A FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW 



OP THE 



IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR THE WEST INDIES. 



NEW y 



SOTANl 



_ OARB 



Vol. XII. No. 286. 



BARBADOS, APRIL 12, 1913. 



Priob Id 



CONTENTS. 



Paok. 



I'aiik. 



Animal 2\utritiun: Recent 



Results 123 



Balsam Tree of Virgin Gor- 



122 

 119 



of 



da 



Book Shelf 



Cattle, Transmission 



Colour iii 



Cotton Notes: — 

 A New Invention 

 New Facts Concerning 



Cotton in America... 118 

 West Indian Cotton 

 Department News ... 

 Dominica, Trade of... 

 Fungus Notes : — 



Red Rot Fungus and the 

 Sugar-cane in the West 



Indies, Part I 126 



Gleanings 124 



Hydrocyanic Acid in Plants 



and See<ls, I'roduction of 117 

 Insect Notes: 

 Root Borers and Other 

 Grubs in West Indian 

 Soils 122 



127 



118 



118 



12.T 



120 



[ Maize with Silks Jlaturing 



befire Ta.s.sels 121 



Market Rsports 128 



Notes and Comments ... 120 



Oils, Identification of Veiie- 



taljlc .■ 121 



O.smosis ill Soils 120 



Pastures, Iiuprovenient of 

 We.sl Indian 113 



Resin, Formation of ... 121 

 Rubber Trees, Watering of 



... 121 



Appreciation 



125 



:ind Partial 



123 



... 12.5 



Cuts 

 St. Vincent, 



of 



Soil Sickness 



Sterilization ... 

 Students' Corner 

 Sugar Industry : — 



The Position of the Aus- 

 tralian Sugar Prod ucers' 



Association 11.5 



Vanilla, Cultivation at St. 



Vincent 116 



Wattle Park, III 127 



The Improvement of West Indian 

 Pastures. 



HE term 'cultivated land' is, perhaps, an 

 .unfortunate one, because it tends to induce 

 [a feeling in the popular mind that pasture 

 land belongs to the category of uncultivated things, and 

 may be left to look after itself And it must be 

 admitted that casual inspection in the West Indies 

 will often appear to confirm the impression, though 

 a technical consideration of the matter will soon make 

 it evident that the conditions of ]i.i,sture land are 



extremely complicated and artificial, and respond in 

 a remarkable degree to well-applied inethods of cultiv- 

 ation and care. 



Some idea of the complicated relations that e.xisfc 

 in a pasture can be got from the fact that there may be 

 prPFpnt as many as 1,000 plants to the square yard. 

 In West Indian pastures these plants are mostly of one 

 species whose similarity as regards habits and require- 

 ments greatly augments the struggle fur existence. 

 Moreover amongst the animals which consume the 

 vegetation, complicated relations exist, which increase, 

 and detnand more skilful adjustment, in proportion to 

 the density of the animals over a given area. 



In proceeding to enumerate practical mutliuds for 

 the improvement of pastures, it wjll be convenient to 

 regard the subject in two ways, first from the point of 

 view of the productive powers of pastures, and secondly 

 from the standpoint of their hygienic characters. It is 

 proposed to deal with the former aspect first. 



In considering the productive or purel}' agricul- 

 tural characters of West Indian pastures, the circum- 

 stance that the best land is under arable cultivation 

 must not be lost sight of The significance of this 

 fact lies in the necessity for improving the soil condi- 

 tions of existing grass land. Water-supply is of primary 

 importance. On some pastures, particularly during 

 the rainy season, excess of water and drainage may be 

 the leading problem. The beai'ing of stagnant water 

 upon the h3gienic characters of a pasture will be con- 

 sidered in due course, but it may be pointed out, in 

 the present connexion, that the removal of excess of 

 water greatly modifies and improves the vegetation, 

 and lessens the ill-effects of drought. More fre- 

 quently it is the want of rain that is the 

 chief trouble. Irrigation is generally out of the 



