A FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW 



OF THE 



IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR THE WEST INDIES. 



ISEW 



Vol. XII. N'o. 289. 



BARBADOS, MAY 24, 1913. 



Pbiok Id. 



CONTENTS 



Agriculture. 

 Value of 



!cUu-,itii)n:U | 

 J71 



Feeding 



164 



167 



Agricultu- 

 .' 169 



Bengal Beans, 



Value of 

 Book Shelf ... 

 British (iuian.i, 



ral Progress in 



Cacao Husks, Feeding Value 

 of 169 



Canary Islands. Fruit Grow- 

 ing in 165 



Citrus Fruit in the Philip- 

 |iines Hi4 



Cotton Not.es: — 



West Indi.an Cotton ... 166 



Department News 162 



Dominica. Lime Cultivation 



in 168 



Fungus Notes : — 



A Disease of Sisjil Heinp 174 

 A New Groufi of Fungi- 

 cides 174 



Gleanings 172 



Hawaii, Forestry in 17" 



Insect Notes: 



Root r.crers and Other 

 Grubs in West Indian 



Soils 170 



Lime .luice and Scurvy ... 169 



Market Reports 176 



Notes and Comments ... 168 

 Papaw. IMedicinal and Othei 



Properties of 17o 



Publications of the Imperial 

 Department of Agricul- 

 ture 168 



Queensland, T?andbook of 169 

 Rainf.dl, Some .\spects of 161 

 Rubber. Preparation of 



Plantation I'ara 174 



Students' Corner 17.'i 



Sugar Indu.stry : - 



Determination of Sucrose 



in Molasses 16;! 



The Sugar Industry in 



Formosa 16;J 



Tubercle Bacilli ( )utside the 



Animal Body, Fate of 16."> 

 Tuberculosis in Fowls ... 167 

 Zapupe Fibr- 166 



Some Aspects of Rainfall 



j^^v;^, PATHETIC admission of human deiiendence 

 itts^^i V^;^ upon natural forces is found in the avidity 

 *b*S^'^:^with which use is made, as a source of casual 

 conversation , of the apparent!}' inconbrollable factor 

 whose vicissitudes will often occasion the gravest 

 concern and disappointment. The fact cannot be 

 avoided that the subject of rainfall excites syiupathetic 

 interest. It might, however, do more. There are 

 many aspects of the siibjoer which are direct!}' 

 related to the business activities of everyday life; 



there are many inferences to be drawn from statistical 

 records which might be of practical value; and the 

 different local conditions of precipitation have often 

 characteristics .so entirely unique lh.it the subject 

 would seem to be deserving of more critical observation, 

 classification atid analysis than are usually accorded it 

 by those whose interests it immediately governs. 



It may seem liiie reiterating a truism to say that 

 laiufall is often the limiting factor in the yield of 

 crops. The statement, however, means more than it 

 says. Accurately spe.aliing, it means that after a certain 

 point is reached in the yield per acre of any crop in 

 any locality, further investment of capital in the form 

 of cultivation or manuring ceases to be profitable. 

 It is obviously important to know exactly what this 

 limitation is, and the first requirement is a large 

 number of welldislribute<l rainfall records extending 

 back over a sufficient number of yetirs to permit of 

 a reliable average being taken. Conjointly with these 

 records are required seasonal returns of the yields of 

 the different crops, and chemical and physical data 

 showing the proportion of the rainfall that remains in 

 the soil for the uses of the plants, and the proportion 

 of water these plants normally contain. Such data 

 being provided, it is then a mere arithmetical 

 calculation to determine whether or not the 

 normal yield of any particular crop in any one 

 locality is limited or not limited by the average 

 receipt of rain. If it is not, then, other things being 

 etjual, there is opjtortunity for further investment of 

 capital per acre: if the a\ crage yield is limited by the 

 rainfall, irrigation, or the planting of specially selected 

 drought-resisting varieties is the line along which 

 thj best chance lies of increasing the average yield—- 

 though, of course, cultivation in itself reacts favourably 

 on the amount of water retained in the soil — a factor 



