312 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



0.-r.>BER 5, 1918. 



^EDITORIAL 



Sead Office 



NOTICES. 



— Barbados. 



Letters and matter lor publication, as well as all 

 specimens for naming, should be addressed to the 

 Commissioner, Imperial Department of Agriculture, 

 Barbados. 



All applications for copies of the 'Agricultural 



rNews' 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 Comynissioner of Sir Francis Watts, K.C.M.G., 



.Agriculture for the West IndifS D.Sc, F.I.C., F.C.S. 



SCIEXTiriC STAFF. 



■Seitntific Assistayit ani fW. R. Dunlop* 



Assistant Editor (Rev. C. H. Branch, B.A. 



- Bfitomologist H. A. Ballou, !M.Sc. 



Mycologist \V. Nowell, D.I.C. 



Aisisto.),t for Cotton Ressarch .S. C. Harlaml, B.Sc.t 



CLERICAL STAFF. 



ChUf CUrk 

 CUrical Assistauts 



Typist 



.Assistard T>ipist 

 Assistanllfor PxMicatiom 



A. G. Howell. 

 fL. A. Corbin. 

 lor.* 

 Foster. 

 Miss B. Robinson. 

 Miss W. Ellis. 

 A. B. Price, Fell. Joum. Inst. 



fL. A. Co 

 \ P. Tayloi 

 (.K. R. 0. 



*Secotidtd for Military Service. 



*Provided by the Imperial Deparlmetd of Scieutifir, and 

 Industrial Research. 



Agricultural lleiufj 



Vol. XVII. .SATUHDAY, OCTOBER 5, 1918. No. 429. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Contents of Present Issue. 



In this number the editorial discusses the influ- 

 ence of records on devolopment, especially in connex- 

 ion with agriculture. 



Under the head Insect Notes, on page 31-1, will 

 be found notes on insect pests in Porto Kico. 



Plant Diseases present a description of moidds 

 occurring on copra and coco-nut me<it in the Philippine 

 Islands, which are held to be responsible for the 

 deterioration of the.se products both in storage and 

 in transportation. 



The Crow and it.< relation to man', forms the 

 Subject of an interesting article on page :il9. 



How to Avoid Intermittent Bearing of Fruit 

 Trees. 



In a recent article in (.'ouatri/ Lip', it is maintain- 

 ed that the intermittent bearing of truit trees can be 

 avoided by a proper system of manuring. The writer, 

 H. Vendelmans, says that, in spite of a very common 

 belief, it is certain that the bearing capacity of fruit 

 trees is not limited to every other year, \inety-one 

 orchardists out of every hundied iu Knglaud assert tJiat 

 a good crop is followed by a thin crop, and vice versa; 

 but the regularity with which excellent returns are 

 obtained annually from espalier trees, and trees under 

 glass, which receive different treatment from that meted 

 out to orchard trees, ought to suggest some scepticism 

 about the old tradition. In the case mentioned, it is 

 possible to rely on good crops every year. Among 

 the reasons which explain this more regular bearing, 

 manure takes a first place. Without it, the abundant 

 crop of one year makes so great a rlemand upon plant 

 food that the reserves of the trees are exhausted, and 

 are not strong enough to feed a new crop for the next 

 year. Hence a poor return follows a good return. In the 

 year following the bumper crop, the trees often carry 

 no fruit at all, but they accumulate new reserves, and 

 are then ready to fetd a large crop the next year. 

 When the exhaustion of the trees is prevented by 

 appropriate manuring, bearing takes place much more 

 regularly. 



In manuring fruit trees, it is necessary to bear in 

 mind that the blossom buds are formed the year before 

 they come out, that is to say, during the period of 

 bearing, or shortly afterwards. ( 'onsetjuently, they are 

 forming at a time when the trees are being exhausted, 

 or have been rxhausted. Therefore, a liberal supply of 

 easily assimilable manure must be placed at their 

 disposal during this period. IJtjuid manure, wood- 

 ashes, basic slag, ana lime should be used, taking into 

 account that a superabundant suppK' of nitrogen might 

 lead to a production ol wood instead of Mower buds, 

 and that phosphates assist in developing the flavour of 

 the fruit. 



This serves to emphasize the essential use of 

 manures in oichard cultivation, if the best results 

 are to be attained. 



Buchu Cultivation in South Africa. 



The Buchu plant, a hard perennial and evergreen 

 shrub belonging to the rue family, is said to be indi- 

 genous to South Africa, but its culture there seema 

 to have been neglected in recent years — -as late as 

 1!)0«, 240,74-2 lb. of leaves were exported. The high 

 price now prevailing for buchu oil, however, is again 

 stimulating interest in this plant to some extent in 

 South Africa. 



According to an account of the cultivation of the 

 plant given in the South African Agriiulturaf. .Jour- 

 nal, andijuoted in the Pirjumiri/ tDxl Essi'utial Oil 

 Recnrd for August P'ls, the leaves of the buchu, to 

 which the value of the plant is flue, are opposite or 

 scattered, and are flat and dotted with oil glands, the 

 margins are glandular, serrate, or, in .some ca.sos, almost 



