THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



January 26, 1918. 



EDITORIAL 



Head Office 



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., 



Agriculture for the West Indies D.Sc. F.I.C.. F.C.S. 



SCIENTIFIC STAFF. 



fW. R. Dunlop.* 



(Rev. C. H. Brancli, B.A. 



„ . , . , I H. A. BaUou, M.Sc.t 



Entomologists y q Hutson, B.A., Ph.D. 



Mycologist W. Nowell, D.I.C. 



Assittnut for Cotton Ileieaii-h S. ('. Haibiml, B.Si-.-t + 



CLERICAL STAFF. 



A. G. Howell. 

 (L. A. Corbin. 



._♦ 



Foster. 

 Tf/piit Miss B. Robinson. 



Asiistant Typid Miss W. Ellis. 



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



*Secotid"i fur Militnrij Service. 

 fSecouded for Dvhj in Egupt. 



'■Ptooided hu lite Imptrial iJepartmeid of Scieulijl- and 

 Industrial HeseavcJi. 



Seitntific Assistant and 

 Assistant Editor 



Cnief Clerk 

 Clericnl AssistatUs 



(L. A. Corb 

 -^P. Taylor. < 

 Ik. R. C. F 



ligricultiirat ^tm 



Vol. XVn. SATURDAY, JAM AKV 26, 1918. No. 411, 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Contents ot Present Issue. 



The editorial in this is.siie draws attention to the 

 probable cont.inuance of food scarcity in the world, even 

 after peace i.« declared. 



I'nder Insect Notes will be; fount] an articlj on 

 the prevailing insect pests in I ganda, and another [on 

 the moth borers of .sugar-cane in .Mauritius. 



Bougainvillaea Seedlings. 



An interesting note has been received at thi.s (Jffice 

 from Mr. H. E. Biadus, oi Barbados, stating that having 

 found some seeds on a Bougainvillaea plant in his 

 garden in April 1!>14, he planted them. They all grew, 

 and most of them are now Howering. The riowers of 

 one of them are of a distinctly different shade from 

 t'liose of the parent plant. 



A friend of the writer's, he says, has also obtained 

 a true hybrid — a cross between the cherry-red and the 

 terra cotta varieties, which is growing satisfactorily. 



Food Control Committee in Barbados. 



Early in December the Government of the United 

 States asked to be furnished with the requirements of 

 foodstuffs in Barbados during the year 1!>18 of those 

 heretofore imported from the United States. This 

 information was sent by the ( lovernor to the British 

 Ambassador at Washington. I'reciseh- similar infor- 

 mation has been obtained from each of the British 

 West Indian colonitis. 



The British Ambassador at Washington despatched 

 a circular telegram, dated January o, lOIS, to these 

 colonies, stating that all returns have been received 

 and tabulated, and are under consideration by the 

 United States authorities. Pending conclusions of 

 negotiations for export, licenses will be granted immed- 

 iately for one month's supply, l^se of wheat and wheat 

 fiour should be discouraged, and every etilbrt must be 

 made to substitute corn meal, oat meal, and rye. 



In a circular telegram to the several colonies, 

 dated January S, the Ambassador says the following 

 procedure is suggested: 'Your l''.xcellenfy to form local 

 Food Control C'ommittee, which will guarantee to keep 

 imports of foodsturt's down to the amount eventually to 

 be agreed upon with the United States." 



In accordance with the above, the Governor of 

 Barbados has appointed a local Fooil Control (Com- 

 mittee, and doubtless similar steps have been taken 

 generally throughout ihe West Indies. 



Fungus dieea-ses affecting plants in I'ganda are 

 the subject of an article under I'lant Disea.se8. Another 

 article under the san)C headini,' deals with the smut 

 disease of corn. 



the 



The Report on the Agricultural Department, 

 Montserrat, 1910-17, is reviewed on page "29. 



Stimulating Influence of Arsenic upon 

 Nitrogen-fixing Organisms of the Soil. 

 A note on the above subject was published in the 

 Agricaltural News, \ol. .XIII., p. l.S^i., but further 

 researches are given in an interesting paper contribu- 

 ted to the JoarniiL of Agricidtural Research, Vol. VI, 

 .\o. 2, by J. E. Greaves, I iacteriologisl, l^tah .\gricultui'al 

 Experiment Station, In the course of prcx lous iwperi- 

 inents the writer found that the addition of arsenic 

 to the soil stinnilalcs the ammonifying and especially 

 the nitrifying micro-organisms. Further, it was found 

 that very large (juantities of arsenic had to be applied to 

 a soil before its toxic cti'ect became inarkcd, 'fhis toxic 

 effect only become pronounced when quantities of 

 arsenic, which far exeicded those found in any of the 

 cultivated soils, hail bn ii applieil. 



From data ublaiii. il by further experiments, and 

 from results given by similar experiments carried out 

 by other writers, itsei ms to be conclnsivily proved ihao 



