

A FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW 



OF THK 



IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR THE WEST INDIES. 



NEW V 



80TANI 



OAROI 



Vot. XII. No. 290. 



BARBADOS, JUNE 7, 1913. 



Pricb Id 



CONTENTS 



Paok. 



Cotton Notes: — 



Cotton ill the St. Vincent 



Grenadines 182 



West Indian Cotton ... 182 



Cuttiiiiis, I'roblenis in Propa- 

 gation by 183 



Fungus Notes : — 



Recent Work on tlie 

 Parasites Belonginj; to 

 the Genus GhimereHa... 190 



Gleanings 188 



Greenheart in British Gui- 

 ana 184 



Gru-Gru Pahn, Eeonouiic 

 Value of West Indian... 180 



Insect Notes : 



Root Borers and Other 

 Grubs in West Indian 

 Soils 186 



Market Reports 192 



Notes and Comments ... 184 



a proper communication or contact between the two is 

 of the very greatest importance, and it is the object of 

 this article to delineate the position of the specialist, 

 and to point out the methods that are, or should be 

 adopted, in oider that his activities may be utilized to 

 the best advantage. 



Page. 



Organic Soil Constituents 184 

 Para Kulilier, Preparation of 



Plantation 181 



Peripatiis in Tobago ... 183 

 Planter and Specialist, Con- 

 tact between 177 



Rothamsted ExperimeTital 

 Station, Annual Report 



on 190 



Rubber-vine Cultivation in 



tlie Bahamas 18.5 



St. Lucia, Agriculture in J8-i 



Students' Corner 189 



Sugar Industry : — 



Syrup, Manufacture of 179 

 Veterinary Notes ; — 



Bovine Tuberculosis in 



the West Indies 187 



Commi>n Diseases of 

 Poultry, Trealment of 187 

 West Indian Products ... 191 



Contact Between Planter and Specialist. 



'OBODY at the present day can fail to 

 appreciate the enormous gulf that divides 

 ythe practical man or capitalist from the 

 specialist in science. The separation of the two posi- 

 tions is very patent in modern agriculture, and can be 

 vividly realized by contrasting the mental outlook of, 

 .say, the manager of a large sugar estate, and that of 

 the entomologist whose faculties are concentrated on 

 the wing markings of half a dozen species of insects. 

 It is ob\ious that a jiroper relationship, or rather 



In most of the progressive agricultural communi- 

 ties in the Tropics will be found to exist Departments, 

 Boards, or else entirely non-official agricultural organiza- 

 tions, which employ the services of scientific specialists 

 — agricultural chemists, mycologists, entomologists and 

 the like. Strictly speaking — the matter will be 

 enlarged upon later — these so-called specialists are not 

 pure specialists, for in manj- cases they possess a good 

 general knowledge of agriculture; yet in spite of this, 

 their work is sufficiently restricted to narrow lines of 

 investigation to render their mentalities quite different 

 to those of practical planters. In order to contrast 

 clearly the two types, it will be convenient to adopt 

 a figurative illustration. Th'? ability of the specialist 

 may be considered as being represented by a long, 

 narrow, vertical rectangle — his knowledge is deep 

 rather than broad. That of the practical agricul- 

 turist can be symbolized in the shape of a 

 square — his knowledge is of a normal nature and 

 quite unspecialized. Clearly these two figures may 

 be equal in area, thereby indicating a common 

 value as regards potential ability, but the essential 

 feature of the conception is that the two figures are so 

 dissimilar in shape that they cannot be made to fib 

 when placed side by side. Occasionally, as already 

 hinted, where the specialist has received a general 

 training, and also in a case where the practical agricul- 

 turist has received a special training, the resulting 

 figures have more in common, and may fit fairly well. 

 This ideal condition is seldom found, however, and at 



