THE AGRICULTURAL NEWb. 



Jasuaey 12. 1918. 



EDITORIAL 



Bead Office 



NOTICES. 



— Barbados, 



Letters and matter for publication, as well as all 

 Boecimens for naming, should be addressed to the 

 Commissioner, Imperial Department of Agriculture, 



Barbados. 



All applications for copies of the 'Agricultural 

 News' and other Departmental publications, should be 

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



The complete list of Agents will be found on 

 page 4 of the cover. 



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



Agriculture for the West Indies D.Sc. F.l.C, F.C.S. 



SCIENTIFIC STAFF. 

 Seietitific Assistant and i W. R. Dunlop.* 



Ass<stant Editor (Rev. C. H. Brancli, B.A. 



(H. A. Ballou, M.Sc.t 

 tntomologists |j q Hutson, B.A., Ph.D. 



Mycologist ^V. Nowell, D.IC. 



Assintin.t for Cotton Besearcli 



8. C. Hail.md, B.Sc.tt 



Chief Clerk 

 C'eriral AssiUants 



CLERICAL STAFF. 



A. a. Howell. 



{L. A. Corbin. 

 P. Taylor.* 

 K. R. C. Foster. 

 Typiit Miss B. Robinson. 



Au'st'j at Typist Miss W.Ellis. 



Attistant for Publications A. B. Price, Fell. Joum. Inst. 



*Secondtd for Military Service. 

 f Seconded for Duty in Egypt. 



MPtovided hy Ihr Imp'iinl I }ep(irlment of ikienlifir and 

 ludoitnal J!esenicli. 



Agricultural llciufj 



Professor E. B. Copeland. 



It is announced in the PliilipiHiu Agriculturist 

 and Forester, .September 1!)17, that Professor Edwin 

 Bingham t'opeland. Ph. D., has retired from his position 

 as Dean of the Agricultural t'ollege and Prole.ssur of 

 Plant Physiology, which nt+ice he held from 190!>. His 

 retirement is a great loss to the College, fur his work 

 has been of the soundest in a wide range of subjects. 

 His book on the coco-nut will long remain a leading 

 authority on the subject. 



]>r. Copeland has given the keenest study to the 

 problems of agriculture in the Philippines, and is prob- 

 ably the best authority on the agricultural conditions 

 of those islands. He placed great emphasis on the 

 necessity for right principles in agricultural practice, 

 for he took the view-point not only of a scientist, but 

 also that of a practical agriculturist. 



The Ministry of Munitions and Agricultural 



Machinery. 



The following has been received from The Special 

 Intelligence Branch of the Ministry of Munitions with 

 a request for its publication — 



'With a view to removing possible misunderstand- 

 ing of the functions of the Agricultural Machinery 

 Department of the Ministry of Munitions as regards 

 the supply of agricultural machinery, imploiuents, fuel, 

 and accessories, it is to be noted that these functions 

 are conKned solely to the carrying out of Government 

 orders lor such material received from the Boards of 

 Agriculture for England, Scotland, and Ireland, the 

 issuing of permits to manufacturers, the control of 

 imports and exports: and to giving general assistance 

 to manufacturers in the execution of their orders, 

 whether Government or private. 



'The supply ot the above-mentioned commodities 

 to the consumer, in so far as it is undertaken by the 

 Government, is in the hands of the Food Production 

 Department of the Board of Agriculture, to whom all 

 fomniuuications <>n the .subject should be addressed.' 



Vol. XVIL SATURDAY, .lA MARV 1'2. 1918. No. 4 10. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Contents ol Present Issue. 



The editorial is concerned with the outlook in the 

 future for the sugar-cane industry of the smaller 

 West Indian islands. 



A continuation of the subject of the production of 

 ,-ligU in certain animals is given under Insect Notes 

 on page 10. 



The (luestion of the di.ssemination of parasitic 

 fungi is dealt with on page U. imder the heail of Plant 

 Diseases. 



Articles referring to thi' local shortage of food- 

 stuffs will be found on page l.'j. 



Zapupe Fibre Plant. 



Some years ago, as was noticed in the Agricul- 

 tural News, Vol. \'II, No. 1.5G, considerable attention 

 was attracted to the planting and cultivation of Zapupe 

 (Agave Deweyana), which resembles sisal hemp 

 (A. sisalava) somewhat closely, allowing for the 

 slightly narrower leaves with the prickles on the 

 edges. By 1910se\eral companies had been formed 

 for its cultivation in addition to the planting done by 

 private individuals in Mexico. In lOKi, however, it 

 was reported that the cultivation had ceased. This 

 seems to have resulted from the superior value 

 realized by sisal hemp when compared with Zapupe 

 fibre Thi.' Bulletin of the Royal Botanic Gardens, 

 Kcw, No. fi, 1917, in a note on this plant, says that it 

 would seem to be advisable for those colonies where 

 the conditions are suitable for Agave cultivation to 

 confine their attention to the better-known sisal hemp, 

 over which, notwithstanding early recommendations, 

 Zapupe apparently possesses no advantage. 



