392 



"THE AORTCITLTIIRAL NEWS. 



^fKcrmoKK 14. 1918. 



EDITORIAL 

 Hkad Offick 



NOTICES. 



— Barbados 



Letters and matter for publication, as well as ail 



giecimens for naming, .->hould be addressed to the 

 ommissioner. Imperial Department of Agriculture, 

 Barbados. 



All .ipplications for copies oi the 'Agricultural 



Hews' 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 of Sir Francis Watts, K.C.M.G., 



Afrk^Uture for the West Indies D.Sc, F.I.C., F.O.S. 



SCIENTIFIC STAFF 



Smentific Assistant and JW. R. Dunlop.* 



Asiistaut Editor (Rev. C. H. Branch, B.A. 



Mntomolo,ii}t H. A. Balliu, M.Sc. 



Mycologist W. Nowell. D.I.C. 



Assistant for Gotton Jteaearcl, S. C. Harlaud, B.Sc.t 



CLERICAL STAFF. 



ChUf CUrk 

 OUricai, Assistants 



Astiitant Typi.it 

 Asiiitant for Publications 



A. G. HoweU. 



L. A. Corbin. 



P. Taylor* 



K, R. C. FosLar. 

 Miaa 6. Robinflou. 

 Miss W. Ellis. 



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

 *Secoiid(d for Military Service. 



f Provided by the Imp-'rial JJepartmeut of l^cientifir and 

 tniinxtnal Research. 



Agricultural J^eiuH 



V.lWII. -ATUliDAY, DHfKMBER 14. 1918. No. 434. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



'Ihi.- e<litorial in this number deals witli the 

 important subject of efticiency in crop production. 



insect Notes on page ■'{it4, give the first part of .i 

 summary of the entomological information piiblished 

 during the vear. 



The concluding |Mrt of a lecture on iiio8<juito 

 C«iitf'.>l i.s reproduoe'f on page HSM. 



A pixtioo itl A report di-niing with di.ie.iiK'sof coco- 

 nut tribes in (JfenarJ-i forui^ thf Mih)ec^ oJ Pl.itil' 

 J^iseases on page :{!)H 



"Mongoose not in Tobago : A Correction. 



The editorial in the Ac/ricultural Xcw^ for 

 November 2, 11)18. dealt with the occurrence of rats 

 and mongoose in ihe West Indies. The statement! 

 was made that Tobago was one of the islands in which 

 the mongoose was known to occur. 



Since that number of the Agricultural AVw.s waa 

 issued, a letter from the Commissioner- Wanfoti of 

 Tobago has been received, stating that the mongoose 

 does not occur in that islamf, and that its importation 

 is prohibited by law. 



In the first paragraph therefore of the editorial 

 referred to, Tol>Mgo should be omitted from the list of 

 islantls in which the mongoose occurs, and on the fol- 

 lowing page ( vSH) it should be included among those 

 island.^ in which the mongoose does not occur, and 

 where there are laws against its importation. 



Johnson Grass in Fiji. 



Attention has been drawn on several occasions in 

 previous issues .of the A;/ricultural iV^'W'.s to the fact 

 that Johnson grass is capable of becoming a very 

 serious pest, especially -jn sugar-cane estates. 



Some information from Fiji about this grass has 

 lately been received at this Ofhce. It appears that in two 

 diflferent islands in the northern part of the Fijian 

 group it was introducfd about twenty-fi\e years ago. 

 After appjuent^y favourable experiences for a few years 

 the grass v\a.s widely distribucd, with the best of in- 

 tentions, but with ihe worst of results. On one of 

 these islai.ds there are about ^o.OOO acres under sugar- 

 cane, about 1.') 000 acres of which are badiv infested 

 witk Johnson grass, the remaining lOOOO" being aa 

 yet uninfested. One . estate in this district, about 

 .iOO acres in extent, is so badly infested that it 

 reijuires eight} coolie labourers and forty hor.ses 

 to keep it in proper order, whereas fifty "Ubourers 

 and thirty horses would suffice, if .Johnson grass 

 had not to lie contended against. The tonnage 

 of cane on the badly infested land is also serious- 

 ly decreaseil. Strenuous precaution.-^ are being taken 

 to avoid the introduction of this grass into uninfected 

 estates and plantations. 



Johnson grass is not only freely propagated from 

 Its underground stems, but it is aLso widely distributeif 

 by seed, which it produces in .ibundance. It gnjws 

 lu.viiriously on rich alluvial soils, and does verv much 

 better than cane on pcor sails. Ttie opinion in Fiji 

 is that . Johnson grass is the worst weed pest with which 

 the sugar-cane planter there has to contend. 



The Montreal Commercial and Industrial 



Museum 



The editorial of the .'1)incuhura/ Neiiti, September 

 7, 19IH, drew i,he attention of West Indian producern 

 to the advantage offered them of exhibiting their pro. 

 ducts in the permanent Commercial Museum i^st.iblished 

 at Ottaw.i. This article has come untJer the notice of 

 the nirector of th»» ConiDiercial .mil Irldustrial Museijm 

 of Montreal, wit^ writes to lIji* Imperial ("oijiiiii,ssi„ijer 



