Vol. XVII. No. 427. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



283 



occurred occasionally on the snow scale. The small metallic 

 bluish green lady-bird (Exochomtis iiitidulm) was also 

 observed on the lime trees infested with scale insects. 



A small lemon-yellow to yelliwish-green beetle was 

 observed on leaves of limes in the Sout'riere valley. These 

 beetles are leaf feeders and produce a notching of the mirgin 

 of the le-ives. This insect is {Neocyphus \ Ciermariella] pudtns), 

 which is common in Monts-errat- " 



Mole crickets are reported as doing some damage to lime 

 seedlings at Reunion Estate. Several birds feed on the mole 

 cricket. Once a small gaulding or heron, known locally as 

 Caille, was seen searching for this insect in the grass walks 

 which were being badly attacked by the mole cricket. 



Mahogany trees {S'li'ieieiiia Mahagoni) were attacked 

 by a small caterpillar boring in the twigs. This was after- 

 ward identified as (Hysipyla grandella, Zell.) The insect 

 attacks the Honduras mahogany {S. macrophylla), and the 

 Cedar {Cedrella odorafa) more readily than the native 

 mahogany. The cutting off of infested twigs is the only 

 remedial measure suggested. 



Mr. C. B. Williams, the Entomologist in charge of 

 Froghopper Investigations in Trinidad, visited St. Lucia for 

 the purpose of ascertaining if the sugar cane froghopper 

 occurred in that island, but though careful search was made 

 in the sugar-growing districts the pest was not found. 



During the year under I eview reports were received of 

 grass-hoppers defoliating young orange trees. The grass- 

 hoppers proved to be a species of Microcentrum. They 

 feed at night and hide by day. They are attacked in the 

 early morning by the black i ird (Qia'siv.,'//s sp). On account 

 of the abundant rain at the time of the attacks spraying with 

 lead arsenate proved to be of no avail. 



H.A.B. 



TIfE STAPLE TRADES OF THE EMPIRE. 

 Edited by Arthur Percival Newton, M.A., D. Litt., B.Sc. 

 London ct Toronto. /. M. Detif o^ Suns, Ltd., Price 'Is. Qd. 

 net. Pp. 184. 



This comprises a serie.s of lectures delivered within the 

 University of London at the Lond' n School of Economics 

 and Policic-i! Science in the Spring of 1917. The course 

 wa.s planned under the auspices of the Imperial Studies Com- 

 mittee of the University and the Royal Colonial Institute, but 

 for the views e.'cpressed in his lecture, each lecturer alone is 

 responsible, the task of the committee being solely to ensure 

 that each trade should be dealt with by someone who could 

 speak with authority concerning it- The series comprises the 

 following lectures: Oils and Fats in the British Empire, by 

 Sir A. D Steel-Maitland, Bart., MP-, His Majesty's Under- 

 Secretary of State for the Colonies: The Sugar Supply of the 

 Empire, Its Production and Distribution, by C. Sandbach 

 Parker, M.A., C.B.E ; The Cotton P>esonrces of the British 

 Empire, by John A. Todd, B.L., Professor of Economics, 



University College, Nottingham; Metals as the Base of 

 Imperial Strength, by Octavius Charles Beale, ex President 

 and Representative of the Associated Chambers of Manufao 

 turers of Australia; The Wheat Supplies of the British Isles, 

 by Hugh R Rithbone, M A., Member of the Royal Commia- 

 fion on Wheat Supplies , Member, of the Mersey Docks aad 

 Harbour Board, etc.; The Importance of Imperial Wo )1 by 

 E. P. Hitchcock, M.A., Raw .Materials Department of the 

 War Office. 



In these lectures attention is mainly directed not to the 

 raising of the products, but to their distribution from the 

 producer to the consumer through the processes of commerce. 



Regarding the traiTes' dealt wilh', ijiose to which greatest 

 interest and importance will necessarily be attached in these 

 West Indian colonies are those which form the principal 

 staple products of these colonies, viz. — taking them in the 

 order of local importance— those dealing with sugar, cotton, 

 oils and fats. In each case the trade has been dealt with by an 

 expert who can speak with first-hand knowledge, and the very 

 large volume of data and information supplied, cannot fail to 

 be of value and use in carrying out such proposals and recom- 

 mendations as may be finally agreed upon for the further 

 development of these staple trades of the Empire. 



The lectures that are here printed afford an illustration 

 of the fact that the best 'practical man' may also be a scien- 

 tific thinker about the conditions of the trade to which he 

 has devoted his energies, and may supply within the very 

 narrow limits assigned, a survey of the actual conditions 

 of certain great branches of commerce at the present day. 

 Each lecturer dealt with his subject not merely from the 

 historical standpoint, but also with the design of indicating 

 the conditions that will govern future developments, and of 

 emphasizing the steps that, in his opinion, are necessary to 

 secure the greater benefit of the Empire as a whole. Though 

 the treatment of the commercial questions dealt with has been 

 entirely independent in each case, it will be noted that a con- 

 siderable unanimity of opinion is evinced by the lecturers, as 

 to the direction in which future efforts must be made if the 

 British Empire is to recover in full strength from the losses 

 of the war and of the period of slackness and easy-going 

 indifference that preceded if. 



This can but be regarded as an expansion of the idea 

 conveyed in the words of the Royal Commission on the 

 Resources of the Dominions with which the introduction con 

 eludes, namely, that 'it has been a commonplace for years 

 that Briti.sh manufacturers and merchants should be stimu- 

 lated to study and cultivate the Dominions' markets, and to 

 produce aoods of the nature and quality which are required 

 by consuuiers across the seas. It has equally been a common- 

 place that the manufacturers of the Mother Country should 

 be urged to use the vast resources of raw materials which the 

 Dominions possess. The difficulty has lain in suggesting 

 acceptable measures for the realization of the.se ideals. 

 Hitherto the proposals iiuuIp have been mainly the work of 

 advocates of bouil- particular fiscal or other theory, which 

 they have pressed in season and out of season, as a universal 

 remedy. In our judgment these counsels however impor- 

 tant they may be. cover only a part of the problem. An 

 Imperial policy in the broadest sense must include much that 

 is not fiscal. There is no short cut to the formulation of 

 such a policy; what is needed is detailed examination 

 of existing conditions, and practical and definite proposals for 

 the removal of difficulties and for securing co operation.' 



The present volume is regarded as a small contribution 

 to that task of detailed examination. A book such as this 

 can safely be commeiiJi-'d to the general reader, who will 

 amply be repaid for the time spent in its perusal. 



