Vol. XVII. No. 412. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



37 



it is now evident that but for the hurricane, the exports of 

 Jamaica for I91fi would probably have created a record in 

 the history of the trade of the colony.' 



It is noted that the revival of the sugar industry is now 

 being prosecuted, and with an Imperial market for its 

 produce, this industry will probably be conducted with 

 enterprise and success, wherever conditions in the island are 

 favourable. 



With regard to the banana industry, the report mentions 

 that: 'The incidence of Panama disease of bananas during 

 the year has shown a marked reduction, only 16.3 diseased 

 plants having been reported on forty separate spots, or an 

 average of four plants per base. This disease is a very 

 difficult ore to control, but where the strict measures of 

 quarantine provided under the Law have been successfully 

 enforced, the results have been satisfactory, and with care 

 and watchfulness there is no rea.son for the planters of 

 Jamaica to view this disease with serious apprehension. It 

 has been demnnsl rated, however, that infected land appears 

 to remain permanently unfit for the cultivation of the "Gros 

 Michel" or "Jamaica banana'', although the 'Chinese" or 

 "Canary" variety has been found to be immune to the disease.' 



In spite of some alarm at the disc • very that the black 

 weevil borer of bananas was somewhat widely spread over 

 three parishes of the island, it is now considered that this 

 insect is not a very serious pest where bananas aie well 

 cultivated. 



lu conclusion, the Governor remarks: 'The high 

 prices of imported foodstuffs, and the uncertainty as 

 to their sujply, in view of the shortage of shipping 

 and the demands of the Allies in Europe, rendered it advisa- 

 ble to take steps to. urge the p'anting of amp'e foodstuffs in 

 the island, to render the population independent of an 

 imported supply, should there be any failure in that supply. 



'The measures taken have ensured that, if supplies from 

 outside are obtainable in decreasing quantities, there should 

 be ample food for all, and it is stated thut never before have 

 such quantities of provisions been planted out as during the 

 year under review. It has furthermore been generally 

 , impressed that the present situation will not be confined to 

 the period of the war alone, but that it appears to be mcreas- 

 ingly probable that for some time after there will be a world- 

 wide shortage of food for man, and that surplus supplies may 

 be in great demand.' 



BARBADOS: REPORT ON THE DEPARTMEXT 

 OF AGRICULTURE, iuii:-i:. 



This report, issued as a supplement to the Ofirial 

 Gazette, January 24, 1918, has just been received. 



Naturally much space is devoted by the Superintendent 

 of Agriculture, Mr. J. R. Bovell, I. S.O., to details in con- 

 nexion with sugar-cane e.\periments. These, however, have 

 been previously issued in a separate report, which ha^ been 

 already referred to in this Journal {\o\. XVI, No. 407). 



Following the portion of the report on sugarcane comes 

 that dealing with the cotton industry. The e.Kperiments 

 with this crop are carried out, it is stated, in two series. 

 'In the first series an effort is being made, by a selection of 

 the best formed plants giving heavy yields of go^i quality 

 lint, to improve the Sea Island, certain indigenous, and 

 other varieties of cotton. In the second series an effort is 

 being made in the same manner to improve a number of 

 hybrid cottons that have been obtained by crossing some of 

 the improved varieties with some of the indigenous cottons.' 



With regard to Sea Island cotton, seed of a special strain, 

 obtained by selection over several years, was distributed to 

 nine planters for experiment under field conliiions, but 

 accurate returns both of the yield per acre and of the 

 quality as tested in England are not available. 



By indigenous cottons Mr. Bovell means varieties that 

 have survived in the island from former times when cotton 

 was grown here on a commercial scale. Attempts are being 

 made to improve some of the best of these. The improve- 

 ment seems to be a slow process, but Mr. Bovell states that 

 .some of the varieties have already greatly improved, and seem 

 'practically free from in.sect pests and fungoid diseases ' 



In addition to these indigenous cottons there is a cotton 

 obtained from Dr. C. E. Gooding who had grown it from 

 seeds of a wild cotton, which so far has kept true to type. 

 This cotton has also been up to the present practically 

 immune from disease, and the quality of ihe lint is said 

 to be improving under cultivation. 



With regard to food crops, experiments are made by the 

 Agricultural Department, Barbados, as by other agricultural 

 departments throughout the West Indies, on several of these 

 crops. With regard to cassava, experiments are continued 

 with varieties obtained from different countries, as well as 

 with a number of seedling varieties obtained in previous 

 years from the cassava under cultivation in Barbados. Three 

 of these Barbados seedlings have continued to give good 

 results for four years of cultivaiion. A useful item of 

 knowledge has been verified by the experiments on tanias 

 and eddoes. It seems definitely reliable that better results 

 are obtained when corms aie used in planting tanias, than 

 when rhizomes are so used. The contrary however is the 

 case with eddoes. We note that Mr. Bovell speaks of 

 eddoes as Caladiums. Several writers, however, in pub- 

 lications of the United States Department of Agri- 

 culture, prefer the ^leneric name Colocasia; the Gala- 

 diims are said to be of little or no economic value. 

 Experiments on yams include not only local varieties, but 

 also some from Dahome)'. Tho return per acre for six years 

 ■from the Lisbon yam has been an average of 14,6771b,, by 

 far the largest avenge yield of anj' variety experimented 

 with. Mr. Bovell tliinks highly of the properties of Panicum 

 divaricalissi mum, a closely related species to Guinea grass, 

 as a fodder grass, and hopes that it will be successfully 

 introduced into the island. 



The list of plants at present in the herbarium of the 

 Department of Agriculture, Barbados, is appended. Atten- 

 tion must be drawn to what is an evident mistake, 

 by which two cottons, namely Gossi/pium barliadense and 

 G. her/'cireu/ii, together with Tfiesjiesia /'opulnea, belonging 

 to the order Malvaceae, and Adans'tnia diijitata, belonging 

 to the allied order Borabaceae, are classed under the unre- 

 lated order Capparideae. 



The portion of the report dealing with the insect and 

 fungus pests prevalent in Barbados will be dealt with in 

 another issue. 



