y^r. 



A FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW 



OF THE 



IMPERIAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR THE WEST INDIES. 



Vol XII. No 294. 



BARBADOS, AUCRST 2, 1913. 



Pan E \(i. 



CONTENTS 



Paor. 



A^ricultiual College." for the 

 Tropica 245 



llaniiKis. Ciieip Way of 

 S>lii|iping 244 



IWitisli Hiunliuas, Agiicul- 

 tural .\tt'aii.s in ..." ... 24it 



Cacao Hrizc-Hdliiiiic's Coiii- 



Paok. 



petition, Dniftinica ... 244 

 Cotton Notes : — 



Cotton in Ey.vpt 246 '• 



West Indian Cotton ... 246; 

 Departmental Uejioits ... 251 

 Kxllibition^s, Kxhil)i(s for 



Bristol and Toroi.tu ... •J44 

 Fungus Notes : — 



A New Disease 



Castor Oil Plant . 



Tile Spottin'4 of 



tion Para Ruliliev 

 Gleaninsrs 



of 



the 

 . .. 254 



Planta- 

 . ... 254 

 . ... 252 



Herd Pook, West Indian 248 

 Insect Notes — 



Pest- ill Antigua 250 



Market Reports 25(> 



M.'tor Cultivation 241 



M ot c '\ - IHough, Self-con- 

 tained 255 



Mutation in Micvo-orgaii- 



isms 24« 



Notes and Conmients ... 248 

 Rainfall in West Indies 



during .June 248 



Rul.berr Synthetic 240 



Students Comer 25". 



Sugar Industry : — 



The Date Sugar Industry 



in Bengal 243 



Veterinary Notes 247 



West Indian Products ... 2."5 

 West Indies in Canada ... 249 



Motor Cultivation. 



^M^ITHOUT any pretence at an exhaustive 

 )i\vf\W-^ treatment of the subject, an attempt has been 

 tS:3i^i^:ig made in this article to review in a general 

 manner, the present state of motor cultivation in differ- 

 ent parts of the world. One favourable opportunity for 

 doing so is presented through the recent publication 

 of a comprehensive account, by l>r. Fischer,' of the 

 position of this phase of agricultural engineering in 

 (iermany. 



From the account given by this writer it would 

 appear that after many years' laborious and expensive 

 experiments, the difficulties surrounding the employ- 



ment of oil engines for automatic ploughs'- were first- 

 satisfactorily overcome in 1910 by Robert Stock.* The 

 motor-plough invented by this engineer has survived 

 the test of time, and there are now several hundred 

 already in use on small German farms. .\s regards the- 

 work done, and the consumption of fuil by this machine^ 

 it may j)rove of interest to record the following results 

 which were obtained during recent trials conducted by 

 the Colonial Committee, Berlin: " ( )n a mild sandy 

 loam the motor-plough worked nearly \''-\ acres- 

 in one hour to a depth of Gi inches. The field 

 was 700 yards long, and of a convenient shape. 

 Another day, l'-4-8 acres per hour were ploughed to- 

 a depth af 8^ inches. Lastly, in consequence of several 

 stoppages due to the field not being sufficiently dry, 

 only 099 acre was ploughed per hour to a depth of 7j 

 inches. The consumption of benzine was, under the 

 favourable conditions of the first day, only 12"3 lb. per 

 acre, but on an average, in practice, it ranges from 

 14"3 to 190 lb. per acre. The power developed, as- 

 registered by a break dynamometer, was 339 h.p. 



The technical success of the machine just discussed 

 gave stimulus to other inventors to create improvements, 

 particularly as regards change of gear and reversing. 

 The former ojieration is important in connexion with the 

 cultivation of undulating land; reversing is still more 

 esseiuial, for if an unreversible machine happens to 

 be brought up against a large stone or any other such 

 obstacle, the mortifying and expensive procedure of 

 invoking the aid of horses to shift it becomes absolutely 

 necessary. 



Several now machines of the Stock type eventu- 

 ally appeared on the Cermau market, but very- 

 few have survived. In a recent publication-', refer— 



*St(.ick's plough is described iu this issue on page 255. 



