98 



THEAGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



Ai-Kii. 6, 191 S. 



years', or It was the way in which my father 

 and m\ grandfather worked his land; and what was 

 good enough for them is good enough for me', should 

 be acquiesced in, unless proof can be adduced that it is 

 the best possible practici' un<ler the circumstances. 

 It seems necessary, therefore, for the benefit of the 

 agriculturist, that experiment stations should under- 

 take very largely the work of the dissemination of 

 general information in at least two ways: (1 ) by practi- 

 cal demonstration of improvements in the field, and 

 (2) by publishing from time to time in popular 

 language the results obtained by scientific experiments, 

 and the conclusions drawn from them. For in order 

 that the planter or farmer may understand the results 

 of investigations it is necessary to explain in a some- 

 what systematic way what research has ascertained, 

 and to show the benefit of such resiilts in practice on 

 the land. In this way too the interest and sympathy 

 of the agricultural body are secured, without which the 

 work of an experiment station is not attaining the 

 end for which it was designed. 



Here again the experiment stations of the ITnited 

 States set an example. The thoroughness which they 

 have displayed in efibrts to interest and benefit the 

 farmer, and the whole-hearted co-operation of the latter 

 with the station workers, is most admirable. In the 

 work of the experiment stations in the West Indies, 

 in their more limited way, the same lines have been 

 followed, and it is gratifying to note that planters 

 of all classes, large and suiall, are coming to take more 

 and more an interest in this work, and to regard its 

 results with appreciation and respect. 



Unfortunately, the fact that much time and energy 

 have to be expended in the two directions mentioned 

 above has its danger, especially in these islands, where 

 the statl' of 'xperiment station workers i.s mostly of 

 necessity small, and quite inadequate ideally. 'I'he 

 tendency is t<> look upon the station as a sort of model 

 plantation on a small scale, and to consider that the 

 chief function of the staff in charge is to give personal 

 ailvice to oMry individual planter how to cultivate his 

 estate. Where agricultural instructors can bo appointed 

 in connexion with the agricultural departments, the 

 latter is their function, but the real work of an cxperi- 

 inent station is to experiment in all directions in 

 •juestions relating to agriculture. 



It may seem a strange thing to enunciate, but 

 it is true, that in experimentation just as nmch is 

 learnt from failures as from successes. For the ordinary 



planter, who must make his land pay. often repeated 

 failure in new crops is disheartening, if not ruinous. 

 He cannot afford to vary his experiments over a long 

 perioil of time, so as to locate the cause of failure. 

 Here comes in the experiment station, which ought 

 never simply to be regarded as a model paying plan- 

 tation. Experiments, carefully controlled, on soils, 

 manures, crops, can be conducted there for a series of 

 years, with necessary or appropriate variations, an<l 

 then the results can be stated with such a reasonable 

 amount of certainty that planters may themselves avoid 

 the failures, or copy the .successes. 



The field of experimentation is a very wide 

 one, and conclusions ought not hastily to be jumped 

 at in any direction. The varymg annual climatic 

 conditions in these islands, and their influence 

 upon various crops, especially on various varieties 

 of the same plant, cannot be said to have been 

 exhaustively studied. The difierent types of soil, and 

 the best means of increasing its fertility in different 

 localities, in spite of much research, still need further 

 local experiment and investigation. The testing of 

 introiluced varieties of a crop, and of their behaviour 

 under new conditions of soil and climate, is perhaps 

 the most obvious and useful kind of work undertaken at 

 experiment stations. Hut to obtain reliable conclusions 

 in this kind of investigation, experiments must be 

 carried on over a series of years, with an inevitable 

 amoimt of failure. Some new varieties which promise 

 well at first will have to be discarded as worthless in 

 the end, while others may so improve as to be deemed fit 

 to be recommended for cultivation on an extended 

 scale. 



Apart from the above more generally recognized 

 lines of experiment and research, there is that of plant 

 breeding by hybritlization .and selection, together with 

 the improvement of indigenous fruits and vegetables. 

 ( !ood work has been done in the experiment stations 

 of these islands in the first of these directions on cane 

 and cotton, as is well known. Perhaps in the future 

 something more may be done in the second. 



To carry on experiments and investigations 

 scientifically, on all or indeed any of these lines, there 

 should be a sufficient amount of land attached to the 

 experiment station. Again, the station worker .shouM 

 have his residence near to the scene of his work, for 

 experience has shown that it is the man who lives 

 among his pknts who gets the best results. EspiC- 

 ially is this the case in the matter of plant bre&I- 

 ing, which of necessity hjis to be done chieHy in the 



