A FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW 



OF THB 



IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR THE WEST INDIES. 



NEW 



Vol. XII. No. 292. 



BARBADOS, JULY 5. 1913. 



Pbiok Id, 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



Agricultural Bunk of Egypt 2111 



Aariculturul Linif, Machine 

 ■for Making 223 



lianana. Forthcoming Publi- 

 cation on 215 



Bookshelf 215 



British I'niver-sities and the 

 West Indies 217 



Cacao in Trinidad, Cost of 

 Spraying 212 



Cotton Notes: — 



The W,.rlds Cotton In- 

 dustry in 1!H2 214 



West Indian Cotton ...214' 



Dominica, Work of Agricul- 1 

 tural Pupils in 221 



Fungus Notes : — 



Spotting of Plantation 

 Para Rubber 222 



Gleanings 220 



Grapes without Pips ... 212 



Indian Corn as a Crop in the 

 SVest Indies 209 



Insect Notes :— 

 The Biting Stable Fly... 218 



Page. 



KiliiDrying of Grain ... 2i;i 

 LabeK for .-Vgricultural 



Shows 221 



Market Reports 224 



Notes and Comments ... 216 

 I'ublii-itions of the Imjierial 

 Department of .Agricul- 

 ture " ... 210 



Rubbur from Bark, Machine 



for Extracting 223 



Soy Beans in Bengal, Vari- 

 eties of 217 



Students' Corner 221 



Tobacio Seed, Rapidity of 



Germination in 214 



University Question: Other 



Phases 210 



Veterinary Notes : — 



-A Ni-w Disease of Horses 



in Panama 219 



Friesland Cattle 219 



Milk Records, Interpreta- 

 tion of 219 



West Indian Oils 217 



West Indian Products ... 221! 



Indian Corn as a Crop in the 

 West Indies. 



I URIXCj recent years it has become more 

 and more recognized that a diversification of 



I crops gives to any agricultural district or 

 community a stability whicli is lacking where only 

 one crop is cultivated. To cite concrete e.xaiiiples, 

 reference may be made to the condition of the sugar 

 industry in the West Indies before the breakdown of 

 the Bourbon cane from the attacks of fungoid disease, 



and to the cotton industry in the United States 

 before the advent of the cotton boll weevil. In 

 both these instances the ultimate result, however, has 

 been of benefit. In the West Indies, the cultiv- 

 ation of cotton has been taken up and a profit- 

 able industry established, whilst in the United 

 States, there has followed on the attacks of the 

 boll weevil a tendency to reduce the ana under cotton, 

 and to practise a more intensive cultivation of this in 

 rotation with other crops. 



Indian corn is a commodity of great importance 

 in the West Indies; not only is it largely used in the 

 feeding of estate animals and poultry, but it also forms 

 a considerable portion of the staple food of the labour- 

 ing classes. The islands consume far more than they 

 produce. In Barbado.'^, alone, the values of the 

 importation of corn and corn meal amoimted in 1911 

 and 1912 to a total of £73,198. In 1911, 38,811 

 barrels of corn valued at £2-5,045, and 3,119,490 ft. 

 of corn meal worth £3,383 were imported, whilst in 1912, 

 3.5, 94G barrels of corn meal valued at £29,807, and 

 3,752,740 lb. of corn worth £9,9(i3 were received. 

 In addition to the imported corn and corn meal 

 that is consumed in liarbados, it must be borne in 

 mind that a very considerable amount is produced 

 locally, the quantity and value of which it is impos- 

 sible to estimate, since it is grown by peasants chieHy, 

 though also as a catch crop on large estates. 



The figures given above concerning the vulue of 

 the Indian corn and Indian corn meal, will perhaps 

 come somewhat as a surprise to many; but when these 

 values are compared with those brought forward for the 

 cotton industry in the West Indies, possibly the 

 surprise of the reader may change into astonishment. 



