A FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW 



OF THE 



IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR THE WEST INDIES. 



Vol. XVII. No. 423. 



BARBADOS, JULV 13. 1918. 



Prick \d. 



CONTENTS. 



Page 



Aui"'iiltiui' 111 Hiirliailiis It^o ; 



Bi'irisli ( luiaiia. I'l-iiuMiy 



F.iliR-ation in 21 '.i ' 



I'.vlti^li HdiidiivMs, Now i 



Iiiilustn in 21.'! 



Cliionie Tannins,' Imlii-;- 

 tiv. The ... -Ml 



Cijtrriii. Sea'.ieerl Siilist:- 

 tntf for ... 210 , 



Dtli;ivtiiit-nt News 211 



Ffi rili/.^rs anil Chemicals 

 Kinjiloveil in Asjiicul- 

 nuv; ThtWorfd'sFn.- 

 ilin.'tiuii uf 214 



K.restri in the Wisl 

 In.lies ... 2li!» 



Kiiiir Cultivati'in in Trini- 

 .la.l 221 



Gleanings 22li 



Uciiic Vesietable (Janleii 2IG 



Pack. 



Insect Ncites: — 



Staic'li. Insteail "i T.iin.-, 

 with Arseiiieal- -IX 



'I'llr CiintVCll nf <'|.|l, 



CMtei|)illars •-'I'.' 



In.-.iticiile. An KtHeit-nt , 



(,liii.K anil Safe :.'17 



Lima Beans ilf. 



Marker Kepoits 224 



Xew Koccl Mammal ... 21(i 



Notes ;iiiil Omnmeiil- ... -l<i 



Peieliiiial Forage Shrulis -'17 

 Plant l>iseases in British 



(Jiiiaiia 222 



Small \'^'.^etal»!e ilar- 



.lell .^ 222 



Sin;ai- Iniliistvv: 



.siiejaias a Fo.mI 212 



Tile Sugar liiiliistn 



after the War 212 



Sweete.st Plant Known... 21;". 

 Tree. A Possil.lv Useful 22;{ 



Forestry in the West Indies. 



'HV. i)iieslioii oT the oinserviiciuii of che 

 remaining fore.sts in the We.st Intliaii 



, islands lia.s been considered and legislated 

 «»n more or less adequately in ivce^it ye.irs. An article 

 bv Sir Fr-iiDcis Watts in the Wr 4 Indian Bulb 'In. 

 Vol. .Kill, deals comprehensively with this aspect of 

 ihe matter, and it is to be hoped that reckless 

 (leii'idation of forest aieas in the West Indies is ■ a 

 ili!iii,'af the past. Much tisetMi work has been ilji^e 



also by the Agricultural I •epailments in the dirt'erent 

 islands in encoiii'aging niore exten.sive planting ot 

 trees both eeonomie.-i! and oiiiameiital. 



Forestry mav be deriiied as the ait of managing 

 forests regarded a.s eru[is, so as to make a rational use 

 of them and to .secure eoittinuoiis supplies of the crop. 

 If looked at from this .standpoint, it is evident that 

 very little, if anything, has been attempted in forestry' 

 in the We.st Indies, though an exception must be made 

 of Trinidad, where jii recent years some planting of 

 forest trees has been begun on scientific lines. 



Very many people seem to forget that the 

 art of dealing with foi-est crops, as defined above, is 

 just as much dependent on scientific attention to de- 

 tails in order to obtain re.illy good residts, as the art 

 of tleahng with any ordinary agricultural crop. As 

 long as there are extensive virgin forests from which 

 supplies of wood may be drawn, most people seem to 

 think it unnecessary to bestow any care upon the 

 methoils of using them or of replacing them. Trees 

 are cut wastefuUy, .nid their re[)ro'Utction is left to 

 chance and to nature's slow processes, although nature 

 cannot be said to ha\f any definite economic object to 

 subserve. Whm. however, tiie fojest area beeonies 

 uiore and more limited by the e.xtension of the agri- 

 cultural area, it becomes apparent that wood crops are 

 as necessary as food i ro[is. and the need of forestry 

 is then realized. 



Another aspect oi the (juestion demonstrates the 

 need of forestry, ii.unely, the inHiience of forest cover 

 upon the soil and water conditions of neighbouring 



