1^4 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS 



JiNE 15, 1918. 



EDITORIAL 1^ 



Head Office 



NOTICES. 



— Barbados. 



Letters and matter tor publication, as well as all 

 epecimens tor naming, should be addressed to the 

 Commissioner, Imperial Department of Agriculture, 

 Barbados. 



All .ipplications for copies of the 'Agricultural 

 News' and other Departmental publications, should be 

 •ddressed to the Agents, and not to the Department. 



The complete list of Agents will be found on 

 page 4 of the cover. 



The 'Station Agronomique de la Guadeloupe". 



This agricultural station whieh has ivcently been 

 established in the French island ot (Juadeloupe in the 

 interests of the sugar industry, is now at work. The 

 establishment is unotHciai in its standing, being 

 financed bva syndicate of sugar manufacturer.^. Mr. .1. S.. 

 I )ash,B.S A. .formerly Assistant Superintendent of Agri- 

 eulture in Barbados, has been appointed Director, tie- 

 has his office and laboratory in Pointc-a-Pitre, while 

 the experiment fields of the station are about 2.1 miles 

 out of the town. It is intended after the war to erect.- 

 more suitable permanent official buildings at the 

 station itself 



Under the direction of Mr. I>,ish the station will 

 doubtless prove of great benefit to the sugar-cane- 

 industry in (Uiadcloupe. It would seem that the most 

 important function of the station will be the raising of 

 seedling canes suitable to local conditions. 



Imperial Commissioner of Sir Francis Watts, K.C.M.G., 



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

 SCIENTIFIC STAFF. 



Seieiitific Assistant and 

 Assistant Editor 



Mntomologists 



Mycologist 



Assistaiit for Cotton Besearcli 



fW. R. Dunlop.* 



\Rev. C. H. Brancli. B.A. 



( H. A. Ballou, M.Sct 



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



W. Nowell, D.I.C. 



8. C. Harland, B.Sc.tt 



Chi*/ Clerk 

 Cierieal Assistants 



Typist 



Assistant Typid 

 Aitisiant for Publications 



CLERICAL STAFF. 



A. G. Howell. 



(h. A. Corbin. 

 \ P. Taylor.* 



' K. R. C. Foster. 



Mi.ss B. Robinson. 



Miss W. Ellis. 



A. B. Price, Fell. Joum. Inst. 



*Seconded for Military iiervt 

 f Seconded for Duty in Egypt. 

 liProvided by the Imptrial 

 Ind ustna I liesea rch . 



Dcpurttnent of Scietttific and 



Agricultural J;leiu!i 



"Vol. XVII. SATURDAY, JUNE 15, 1918. No. 421. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Contents of Present Issue. 



The editorial in this issue gives a resume of a paper 

 by l>r. W. L. Balls on srirne applications of research to 

 the cotton industry. 



insect Notes, on page lS(i, contain descriptions of 

 some insect pests in Cuba, an<l the measures taken to 

 control them. 



Some notes on the red rust of cacao are given 

 under. Plant l)isi;ases, on page l!Kt. 



On page ISi some suggestions will lie Itniiid lor 

 the prosecution of genetic investigation of plants in 

 the tropics. 



Dying Out of Clumps of Sudan Grass. 



A case has recently come to notice in regard to- 

 the dying out of clumps of Sudan grass, which illus- 

 trates a condition liable to occur in the growing of 

 fodder grasses of this type in dry situations. 



This condition is essentially the same thing as the 

 so-called root disease of sugar-cane, which is really 

 only the form which failure takes when some condition 

 necessary for growth is deficient. Most commonh it» 

 is brought about by shortage of water — which of course 

 is most severe in a shallow soil — or by poorness of soil. 

 In this particular instance, the heavy drain on the 

 vitality of the plants caused by fre(juent cuttings in 

 dry weather (when even if plenty of manure is supplied 

 there is not enough water to enable the plant to make 

 use of it) is quite enough to account for the trouble. 

 The case of sugar-cane, which is only a grass after all. is 

 similar: in deep soil in well-watered countries it can be 

 grown for twenty years or more without replanting, but 

 in the dry parishes of Barbados for example, it has to be 

 replanted every year to give a good return. The 

 I'.arbados planters method with sugar-cane should be 

 copied for Sudan grass, viz., freciuent replanting in 

 ground rested by growing a different crop, and heavy 

 manuring. It would also bi- well, if possible, to trash 

 the ground in dry weather. 



Efficient Drainage. 



The fundamental necessity of etiicient drainage 

 has been long known to agriculturists, as also the 

 fact that efforts to induce fields to yield more abundant 

 crops are largely futile where the l.-uid is imperfectly 

 drained. 



An article in the Fiild, .Ma_\ il,l!ilrS, on thid 

 subject, very truly states that although improve- 

 ments in other nspects besides draiiiing are necessary 

 t<p render land fertile, and to inaiiiiaiii it in a highly 

 productive state, it is no exaggeration to say that the 

 lirst ami chief essential is the atfording of proper facili- 

 ties for the escape of superabundant water, not only on 

 the surface, but under it. The harm done bv water 



