120 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



AiMiiL 20, 1915. 



EDITORIAL 



Head Office 



<h NOTICES. 



I 



— Barbados. 



Letters and matter for publication, as well as all 

 fc^ecimens for naming, should be addressed to the 

 dommissioner, Imperial Department of Agriculture, 



Barbados. • i i 



All applications 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 o] 

 Agriadtnre for the West Indies 



Sir Francis Watts. K.C.M.G., 

 D.ScF.I.C, F.C.S. 



SCIENTIFIC STAFF. 



Scientific Assistant and 

 .Assistant Editor 



Xntomologists 



Mycologist 



Assistant for Cntton Researcli 



( W. R. Dunlop.* 



\Rev. C. H. Braucli, B.A. 



JH. A. Ballou, M.Sc.t 



\J. C. Hutson, B.A., Ph.D. 



W. Nowell. D.I.C. 



S. 0. Harland, B.Se.tt 





CLERICAL 8TA^. 



A. (J. Howell. 



L. A. Corbin. 



Taylor.* 

 ,__. R. C. Foster. 

 Miss B. Robinson. 

 Miss W. Ellis. 

 A. B. Price, Fell. Journ. Inst. 



*Secondtd for Military Service. 



f Seconded for Duty in Egypt. . , ■ -j. 



1-^-Provided by the Imperial Department of Scientifi- and 

 : Industrial Besearcli. ' '' 



Chi*/ Cleri: 

 Clerical Assistants 



Typist 



Assistant Typist 

 Aitistant for Publicatioiis 



IkgriruUural ITfirii 



VOL.XVIL SATURDAY, AFltlL JO, 191b. No. 417. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Contents of Present Issue. 



■j'hc editorial draws attention to ravages in the 

 p:,st and the present caused by severe epidemics of 

 ■ '■ , (.11 Miridus crops. 



,i;^, 



InULi- lu.-,ecl ,\ole.son page 122, \m11 be found 

 the concluMon of the article begun in the last issue on 

 the West Indian mole cricket or changa. with special 

 mention of measures for its control. Anothrr articl.- 

 t,n the same page deals with Heas and their control. 



Attention is drawn in an article on page 12(1 to 

 the importance of the variability of yield in friiit trees 

 •m'-lev appflr<-ntly unif..ni, cnditinnK in comparisons 

 Lii|( mi trial plot.- 



The Pacaya or Salad Palm. 



The young unopened intforescences of the cabbage 



palm (Oreodo.ra regia) are commonly ustd in the 



West Indian islands as a very tasty pickle prepared 



with vinegar. From a note by ;\lr. O. V. Cook, in the 



Inventory of Seeds ami Plants Imported by the 



Office of Foreign Seed and Plant Introduction. United 



States Department of Agriculture, issued Siptcmber 



15, 1917, an account is given of a palm from Guatemala 



which might be usefully introduced into the West 



Indies. Its native name is 'pacaya, a species of 



Chamaedorea. It produces a large, Heshy, edible 



inflorescence which is used in Guatemala as a cooked. 



vegetable, or as a .salad. They are grown in some places. 



in'great abundance. Some of the palms have four, five 



and even six 'pacayas, as the edible male inflorescences 



are called. Tht-y attain a height of from 12 to lo feet, 



but fruit probably from the third or fourth year after 



planting. Mr. Cook thinks that the palm would grow 



very well in sht-ltered situations in South. -rn Florida. 



Sarawak Bean as a Cover Crop. 



Dnlichos Hoseii is given as the botanical name 

 of a small creeping bean which is indigenous t;o 

 Sarawak. This "bean appears to fulfil all that is 

 reciuired as a cover crop in rubber plantations. It is 

 a low-growing leguminous plant, which can be dug 

 into the soil, and it reproduces itself in time to check 

 the growth of weeds; it also grows readily from cuttings. 

 The'^flower is yellow, and the leaf a rich light green. 

 The roots do not seem to penetrate the ground more 

 than 1 inch, while the plants form a thick mass about 

 (i inches thick on the ground. It will grow on almost 

 any soil, but probably best on a light one. If planted 

 M feet apart, in six months' time the gnmnd should be 

 so covered as to prevent all wash, and keep down all 

 weeds. This plant was broi»ght to the notice of the 

 Department of Agriculture of the Federated Malay 

 States by Mr. Hose.a rubber planter in Sarawak. 



Comparative Value of Legumes as Green : 



Manure. 



In experiments conducted by the chemical depart- 

 ment of the Hawaiian Agricultural lv\ peri men t Station, 

 Honolulu, the results of which were published in Febru- 

 ary 1917, varieties of legumes were grown on two soils 

 of different types. Throe crops were grown of each of 

 the varieties! using four pots for the trial of each 

 variety. At maturity the plaiit.s were removed, 

 weighed, and analysed" for uitiogen. Analyses of the 

 soir"" for nitrogen w*ere made before planting and after 

 removing the crop, 'fhe results show that a great 

 deal of the nitrogen of the legumes had been obtained 

 from the nitrogen of the air. and fi.\ed by the root 

 nodules. Comparisons were also made as to the 

 aiiiounls of nitrogen added to the foil by the various 

 legumes. From the data given it appears that Croln- 

 laria juncea (sunn hemii), C. mUtami, and C. invnna 



tlie latter a wild rattli'-bush of the West Indies:;— are 



the legumes which, most increased the nitrogen content 

 of the soil. Seven of the legumes experimented witij.j 



