Ui 



THE AGKIOULTUKAL. NEWS 



NovtMBEE 2, 1916. 



EDITORIAL R'/.M.3t^^ NOTICES. 



Head Office 



*,^^^ 



'.■f/r* 



— Barbados. 



Letters and niaiter tor publication, as well as all 

 specimens for naming, shoui3 be addressed to the 

 ^Commissioner, Imperial Department of Agriculture, 

 Barbados. 



All applications for copies of the 'Agricultural 

 Uews' 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. ^ 



Imperial Cummissioner of SirFrancis Watts, K.C.M.G., 



Jgrir.ulture for fh' West Indies D.Sc. F.I.C., F.C.S. 



SCIENTIFIC STAFF. 



Seiadi/ic Assistant an-i f\V. R. Dunlop.* 



Assistant Editor 'l Rev. 0. H. Branch, B.A. 



Entomologist H. A. Ballou,'M.Sc. 



Mycologist W. Sowell. D.I.C. 



Aifutnnt for i)i,lton R'-Murch .S. C. Harlanrl, B..Sc.+ 



CLERICAL STAFF. 



CiKief i.Urk 

 CUncol Aifi»tont» 



A. G. Ho^vell. 



I'L. A. Corbin. 

 P. Taylor.* 



(K. R. C. Foster. 

 Miss B. Robin.sfm. 

 Miss W. Ellis. 



Typist 

 Asfistant Typist 



. .Assistant for Publications A. B. Price. Fell. Journ. Inst. 



*Secijitdftt for Militiiry Setvice. 



rProtided by Iht Impyriid Hep/ntmnii.t of Srientifir mid 

 ludiutrtal Ri.seaych. 



3lflricultural lleiuii 



Vol. XVll, S.^TUKDAV, NOVKMHEI! J, 1918. No. 4.31. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Theciiitorial in this nuniber iJiscii.sses the position 

 of rats and mongoose at the i)re.sf;nt time in the West 

 Indii's. 



Onions in Dominica. 



-Mr. E. .). 8eignoret is continuing his expireinents 

 in growing onions at Spring Hill estate in l)omii)ica, 

 which wen^ noticed in the Ajricultaral N<'Wf..h\ne 1, 

 l!H.s. 



Mr J. Jones, (,'urator of the hJotanic (iardens, 

 Dominica, has recently forwarded two samples of onions 

 grown by Mr. Seignoret trom sets raised trom Teneriffe 

 seed imported in November VMl. Sample No. 1 con- 

 tained six onions grown from sets planted in July. 

 These six onions weighed !■ o/.. with an average diameter 

 of li-inches. .Mr. Jones says that owing to drought this 

 planting did not do very well. .Nevertheless, the onions 

 forwarded, though small, were .sound, and apparently 

 would keep well. 



.Sample No. 2 consisted of a single onion grown 

 from a set planted in August. The weight of this onion 

 was l.l-oz., and its diameter slightly over 2 inches. 

 Mr. Jones says that this lotiliii really well. The onion 

 forwarded was an excellent specimen. 



Mr. Seignoret has not planted any sets in Septem- 

 ber, but is again planting this month. 



It is hoped that Mr. .Seignoret will continue his 

 experiments in onion cidtivation in Dominica. The 

 results already oblainei] are very interesting, for thev 

 show that onions tan be produced to advantage at 

 several seasons of the year under certain conditions in 

 Dominica. 



In the notice referred to above in the Agricidtii- 

 ral XewK, June 1, 1!)1N, allusion was m.ade to 

 3Ir. 'Seignoret's experiments in the local production 

 of onion see(l. With reference to this, the following, 

 e-xtracled from the Joxriml of the Drpnrtmeni of 

 Agricalture of \''ii;toria, Australia, April 191.S, may 

 be of use to him or any other experimenter in the 

 same direction: — 



'Followitig are brief instructions tor saving 

 some biennial root crops foi- sued: ( Inions — the onion 

 bulb should be pulltd a little earlier than when 

 used for food, and should be cured with the tops left 

 on. where there is i^ free circulation of air, but pro- 

 tected trom diiv ct sunshine and rain.' 



It will be remembered that the onion takes two 

 years to mature seed. These cured bulbs should then 

 be replanted, and in the following season they will 

 produce seed. The seeds turn black before they are 

 ripe, but the heads should not be gathered until there 

 is danger of loss oi seed from scattering. The heads 

 should then be cut from the stalk, and dried. 



I'nder Insict .N'otKS, on page o4ii, an article will 

 be found concerning the weevils which attack sweet 

 potatoes and yams, and another' describing the injury 

 done by termites to swV'ct potatoes. 



« >n page :)41 , an article on the use of sea-eggs as 

 f.xiii. will doubf.le.^s bo found of in*fre>t. 



The great po^sibllitus eonnecled witli liie lorust 

 industries of Briti.sh <iuiana lorm the 'lUiiject of 

 an aMic'e on page m47. 



Green Manure Ctops in Southern Calitornia 



The following sunimiry otihe results of e.Npeu- 

 inents at the College of .\gricultine Kxperiment. Sta- 

 ti<m. lierkeley, < 'alifornia, recorded in Jltillctia .\'o. 2!I2 

 of the I'niversity of ("aliforma pnlilicatioris, will prob- 

 ably be ot interest to growers or''it.nis crops in these 

 W'<'st Indian islands. 



I ireen utanuro crops have had a marked eliect on 

 eitrus trees. The trees on the jilot where legume 

 green manures have been annually i:urned under are 

 superior in every wa^ to tho.Sf sinclu' ',y /•■nili/.f-'rl. wh'iv 



