriculture, 

 .Barbados. 



All .ipplications for copies of the 'Agricultural 

 "News' and other Departmental publications, should be 

 •addressed to the Agents, and not to the Department. 



The complete list of Agents will be found on 

 .page 4 of the cover. 



Imperial Commissioner of .Sir Francis Watts, K.C.M.G., 



Jigric'iHureforthe Wast Indies D.Sc, F.I.C., F.C.S. 

 SCIENTIFIC STAFF. 



fticutific Assistant ani 



Assistafit Editor 

 Bfitomologist 

 -Mycologist 

 Assiftaiit for C'ltton lifseurcli 



I W. R. Dunlop.* 



I Rev. C. H. Branch, B.A. 



H. A. Balbu, M.Sc. 



W. Nowell, D.I.C. 



S. C. Hailan.l, B.Sc.t 



The Sugar Crop of British Guiana, 1916-17. 



In the Journal nf the Bnard of Afjricidtitre of 

 British Gainna, April lOLS, an article contributed by 

 <jrticer.^ of the Department of .Science and Agriculture 

 ot that colonv, shows that the total area under canes for 

 the crop of litl(i 17 w.is 7.S,.i4(l acres, an increase of 

 ■2,ii()2 acres on the area for the crop of the preceding 

 year. Of this acreage, :57, 174 acres, nearly one- half of 

 the total area, was planted with D. ()"2.5, the Bourbon 

 cane being still {.lanted on 9 lUfl acres. 



In spite of its p ipularity, I), ii'2.5 has not given 

 such a large yield as several of the varieties under 

 cultivation, as is shown by reiurns supplied by manag- 

 ers of sugar plantations. According to the lable 

 attached to the report, the varieties yielding the great- 

 est amount of sugar per acre are D. 21(5 and D. 433, 

 which each gave 3 tons of s-ugar per acre, while 1). (125 

 yielded 2'41 tons, and Java 247, 2 Nl tons. The yield 

 of the Bourbon was 2 10, while that of Java! was only 

 •iS7. The sugar yield per acre of seventy-two varie- 

 ties is given in the table. 



The export of sugar for the year 1916 was 101, (i49 

 tons, the total production being 114,292 tons. The 

 total export of rTim was 4,3.S(i,S.54 proof gallons. No 

 molasses was exported durini; the yiar, but the e.xport 

 of molascuit was 997 tons. 



Chief Clerk 

 ■Clerical Assistauti 



'ILERIC^L STAFF 



A. G. Howell. 

 (h. A. Corbin. 

 1 1 



P. Taylor.* 

 Ik. R. C. Foster. 

 Typist Miss B. Robinson. 



Astistant Typist Miss W. Ellis. 



.jitsittant for Publicatioits A. B. Price, Fell. .louni. Inst. 



*Secoudtd for Military Servica. 



fPiovided by the Imperial Department nf Scieiififi'' and 

 Indi'drinl TUaearcJi. 



Agricultural lleiuii 



Vol. NVII SATUI'iDAY, AITiFST 10. lOlS. X,,. li>.5. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Contents of Present Issue. 



The need for research in tropical agiiculture. and 

 the benefits to be derived from such research, is the 

 enbject of the editorial. 



Under Insect Notes, on page 2.jO, will be found nn 

 interesting account of the feeding habits ot some of the 

 parasites which help to control the destructive grubs of 

 hardback beetles. 



Among the notes on page 2.j4, under I'lant 

 I)i8ease8. one on the powdery mildew of roses will he 

 fonnd useful by horticulturists. 



An ai tide on the signs of approaching hurricanes, 

 on page 240, deservee attention at this season. 



Pusa Wheats. 



The benefit which science is rendering to agri- 

 culture is strikingly brought out in the work at Pusi in 

 India on wheat. The annual report on the progress of 

 Agriculture in India shows that through the medium 

 of Pusa No. 12, the cultivators of certain districts of the 

 Punjab and the United Provinces have increased their 

 output by 2.") per cent., while the use ol Punjab 11 is 

 expected to yield an additional income ot at least 2 

 lakhs of rupees in the year to the cultivators of 97,000 

 acres on which it was sown. In the Central Provinces 

 again it is stated, in a note in the Joornal if the Ruyal 

 Society "/ ^r<s, .June 21, 191.S, that the 200,000 acres 

 under vai-ious types of Pusa seiil are bringing in an 

 additional income of troni 10 Id 20 l«khs of rupees 

 annually. 



Mr. and Mrs. Howard, who.se e.\periments in cross- 

 breeding wheat at Pusa are known throughout the 

 world, believe that the present varieties m ly be even 

 stirpassed by otheis, which thiy hope soon to be in 

 a position to give to the cultivator. The area under 

 wheat in the year under repoit amounted to nearly 

 33,000,000 acres; the possibilities therefore of increased 

 food production in this direction are readily apparent. 



The Wholesomeness of Water Containing: Zinc. 

 It is often said that water stored in galvanized 

 iron tanks, or passing through galvanized pipes becomes 

 unfit for drinking purposes, because of the zinc taken up 

 by the water under such conditions. It appears, how- 

 ever, that water holding a considerable ijuantity of zinc 

 in solution may be considered (iffrfectly uholesoine, anfl 



