A FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW :' v^^ 



or THE ,^(.^" yol' 



IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR THE WEST INDIES. «4^^< 



y^ 



Vol. XVII. No. 412. 



BARBADOS, FEBRUARY 9, 1918. 



Price Id. 



CONTENTS. 



Agricultural Exaniiiia- 



tii'iis 



Agriculture in Barbados 

 Agriculture in .Jamaica 

 bengal Beans in Mont- 



seri'at 



Cane Farmers 



C'l'conut Flowers, I'lillin- 



ation of 



Corn Meal, Home-Ground 

 E>e[i,artmental Reporls ... 

 Food Consumption, Econ- 



om_y in 



Gleanings 



(ii.i.«s, A Mud-Binding 

 Hol; Cholera in Barbados 

 Insect Notes: — 



The Sweet Potato Kot.t 



Weevil 



Items of Local Interest , 



45 

 30 

 3(i 



Page. Page. 



Manines. Farmyard and 



() tlier o."! 



Market Reports 48 



Mos(|uitoes and Malaria 4.3 

 Notes and Comments ... 40 



Pine, The Canary ... 4r. 



Pink Boll Worm, Machines 

 for Treatment of Cotton 

 Seed against 



Plant Diseases: — 



Fomes Lucidus as a 

 Parasite of Trees ... 



<^Uieensland Sponges . . . 



Sea Island Cotton Market 



39 



40 

 46 

 37 



47 

 44 

 41 



47 



40 



4(1 

 41 



38 



42 



-(^ 



Tom.itoes and Asparagus 



in GuadelQupe 41 



Tractor, New Ford ... 45 

 W.aste Products of Cane- 

 Sugar Making 38 



Farmyard ant} Other Manures. 



'N an arlicle under this heading, The Field 

 of September 1-5, 1917, draws attention to 

 a possible (livergence of opinion between 

 farmers and their scientific observers concerning the 

 relative merits of farmyard and artificial manures: in 

 this it states: There are two points upon which it looks 

 as if practice and science were to come into contticr. 

 The latter has a greater belief in the virtues of the 

 concentrated artificial manures than the former. The 

 farmer appreciates the qualities of artificials, but in 

 his estimation, based upon personal experience and 

 careful observation, they can be used to better advan- 

 tage to supplement dung than to displgjse it. It will 

 ta^kc a great deal to shake this conviction, for it is 

 rooted in generatifins of careful study and practical 



achievement. The modern manufactures and natural 

 materials of commerce have a very im,port'j,nt province 

 to fulfil, but there is proof both here and on the 

 Continent, particularly in Ciermany, to show that 

 continuous exclusive artificial manuring is detrimental 

 to the health and ultimate productivity of the soil. 

 This may be due to chemical action, but it is (juite 

 as likely to result from the absence of the beneficent 

 influence of farmyard manure upon the physical state 

 of the land. lo is known that while concentrated 

 fertilizers may, in certain circumstances, be more 

 effective than dung in forcing crops safely through 

 critical stages of development, and, used freely, will 

 produce more vigorous growth than farmj'ard manure 

 alone, the latter acts as a valuable corrective to weather 

 extremes; it conserves moisture in dry seasons, and 

 facilitates drainaefe when there is an excess of water in 

 the surface soil. The confidence reposed in manure 

 made in the yards, therefore, is firmly founded upon 

 solid econoiriic teaching coupled with practical attain- 

 ments Dressings of artificial manures may 



be added with varying advantage, often very great 

 benefit, but animal manure should, wherever practi- 

 cable, form the foundation in the general scheme of 

 manuring land.' 



As resrards West Indian agriculture and the 

 advice given by scientific ad\ isers to planters, we think 

 it mav safely be asserted that this is mainly in accord 

 with the view of the writer of the article quoted above. 

 Here both scientist and planter realize the value, 

 indeed the necessity, of using farmyard manure or its 

 equivalent, though the advisers of the planters may 

 at times urge that more farmyard manure should ba 

 used, that more effon should be made to increase tha 

 (juantity that is available, and that greater pains should 



