56 



THE AORICULTURAL NEWS. 



Fkbr'uary 15, 1913. 



EDITORIAL NOTICES. 



Letters and matter for publicrttiun, as well as all 

 speciineDs for narningr, should be addressed to the 

 Commissioner, Imperial Department of Agriculture, 

 Barbados. 



All applicarioiis fi.r copies of the 'Agricultural 

 News' should be addrtssed to the Agents and not to 

 the Department. 



Local Agents: Messrs. Bowen & Sons, Bridge- 

 town, Rarbudos. London Agents: Mes>rs. Dnlan h 

 Co., 37, Soho Square, VV. A complete li>t of Agents 

 will be found on page 3 of the cover. 



The Agriiultund Nexus: Price liZ. per number, 

 post free 2d. Annual subscription payable to Agents, 

 2s. 2d. Post free, 4s. U. 



^gricultiinit Unu^ 



Vol. XII. SATURDAY. FEHRr.AKY 1.5. 1913. No. 282. 



"notes and comments. 



Contents of Present Issue. 



In coDsecjuence of the immediate importanco of the 

 subject, the editorial of >his issue deals with the ques- 

 tion of a Tropical University. This necessitates the 

 omission of the second leading article on Water and 

 Life promised in the last number. It will be given in 

 tb*! succeeding number (283) of the Agricultural 

 Jfeivs. 



Page .")1 contains tables showing the sugar trade of 

 the United Kingdom during 1912. 



On page 55, imder the heading Departmental 

 Pif ports, there appe.us a review of the General Admin- 

 istration Report of the (Jrenada Agricultural Depart- 

 ment, 1911-12, which has been issued recently. 



The Insect Notes will be found on page 58. They 

 consist of a review of an account of insect pests in Bar- 

 bados which appears in the rec;enily issued report on 

 the Local l)ep;a-tment of Agriculture. 



Paee 59 should be consulted with reference to the 

 subject of the editorial, as it contains a recent special 

 article from The Times which presents the matter in 

 a general way. 



The Fungus Notes, on page (J 2, give accounts of 

 inoculation experiments with cotton boll rot, and of 

 a condition known as the pea disease of rubber trees. 



The tirst of three articles on Wattle Bark is given 

 on page (J3. It is intended at present to publish two 

 <ither articles treating of the same subject, in the 

 succeeding issues of this journal. 



The Trade of Grenada. 



In the (irenada Go'rrnmcnt Gazette, for Septem- 

 ber 2, 1912, it is stated that the total value of all articles 

 exporred in 1911 was £2G4,(!40. This is a decrease of 

 £27,120 as compared with the value in 1910, or a little 

 over 9 per cenr. There was no appreciable variation in 

 the destination of the exports, the United Kiiigdmn 

 taking £171,115 (64 per cent.), United States £43,ti.S9 

 (1() p>-r cent.), and France £36,893 (14 per cent). 



Cacao consiittiies the bulk of the exporhs.its value 

 being £223, 104., or 84 per cent, of all exjjorts. 'i'he 

 shiiiHieiits of nunnegs tiave increased from 8,488 cwt. to 

 9 087 cwt., an increase of 7 per cent, on the quantity lor 

 the previous year. Shipment of mace has shown 

 a slight decline. , The bulk of both of these products 

 continues to be taken by the United Kingdom. Cotton 

 (lint) exported in 1911 brought in £7,452; the revenue 

 from this product, in 1910 was £5,797. JMost of the 

 cotton is grown in the dependency of Carriacou, but 

 elTorts are being made to extend the cultivation in 

 Grenada. (See p. 55 of this issue.) The coconut 

 industry shows signs of rapid extension and there were 

 increased exports of various other fruits, including 



kola-nuts. ^, 



~-^^^^ ♦-^^^ 



Manuies in Southern India. 



An instructive account of the utilization of 

 naturally occurring substances as manures is contained 

 in Vol. Ill, Bulletin No. ()5, of the publications of the 

 Dejjartment of Agriculture, JIadras. The first part 

 of the account deals with the manures in detail under 

 the headings of (a) ]\Ianures of Vegetable ( >rigin, 

 (o) Animal Manures, (c) Mineral Manures. 



Under (a) reference is made to the successful 

 employment, lor green manuring, of Teplirosia i>nr~ 

 piirea, which has often received mention in the 

 Agricidtural News; pepper leaves: sunn hemp {Cro- 

 talaria jan<!ea): and of water-weeds collected in the 

 vicinity of Kolair lake. Castor, and ground nut oil ' 

 cakes, as well as others, arc commonl}' used throughout 

 the Presidency. The ashes of plants or parts of plants' 

 are also emjiLpyed as manures, among which mav be 

 mentioned ashes from cane trash, cotton stalk ash and' 

 ashes from paddy (rice) husks. Waste water from 

 rice mills and indigo waste are also employed. 



In regard to (b) reference is made to the large 

 export trade of manures derived from bones and fish. 

 Endeavours are being made to popiularize these 

 fertilizers and so prevent their export. 



(c) The number of mineral manures available is 

 very limited. Nitrate of potash occurs in certain 

 places, and when purified is frequently employed by 

 planters. There are extensive natuial supplies of 

 calcium carbonate, and a crude phosphate is also 

 obtained in limited quantities. 



In the second part of the account, a description is 

 given of the application of these manures. Dry lands 

 receive practically no manuring at present. Green 

 manuring is chieHy employed in paddy cultivatioii. 

 Oil cakes are used for sugar-cane, tea and cotfee. The 

 eflect of the local superphosphate on paddy is slated tn 

 be very marked. 



