Vol. XVII. No. 420. 



THE AGHICULTURAL NEWS. 



im 



source of expense at Union, St. Lucia, where it was 

 introduced some years ago. Apparently under Barbados 

 conditions .Johnson grass is not so troublesome. With 

 the case of devil's grass in mind, however, it may be as 

 wed to be cautious in extending its cultivation. 



Blackie's 'Senior Tropical Reader'. 



The Senior Tropical Reader, by Sir Francis 

 Watts, K.C.M.d., D.Sc, Imperial Commissioner of 

 AaricuUure for the West Indies, and the Rev. C. H. 

 Branch, B.A., working in collaboration, has been added 

 to the well-known series, Blackie's Tropical Readers, 

 with a view to placing in the hands of young people in 

 tropical lands a more advanced book than the series 

 has yet contained. The general theme of the book 

 may be expressed as being the story of the linking 

 together of the tropics and the lands of the temperate 

 zones through exploration, trade, and commerce. The 

 book is written specially from tht' point of view of 

 young people who live in the tropics, but will be found 

 to form highly in-<tructive and interesting reading also 

 for pupils in tempnrate lands. 



The Senior TropicuL Reader forms a handsome 

 volume printed on excellent super-calendered paper. 

 It is freely illustrated with photographic and other 

 pictures. 



The earlier numbTS of the Tropical Reader Series 

 are too well kiiovvn to require description. They were 

 produced originally for the Board of Education, 

 Jamaica, and have proved their usefulness for schools 

 in all tropical countries. 



Onions in Dominica- 



In a letter recently received from Mr. Joseph Jones, 

 Curator of the Botanic Garden, Dominica, an interest- 

 ing account is given of S'ime experiments in planting 

 onions in that island at Spring Hill estate. Mr. E. J. 

 Seignoret, the owner of that estate, left in the seed-bed 

 a number of onion seedlings of the sowings made in 

 September 191(1 He only took steps to transplant 

 them after the dry weather had come on. Owing to 

 the dry season these seedliiii^s remained as 'sets'; these 

 were later on lifted, dried, and storeil until November- 

 December 1917, when they were planted out. During 

 the month of March 1918, full ahrd onions were reaped 

 from this planting. Thirty o' the onions, moreover, 

 were then producing seeds. 



The observations made by Mr. Seignoret may 

 prove to be of considerable imp 'roaiice to the onion 

 industry in these islands, (I) as to the feasibility of 

 regularly producing onions out of season by delayed 

 transplanting, and (2) as to the local production of seed. 



It is hoped that the seed so pmduced will be care- 

 fully saved, anil tried in comp irison vvitn Teneriffe seed 

 at the regular planting season. 



t )n April 9, 191.S, Mr. .Jones forwarded a sample of 

 these onions to this Office. It wa^ in excellent condi- 

 tion, of good form and size, and also of capital flavour. 

 It measured 'A inches in diameter, and weighed .5 oz. 



The National Physical Laboratory. 



In a lecture at the Rjyal Institute on February 

 2t>, 1918, which was noticed m the issue ofThe Timesot 

 the next day, Sir R. T. Gtazebrook gave some particulara 

 concerning the future of the National Physical 

 Laboratory. 



He explained that hitherto the control of the 

 laboratory had rested with the Royal Society. Indeed 

 it had really been a private concern of the Royal Society,, 

 dependent for part ofita income on a grant-in-aid from, 

 the Treasury. From April 1, however, its property^ 

 will be vested in the Imperial Trust for the Encour- 

 agement of Scientific and Industrial Research, and its 

 income will be vested in, and be under the control of 

 the Committee of the Privy Council for Scientific and 

 Industrial Research. 



In the future, as in the past, the laboratory will 

 endeavour to discharge the two functions of being a. 

 laboratory of industrial research, and a national testing 

 institution. It will be organized in eight difterenb 

 departments, each with its own superintendent and a 

 large staff of scientific assistants and observers. The 

 staff now numbers over 600 persons, of whom about 180 

 are women. The expenditure, which was £5 479 in 1900, 

 will be considerably over £100,000 during the currenti 

 financial year. 



This appears to be a welcome sign of the in- 

 creased interest and attention that is being paid to 

 scientific research by the British Government. 



Trinidad's Food Supply. 



In an article on the above subject, which appears 

 in the West IndAa Committee Circular, April 4, 1918, it 

 is pointed out that Trinidad, owing to its proximity to 

 the mainland, is in a better condition than the other 

 West Indian islands as regards food supply. It is true 

 that the removal of two of the steamers of the Canadian 

 Royal Mail will doubtless in time make a serious 

 difference in the supply of flour and other foodstuffs 

 from North America. Up to the present, however, 

 there cannot be said to have been any real shortage. 



Bread substitutes are being more used, and locally 

 grown provisions more extensively planted. Trinidad 

 could easily be self-supporting in the matter of food, 

 but the fact that the cultivation of cacao and cane has 

 in the past paid better, has led the people of that island 

 to import vegetables rather than to cultivate them 

 themselves. Owing to the island's proxiaiity to Vene- 

 zuela, where there are practically unlimited numbers 

 of cattle, there is no fear of a shortage in the supply of 

 meat. From the same country also, cargoes of plantains 

 are constantly being imported, together with a large 

 quantity of Indian corn. Of course the prices of all 

 foodstuffs have risen, but there does not seem, fortun- 

 ately, to be any reason to think that there will be any 

 real dearth in the near future. 



This condition of affairs seems to be largely due to 

 the unwearying exertions of the A: ting Director of Agri- 

 culture. Mr W. G. Fr<-eman, who has been lecturing in 

 every district of the island on the necessity of more 

 extensive IocmI tood pio'luction. 



