216 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



July 5, 1913. 



EDITORIAL NOTICES. 



Letters and matter f(jr publication, as well as all 

 apeciniens for naming, should be addressed to the 

 Commi-ssionpr, Imperial ])epartinent of Agriculture, 

 Barbados. 



All applications for copies of the 'Agriculinral 

 News' should be addressed to the Agents and not to 

 ■the Department. 



Local Agents: Advocate Co., Ltd., Broad St., 

 Bridgetown. London Agents: Messrs. Dulau & Co., 

 37, Soho Sijuare, W. The complete list of Agents 

 •will be found on page 3 of the cover. 



The Agricultural News: Price Iti per number, 

 post free 2d. Annual subscription payable to Agents, 

 2s. 2d. Post free, 4.s. -id. 



^qriculturat Meiufj 



Vol. XII. SATURDAY, JULY 5, 1913. No. 292. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Oontents of Present Issue. 



The editorial in this number deals with the 

 subject of Indian corn as a crop in the West Indies. 

 It is advocated that the area under this crop could be 

 advantageously extended. One of the chief difficulties 

 in doing so would be overcome by the introduction of 

 a .sy.-item of kiln-drying. 



On page 213 the process of kiln-drying of grain is 

 ■described in considerable detail. 



Under the caption J5ook Shelf, a new work on the 

 cane sugar factory is reviewed, and a notice appears also, 

 concerning a forthcoming publication on the banana. 



(Jther phases of the University question are 

 commented on, in the opposite column. The influence 

 of ijritish Universities in the West Indies is dealt with 

 OD the next page. 



Insect Notes, on page 218, comprise an article on 

 the biting stable lly, which transmits infantile paralysis. 



On page 219 appear two articles entitleii, 

 respectively, A New Disease of Horses in Panama, and 

 Interpretation of Milk Records. 



Fungus Notes, which will be found on page 222, 

 <le3cribe a recent investigation into the causes of the 

 spotting of plantation Para rubber. 



Publications of the Imperial Department of 

 Ag^riculture. 



During the past month the Reports on the 

 Botanic Stations at St. Kitts-Nevis. .Montserrat and 

 Tortola (Virgin Islands) for 1911-12 have been issued. 

 These publications, which contain an account of general 

 agricultural progress, of the results of investigations 

 with dirt'erent crops and other matters of agricultural 

 interest, ma}- now be obtained from the Agents of this 

 Department. 



A new and revised edition (1913) of the booklet, 

 The West Indies in Canada' will be issued shoitly in 

 lime for the Canadian National E.xhibition to be held 

 at Toronto in August ne.xt. The great increase in the 

 number of advertisements sent in this year for 

 publication would appear to indicate in a very concrete 

 manner, the increasing usefulness of the booklet in 

 helping to bring together Canadian and West Indian 

 interests. 



Two new pamy)hlets (Nos. 72 and 7'A) on Lime 

 Cultivation in the West Indies, and on Root Borers 

 and other Grubs in West Indian Soils, respectively, are 

 also passing through the press, together with the 

 West Indian Bulletin, Vol. XIII, No. 3. 



The University Question: Other Phases. 



Although the discussion as to the ideal site for the 

 proposed Agricultural LTniversity, or L^niversity College, 

 has mainly restricted its considerations to the islands 

 of Trinidad and Ceylon, several claims have been 

 advanced in regard to the suitability of continental 

 areas. The Deinerara Dally Chronicle (June (i, 1913), 

 whilst admitting the advantages offered by Trinidad, 

 thinks, nevertheless, that British Guiana has quite 

 as good, if not better claims. East Africa, too — 

 according to a letter in Nature (April 24. 1913) — can 

 offer such a rare collection of favotirable factors as to 

 justify the immediate establishment of the institution 

 there. 



As already intimated in this journal, the chief 

 essential conditions for the establishment are: local 

 diversity of agriculture within a small radius; accessi- 

 bility to and rapid communication with the United 

 Kingdom; healthy climate; a progressive local popu- 

 lation. The matter of raising the requisite funds would 

 seem to depend entirely upon what communities are 

 going to reap the most benefit, which in its turn, rests 

 on the nature and sphere of inHuence of the institution 

 in question. 



From the views that have been expressed it 

 would appear to be becoming evident that more 

 than one agricultural college (but each of University 

 standing) is required, situated in those tropical coun- 

 tries which can best offer the essential conditions noted 

 above. JIaximum Imperial benefit might not accrue 

 from one self-contained institution. In short, there is 

 strong opinion current — though so far not definitely 

 expressed — fur an extension of Cambridge or l^ondon 

 or of any well-established University to those parts of 

 the Tropics where each outgrowth might thrive natur- 

 ally and become fruitful. 



