56 



THE AGRICDLTUKAL NEWS. 



Feueuaby 23, 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 npplicalions 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., 



AgricMure for the West Indies D.Sc, P.I.C., F.C.S. 



SCIENTIFIC STAFF. 

 Seientific Assistant and fW. R. Dunlop.* 



Assistant Editor 

 Xntomologists 

 Mycologist 



(^Rev. C. H. Branch, B.A. 

 |H. A. Ballou, M.Sc.t 

 U. C. Hutson, B.A., Ph.D. 

 W. Nowell, D.I.C. 

 Assiftiiut for Cotton Research S. C. Hailaiid, B.Sc.tt 



CLERICAL STAFF. 



Chief Clerk A. G. Howell. 



{L. A. Corbin. 

 P. Taylor.* 

 K. R. C. Fo.ster. 

 Typist MisB B. Robinson. 



Aiiistant Typist ' Miss W. Ellis. 



Auistant for Publications A. B. Price. Fell. Journ. Inst. 



*Secondfd for Militari/ Service. 

 ^Seconded for iJitty in Egypt. 

 MProfidtd btj titc Impt^rial Deparhntid if iicii.iiliji-. mid 

 Industrial Ueseatcli. 



^gricutiurat |]eiufj 



Oil Industry of Trinidad in 1916. 



According to the report for 191(i by the Acting 

 (""ofonial Secretary of Trinidad and Tobago (Colonial 

 Keports — Annual, No. !i:JO), there were ten companies 

 engaged in the production of petroleum in Trinidad 

 at the end of I'Jlti. The total output of oil in that year 

 was :i-2, 47.5,695 imperial gallons, as compared with 

 81 ()(j6,390 imperial gallons in 191.5. Drilling to the 

 extent, of 58,890 feet was carried out during the year. 

 Oil was struck in thirty-four of the forty-seven wells 

 drilled. The total number of wells drilleil in the colony up 

 to December ol last was three hundred and twenty-five. 

 Several refineries have been engaged in the production of 

 petrol, for which there is a large demand locally, as well 

 as in some of the neighbouring islands. Kerosene has 

 also been produced for local consumption. The \alue of 

 crude petroleum, fuel oil, and petrol e.xported from 

 Trinidad in 191(i was over .£200 000, as conipareii 

 with .£79,000 in 1915, thus bringing oil into the third 

 place of importance in the list of exports from the 

 colony. 



Vol. XVII. SATURDAY, FKHIirAHY 23, 191«. No. 41.3. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Contents ot Present Issue. 



The editorial is a reproduclion of an address of 

 Mr. Houston, the Secretary of Agriculture of the 

 United States of America, which is veiy apposite to 

 present conditions. 



An article on Insect Fests in Barbados, as dealt 

 with in the last report of the Superintendent of .\gii- 

 culture of that island, appears on page 5.S. 



Some notes on recent investigations with regard to 

 diseases of Citrus trets will be fousd on page <i2. 



The food of the \V> .'-t Indies is the subject of an 

 articlf! on page 50. 



Introduction of Insect Pests to be Avoided. 



The Joarval of Hersdoti/ for January 191S, in 

 a brief note on the necessity for increased production of 

 foodstuffs, and the practice of war economies at the 

 present time, emphasizes the importance of measures 

 bemg taken for preventing the further introduction of 

 insect pests and plant diseases into the United States. 

 In this connexion it is inentioned that the Massachus- 

 etts Forestry Association, in Bulletin /..'/, has bruught 

 together some striking figin-es to show the loss annually 

 caused by those pests and diseases which are already 

 present in that country, and makes the startling 

 announcement that the Bureau of iintomology of the 

 Department of Agriculture has listed over .'1,000 

 more insects which are found in foreign countries as 

 pests, and although not yet introduced into the United 

 States, may have to be contended with at any inomerit. 



It appears, .says the journal, that the insects which 

 by a conservative estimate are costing the country 

 >*500,000 000 annually, are but a scatteri-d v.inguard lif 

 the myriails which are ready to follow ,it the Hist 

 opportunity. 



Undoubtedly the only possible prophylactic 

 measure, as suggested, is to enact such legislation as 

 will provide for keeping these pests out by keeping 

 diseased importatiotis otit. It is not so iiuich aipiestion 

 of keeping the plants out, as of how the plants shall be 

 brought in, but without insects and diseases. Etlectivc 

 ijuarantining before the pest has secured a foothold 

 in the country would do much to make the task of 

 those who are producing the foodstufls to win the 

 world war less heavy. (Quarantine measures on the 

 lines of those indicated above have already been 

 enacted in most of the West Indian colonies. Similar 

 steps now being taken by the United States in tefer- 

 ence to the importation of sweet potatoes and yam.s 

 will be noticed in our next issue. 



