A FORTNIGHTLY Rj^VIEW 



OF THE 



IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR THE WEST INDIES. 



Vol. XVII. No. 431. 



BARBADOS. NOVEMBER 2. 1918. 



Prick li. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



Agiic'ilture in Bai-bados ... 351 

 AgriciUure in Grenada ... 3-31 

 Coco-miti Plantations, Minor 



Crops on 34'" 



Coco-nut Press-cake for 

 Human Food, Recipes 

 for the Preparation 



of ... 349 



Cottee Cultivation in British 



Paob. 



[nseut Notes: — 



W eevils Attacking Sweet 



Potato and Vani ... 'M*' 

 I Termite Injury to .*<\veet 



Potatoes' .'. -'Ut; 



[terns of Local Interest :5."il* 



Market Heports ^Jo- 



Notes and Comments ... :'>44 



Guiana 



Cotlf'n Notes : 



Sea Island Cotton 

 Market 



Department News 



Devils Grass 



Fowls' Rjitions, The Bene- 

 fit of Adding Bullocks" 

 Blood to ". 



Gleanings 



Go-ta-ni Bean, The 



Green Manure Crops in 

 Southern California ... 



Hygiene in the Primar> 

 Schools of St. Lucia ... 



34:^ 



340 

 :U6 



:»9 



348 

 342 



Mi 



.■!47 



Ol.ma. A Valuable Ha»:ii- 



iau Filire ^'4" 



( >nioi!s in Dominiva ... 344 



Power Alcohol .'ul 



Rats and Mongoose in tlie 



West Indies :V-i7 



Sea-eggs as Food 341 



Tiiidier Industrv '<f British 



Guiana, The 347 



( niveisity and Higlier 

 Technical Education, The 

 Position of o45 



Watii ina Cow's Ration, 

 The Role of :''4-' 



In li'OT it was reported in a meeting of the Jamaica 

 Agricultural Society that a correspondent in Mexico 

 had asked to have some mongoose sent to him in 

 order that the species might be established in that 

 countr}-. The Secretary of the Society was not able 

 to comply, because of a lack of suitable shipping facil- 

 ities, but if the individual interested in importing 

 t hem was persistent it is likely that he h;\s been suc- 

 cessful, and that before this time the mongoose has 

 become established in that country. 



Rats, which seem to occur wherever man exists, 

 were to be found in these islands from very early 

 times. The black rat anti the brown or grey rat, both 

 of Old World origin, have been brought to the Westi 

 Indies with the shipping. Tht- 'cane piece' rat of 

 •lamaica appears to be of uncertain origin. It is said 

 to have been larger than either of the other two. and 

 distinctlv marked. 



Rats and Mongoose in the West Indies. 



HE mongoose was introduced into the West 

 Indies in the early seventies of the last 



^ , century, and within a ^pace of about ten 



=E years had spread to all the islands where it is now 

 ^ known to occur, namely, Jamaica, Trinidad, Tobago, 

 c. Grenada, St. Vincent, Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, 

 c<? and St. Ivitts-Nevis. It does not occur in Don^inica. 

 C5 Montserrat, Barbuda, the British Virgin Islands nor Oar- 

 O riiUiou. The mongoose is found in Cuba and Sant:i <Jru^. 



Previous to the introduction of the mongoose the 

 injury to the sugar-cane by rats was so great that rat- 

 catchino' was a regular part of the routine of many, if 

 not of most, sugar estates. Not only did rats cause 

 ranch injury to the canes, but they were a source of 

 direct expense. It has been estimated that in Jamaica 

 the losses to the island as a whole amounted to as much 

 as £100,000 per annum, while some estates paid as 

 high as £300 to t:40f» per year for rat-catching. 

 The rat catchers were a source of further e.Kpease, 

 for thev often pulled down walls in order to catch the 

 rats, and these walls had afterwards to be repaired. 



The introdaction of the mongoose into Jamaica 

 was found to be of gn^at value to the island, a saving 



