A FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW 



OF THK 



IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR THE WEST INDIES. 



LlRl 



to: 



Vol. XII. No. 291. 



BARBADOS. JUNE 21. 1913. 



Pbiok Id. 



CONTENTS. 



Pack. 



Aj,'ncultv-.i-,il Credit I'.t.s 



Bacteri.'i in tlif Baii.u a ... 2»'.', 



bookshelf J'.tl) 



Colt on Notes: — 



West Indian Col ton ... 1&8 

 Cuttinits. Problems in 



I'ropagatiun by 197 



DiiKirtnteutal Reports ... 196 

 Dominica, Castilloa Rubber 



in 20;'. 



El.-isticity of Demand ... 193 

 Exliibitinn, Fifth Annual, of 

 Colonial Institute, iVlar- 

 .seillfcs 201 



Fungus Notes : — 



New Exutie Fungi ... 206 

 The lanama Disease of 



l<ananas 206 



Gleanings 204 



Hawaiian I'loduets, Utiliza- 

 tion of 20:i 



Haof. 



In.sect Notes:— 



Insects Liable to Dissemina- 

 tion iii ishipmeuts of Sugar- 

 cane 202 



Live .St nek Notes: — 



Eggs, The Care of ... -'O". 

 lMai::e for Dairy Cows... 2U5 



Mangnes, Indian, Facts Con- 

 cerning ]9R 



Market Reports 20.S 



j Notes and Comments ... iOO 

 j Rubber ni the Congo ... 201 



Seedling Plants. Superiority 

 of Till Cans over I "ots for 200 



Soil, Ettect of I'artial Steril- 

 ization 207 



Students' Corner 205 



Sugar, World's I*roduction 

 of Biet 199 



Univer-iiy Question, Recent 

 Views on 198 



West Indian Court 201 



Elasticity of Demand. 



ri^J^^ .SOMKWHA'r r)otable circumstance attecd- 

 jiV^ant on the production of sugar is that 



rl^pg tliictnations in the market values, although 

 they may seriously att'ect the i,'i'Aver, are to a large 

 extent imperceptible on the side o ' the consumer. The 

 recent plethora of production occasioned principally by 

 a successful season in Cuba, hap, toijether with a certain 

 degree of speculation, been the tiief cause of a con- 

 tinued decline in prices, and riie present situation, 

 howbeit distressing for the smaller manufacturer for 



sejjarated from the leading markets, affords a suitable 

 occasion for considering, in a general way, some of the 

 economic circumstances surrounding the consumption 

 of sugar and other kinds of ra\s' material, in relation 

 to riuctuation in prices. 



Ic is important to realize at the outset that sugar, 

 as such, generally goes to the consumer in remarkably 

 small quantities compared with those in which it; is 

 produced, and that it is an extremely cheap com- 

 modity. The result is, that, although a fall below 

 the normal of a fraction of a cent per pound may 

 seriously affect the grower, this drop cannot, under 

 ordinary circumstance s, be directly felt by the con- 

 .sumer, unless he buys in bufficiently large quantities — ■ 

 ill far laigi-r quantities than can be purchased in 

 retail tiansactiot's, by individuals belonging to the 

 midiile and lower classes. 



By Considering an opposite procedure that might 

 conceivably be taken by the retail seller in times of over- 

 production — the course of offering larger quantities at 

 the usual cnneni; price — we are brought to face the 

 economic law which constitutes the main theme of 

 this article. It is highly probable that the adoption 

 of such a course in the case of sugar, would not lead to 

 increased demand, but would rather tend to diminish it, 

 for the demand for sugar at the present time, particu- 

 larly in Great Britain, is not elastic. To explain exactly 

 what is meant by this term, it may be well to begin by 

 observing that one universal characteristic of human 

 nature is the circumstance that a person's desire for 

 any commodity, diminishes, other things being equal, 

 with every increase in his supply of it. The rate of 

 diminution may be rapid or it may be slow; the 

 conEumer may be easily satisfied or satisfied only after 

 greatly increased consumption. If, under existing 



